Rory McIlroy looks forward to getting ‘back to America’s sunshine’

Yes, he grew up in the North but golf ace Rory McIlroy believes that yawningly familiar things like the rain, wind and cold affected his performance at the British Open.

McIlroy suggested to reporters that the weather may have had a hand in his admittedly modest performance which saw him finish in a tie for 25th on seven over par.

Unlike his fellow Irishman (and mentor) Darren Clarke, the newly minted US Open champion found himself among the general stable of lacklustre performances, a stable that included all of the previously tipped English players.

McIlroy, who closed with a 73, was heard to take issue with the bad weather.

'I'm not a fan of tournaments when the outcome is predicted so much by the weather,' he told the Daily Mail.

'My game is suited for basically every golf course and most conditions, but these conditions I just don't enjoy playing in really. That's the bottom line. I'd rather play when it's 80 degrees and sunny with not much wind.

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'All the amateur tournaments I've won, they were played on links courses but they were relatively calm. I'm just glad I'm in the clubhouse.'

Irish fans will be excited at the prospect of the golf ace playing at the Irish Open in Killarney, starting a week on Thursday, but McIlroy himself is looking further down the line.

'I'm looking forward to getting back to America and getting back into some nice conditions,' he told the press. 'I obviously have high expectations of myself and I know if the weather had been a little better this week I probably would have been able to contend a bit more. There's no point in changing your game for just one week a year.'

Cracks about the bad weather and the exaggerated claims being made by both his admirers and critics may well have been contributing factors; there's no doubt he's been on roller coaster lately. But there's every indication he's keeping his head even in the testing times.

'There's no point coming in thinking, 'I'm the US Open champion, I'm going to do well,' he told the press this week. 'You can't really think like that. I've won three tournaments as a pro, to start talking about winning 18 majors and this and that, it was very premature.'