Rory McIlroy ‘excited’ ahead of The Open

Rory McIlroy insists his ten days preparing hard in Scotland for The Open will pay dividends at Muirfield – and hit back at Sir Nick Faldo for saying he should just be concentrating on golf.

Amid the ongoing difficulties of his impending legal cases with management company Horizon and Oakley, McIlroy has endured scrutiny and poor form, leading many observers like Sir Nick to ask what is wrong and offer opinions on the subject.

But the 24-year-old said: “I saw what he said, and he said I should be on the course nine to five. I was actually at the range at 6:15am and got out of the gym at 6:15pm, so actually a 12 hour day compared to his eight hour day.

“It is what it is, and Nick should know how hard this game is at times. He’s been in our position before – and he should know how much work that we all do put into it. It seems like a few guys have forgotten in a short space of time how hard you have to work and how tough this game can be.

“Yes, my year’s been one of contrasts and the game’s been like that too. There’s been times when it’s been hard. You go through highs and lows and I haven’t played my best golf this year, but I’ve showed signs it’s there.”

And Rory is in buoyant mood ahead of teeing up alongside Phil Mickelson and Hideki Matsuyama on Thursday, as he bids to add The Open to his double major haul.

“It’s going to be a test and playing over the past ten days here at Muirfield and in a lot of practice rounds, I’ve shot my best score in the most difficult conditions. That was on Monday in very windy conditions – I shot a couple under.

“It’s definitely got a lot more fiery over the past ten days – but it’s going to be great. Muirfield is a great course.

“I’m excited. I know that I’m working on the right things and progressing. I’m laid back when it comes to these sorts of things – I’ll wait as long as it takes for it to come right, but of course I’m hoping it’s going to be this week.”