Smylie Kaufman has admitted that he could not believe it when he realised just how little Rory McIlroy has played on the PGA Tour this season.
Many are likely to tip McIlroy for victory at the US Open this week. The Northern Irishman has been absolutely outstanding at this particular major over the last few years.
In fact, you would have to go back to 2018 for the last time McIlroy finished outside the top 20 at the US Open.
On that occasion, it was hosted at Shinnecock Hills.
What surprised Smylie Kaufman about Rory McIlroy’s season
Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy has recently entered into a new chapter in his career. Winning The Masters in 2025 and completing the Career Grand Slam has prompted the 37-year-old to shift his priorities.
McIlroy wants to be a prizefighter. It reaped rewards at the Ryder Cup last September and The Masters earlier this year. He is now a six-time major champion looking to win his first US Open in 15 years.
McIlroy has played one tournament on the PGA Tour since the PGA Championship. And speaking on The Smylie Show, Smylie Kaufman admitted that he was taken aback once it became clear just how rarely McIlroy has played this year.
“You know what’s wild about Rory, is that when I was looking up his stats at the Memorial, his stat profile wasn’t even listed as far as the ranks because he hadn’t played enough golf. He wasn’t eligible to be ranked against the rest of the PGA Tour, which tells you how little Rory’s played this year,” he said.
“This will be his ninth start of the year. I’m sure there’s guys at this point who are probably on their 20th event. You know? Maybe not quite that much, but definitely in their upper teens for the guys that play a bunch.
“For Rors, it’s interesting because his accuracy, he’s our 55 per cent driver accuracy guy. And so, it’s the strategy that he takes, he typically is more of an aggressive player, but I think when you look back at his history, you look at Rory pre-Shinnecock 2018, and you look at him post 2018. When you look at his US Open record, ’16, ’17, and ’18, Rory McIlroy missed all the cuts at the US Open.
“It’s interesting because you would have thought that Rory McIlroy at Erin Hills would have won there or contended. Missed the cut, right? So you start to think about Rory McIlroy and what he learned about himself at US Opens is that he, of course, won the one at Congressional, but if you remember that week, it was wet and soft, so it kind of played perfectly in his hands that his game was really set up for PGA Tour golf, and he talked about it too.
“He couldn’t understand why that he would show up to the US Opens and feel so uncomfortable and not know what to do. And then the next week he goes to the Travelers Championship, he’s like, this is perfect for me. My game is set up for PGA Tour golf, which is honestly opposite for a lot of Europeans, but he’s a unicorn that he hits the ball really high.
“His game suits a lot of great major championship venues where you have got to hit it up in the air. And so I think what he has learned about himself post these years is that he’s had to play less aggressive, play more disciplined, and keep the ball in front of him and just understand that it’s a battle that he can win if he just understands that it’s a marathon. It’s not something that he has to go and chase birdies. And I think that’s why you’ve seen him contend in many of these U.S. Opens and that I think he’s enjoyed and embraced the challenge of what U.S. Opens are, which is a test of not only the 14 clubs in your bag, but as the USGA will say, the 15th club, which is inside the ears.”
Why this year’s Masters may have had a huge impact on Rory McIlroy’s future
McIlroy is arguably the most talented player of his generation. And it seems that having the burden of trying to win The Masters for the first time removed from him has allowed him to remind everyone of just how good he can be.
But he was also vindicated for his strategy leading into The Masters this year.
Much was made of just how much time McIlroy spent at Augusta National in the weeks leading into the first major of the year. It did not help that he was only seen at a handful of PGA Tour events.
The strategy clearly paid off, with McIlroy retaining his title. And thus, he probably does feel that he is better off practicing at each major venue than playing in a PGA Tour event elsewhere.
If anything, playing several times at Augusta National seems less important given how many times he has played The Masters over the years.
So it should come as no surprise if this sort of schedule becomes the norm for McIlroy.
