In this piece we take a look at Rory McIlroy and whether he can win the 2020 US Open.
Can Rory McIlroy Win The US Open?
It seemed forever ago that Rory won the 2011 US Open at Congressional where he blew away the field to win by eight. Just a few months after his capitulation at the Masters, the victory was supposed to start the incredible career of McIlroy which would see him win many Majors for years to come.
But this has not been the case. Sure, he won the 2012 and 2014 US PGA and the 2014 Open Championship, but for the past few years, he has been struggling immensely to consistently contend at the top. A few top 10's have been sprinkled in to his Major resume of late.
Bearing this in mind, we ask the question, can he win the US Open at Winged Foot? Now the answer to this has three prongs to it. What is his form like? Does the course suit him? What about the other contenders and favourites? We answer all three below.
What Is His Form Like?
Long story short, his form has been pretty uninspiring of late but we suspect the birth of his first child may have kept his mind off golf for a while. That being said he started the calendar year with four top-5 finishes and got back to world number one so any criticism here seems harsh.
Does The Course Suit Him?
This is difficult to tell because I think this is the first time Rory will play the course in competition as he didn't compete at the 2006 US Open. Additionally, even if he had the course has gone under a massive renovation so it may look and play completely differently to that event.
What we do know is the course will have a premium on a) hitting the fairway, and b) hitting the green. Rory is usually pretty good on both of these fronts and he hits it far which is an added benefit at Winged Foot.
Another main defence of the course are it's greens and this is where Rory occasionally comes unstuck. The greens are pretty large but they have severe undulations and slopes to them which makes putting extremely challenging.
His putting can be rather hot and cold and given how fast and slick US Open greens tend to be, this could be the aspect of his game that holds him back from victory.
All in all, McIlroy is more than capable of winning the US Open in 2020 given his talent, but there are plenty of quality players who will be vying for the victory too....
What About The Other Contenders and Favourites?
It is incredibly difficult to win golf tournaments nowadays purely because of how many brilliant players there are now. We take a look at some of the other favourites to win the tournament here.
Johnson has been playing the best golf on the planet recently as in a four-week stretch he came second at the PGA Championship, won The Northern Trust, lost in a playoff to Jon Rahm at the BMW Championship and then won the FedEx Cup at East Lake. He is the man to beat in every event right now.
Thomas is another who has been some outstanding golf in 2020. He won three events during the last PGA Tour season, each of them coming in big events with excellent fields. He consistently plays at an incredibly high level so is someone to look out for.
Rahm got to world number one for the first time in 2020 and he had two huge victories at The Memorial Tournament and BMW Championship so it appears the time has come for him to add a Major to his impressive resume.
Some other golfers to look out for are Bryson DeChambeau, Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa. All three have played some brilliant golf in 2020 and could all be in contention come Sunday.
Who do you think is going to win the US Open? Do you think Rory will win his fifth Major?
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