Relaxed McIlroy ready to plot a patient course at Pinehurst

There are those who can’t wait to sign in and to get out onto the course; and there are those who bide their time.

Rory McIlroy, it would appear, belongs to the latter club.

Whilst a certain Henrik Norlander, world ranked 479th, had the distinction of being the first player to register here at Pinehurst for the 114th US Open, McIlroy – champion in 2011 – intentionally delayed his arrival, having carried out a reconnaissance visit last week. Why rush?

McIlroy – scheduled to be one of the last men to check in, with a planned arrival at lunchtime today – has taken to conducting advance visits to the sites of the Majors and, so, did most of his practice work away from prying eyes early last week when he devised a game plan to take on a course which has been substantially renovated since it last held the championship in 2005.

One of the upshots of McIlroy's two-day practice visit to the North Carolina sandhills would seem to be a decision to put a three-iron into his bag and to omit one of his wedges in its place. He will have three rather than four wedges in his bag for a course which has had large tracts of rough removed.

Of the reasoning behind bringing the three-iron back into play for this test, a club he doesn’t normally carry, McIlroy – who isn’t inclined to use a hybrid – observed: “I can think of a few par fours where I’m going to need a three-iron off the tee . . . for most of this year, I’ve started with a four-iron and had four wedges, but at Pinehurst I’m going to put the three-iron back in and go with a three-wedge system.

Lob wedge

“There’s going to be a few holes where I’m going to need three-iron off the tee, and there’s going to be a par-three where I’m likely going to be hitting the iron a couple of days.”

To make room for the three-iron, McIlroy has decided to leave out a lob wedge – most probably the Nike VR X3X Toe Sweep – which was in his bag when he won the BMW PGA at Wentworth a fortnight ago.

The difference here is that there is little or no rough with less of a need for that particular lob wedge and McIlroy has admitted he intends to “adopt a really conservative game plan . . . if your iron game is in really good shape, then you can hit the middle of those greens. I don’t think I have a problem getting height on long irons.”

Indeed, an insight into McIlroy’s conservative approach is his intended game plan to master the 617-yard par five 10th hole which will involve playing three-iron, six-iron, wedge rather than reaching for the driver there. “I’d rather have a wedge from the middle of the fairway than a three-wood from, wherever . . . it’s not a birdie hole, it’s a three-shot hole.”

McIlroy's is one of four Irish players in the field this week, along with Graeme McDowell – who preceded him as champion in 2010 – and 2011 British Open champion Darren Clarke as well as Shane Lowry, who earned his place in the field through topping the international qualifying at Walton Heath.

Lowry flew into Charlotte on Sunday and got his first taste of the Pinehurst course yesterday, playing with Danny Willett.

“I’m feeling good, I’m feeling confident,” said Lowry of playing in what will be his second US Open, having missed the cut in his previous outing at Congressional three years ago.

“Obviously it’s a few years since I last played the US Open. I went over there just kind of happy to be there, now I’m looking forward to playing another Major in the States. Now, I feel like I can compete. If I can just play as good as I can play and see what happens . . . .”

Better player

He added: “I feel like my game is very good at the minute and if I keep doing what I’ve been doing the last while, I could do alright. Clearly, it depends on what other people do, whether you finish in the top-five, or the top-10 or you win or something like that. I’m a better player than I was then (in 2011), a lot more mature and mentally better than I was going to that US Open.”

Lowry, whose season was transformed with a runner-up finish to McIlroy in the BMW PGA, said he expects to “have a few butterflies” ahead of the first round. “But it is more excitement than anything else. The way I played the back nine at Wentworth against those top players, I feel now I can go to any tournament and block out those nerves.”