Golf-Calm before the storm for McIlroy

SANDWICH, England, July 12 (Reuters) - It was the calm before the storm for Rory McIlroy on Tuesday as he sauntered into blustery Royal St George’s fully comfortable

with his role as favourite for this week’s British Open.

By the time the 22-year-old tees of at 08.09GMT on Thursday morning “Rory Mania” will be in full swing, with heaving galleries following his every move.

Even before his romp to victory at the U.S. Open last month the mop-haired Northern Irishman was one of the hottest tickets in town but after that spellbinding start-to-finish exhibition his ratings have gone into the stratosphere.

No wonder the Royal and Ancient are rubbing their hands together, especially in the absence of traditional top draw Tiger Woods, while two punters have wagered 20,000 pounds on McIlroy to win the tournament at odds of 8-1.

However, while McIlroy described his U.S. Open title as “life-changing” he is refusing to be side-tracked by the hype as he prepares for a very different examination of his game on the windy links on the south-east tip of England.

If anything, he arrives with the pressure swept away after finally delivering on his billing as the heir-apparent to 14-times major winner Woods.

“It means that every time I come into a press conference or do an interview I don’t have to answer that question, whereas a lot of guys still do,” McIlroy told reporters.

“(Winning the U.S. Open) has lifted a huge weight off my shoulders. Now I can talk about winning my second one after having won the first.

“It’s a nice pressure to have lifted off you. Even though I was in contention for the last four majors, it’s nice to get that first one out of the way and focus on getting more.

“If anything it just gives me more confidence knowing when I step onto the first tee of a major that I’ve done this before.

“If I can bottle the mentality that I had at the U.S. Open going into every tournament, I’d be very happy.”

McIlroy has not hit a shot in anger since his record-shattering eight-shot win at the U.S. Open, enjoying the knock-on effects of his triumph such as an invite to the Royal Box at the recent Wimbledon championships.

While some have questioned the wisdom of a low-key build-up, McIlroy oozed calm and assurance on Tuesday.

“I’m glad about it after looking at what happened in Scotland last week,” he said, referring to the storm-shortened Scottish Open in Inverness.

“I was scheduled to play in the French Open, and if I had gone into the French Open, I knew I wouldn’t be giving the best of myself or been able to practice or prepare properly.

“Every event I go into I want to have a chance to win. I knew my preparation wouldn’t have been good enough going into France to have a chance.

“So I thought, you know what, let’s just get everything out of the way and make sure that your preparation going into the Open is as good as it could be. That’s really what I’ve done.

“I went into the Masters after three weeks off and shot three pretty good scores there so it’s not a problem to me not playing competitive golf after having a break.”

With the deep pocket bunkers littering the fairways and the wind up, this week’s 140th Open will be a test of technique, patience and nerve.

McIlroy knows only too well the perils that lurk on links courses having seen his chances blown away in the second round at St Andrews last year when he carded an 80 after starting with a 63.

After his U.S. Open fireworks, McIlroy said he is prepared to batten down the hatches in windswept Kent and do whatever is needed to finish Sunday on top.

“If it’s good enough to win, it’s good enough for me,” he said. “If the wind keeps up I’ll take two 70s in the first two rounds here. But you can’t really put a number on it.

“If the wind keeps up like this, St. George’s is one of the toughest Open tests that we have. Solid golf is good enough for me, as long as it’s better than everyone else’s solid golf.”

McIlroy will open his Open quest in a threesome with Ernie Els and American Rickie Fowler, another of the young guns expected to be challenging him for majors in the next decade.

Another of them, Australian Jason Day, said McIlroy will have a lot on his shoulders this week.

“It’s going to be massive for him, he’s done it in the past but this is a new experience for him,” Day told Reuters.

“He is favourite to win…and lots of people think he’s going to just come out and just kill it.”