{"id":667758,"date":"2026-05-27T09:15:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T09:15:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/667758\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T09:15:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T09:15:24","slug":"former-rory-mcilroy-ally-gives-masters-champion-little-chance-at-u-s-open-doesnt-suit-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/667758\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Rory McIlroy ally gives Masters champion little chance at U.S. Open: “Doesn’t suit him”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rory McIlroy’s former agent believes the the Northern Irishman doesn’t have a good chance of winning the 2026 U.S. Open<\/a> as the venue “doesn’t suit him”.\u00a0<\/p>\n

McIlroy, 37, landed his sixth major title at the 2026 Masters to become only the fourth golfer in history after Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods<\/a> and Sir Nick Faldo to defend the green jacket.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He was in contention heading into the final round of the PGA Championship<\/a> two weeks ago but struggled to gain any momentum in the final round and ended up finishing five behind champion Aaron Rai in a tie for seventh.\u00a0<\/p>\n

McIlroy<\/a> will head to Muirfield Village in Ohio for the annual Memorial Tournament next month before turning his attentions to the U.S. Open – but Chandler doesn’t believe his former client will land his seventh major title.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Rory <\/p>\n

Rory McIlroy is targeting a seventh major title next month<\/p>\n

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“I don’t think Shinnecock suits him to win at the US Open,” Chandler said. “It’s probably going to be fast, it’s probably going to be windy. I would say it’s doubtful he gets the conditions that would suit him.”<\/p>\n

McIlroy shots rounds of 80-70 to miss the cut by two strokes the last time the U.S. Open was played at Shinnecock Hills in 2018, an event won by former LIV Golf recruit Brooks Koepka<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He has played in the U.S. Open 17 times throughout his career, winning once at Congressional in 2011. Of those starts, he has missed the cut on five occasions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chandler believes McIlroy will have plenty of chances to land more major titles but doubled down on his opinion that success will be dependent on the layout.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Chubby <\/p>\n

Chubby Chandler doesn’t believe McIlroy has a good chance at the U.S. Open<\/p>\n

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Highlighting McIlroy’s erratic driving<\/a> performance at Aronimink Golf Club earlier in the month, Chandler added: “They found a golf course that didn’t suit him particularly, and if it’s like that then he’s losing his advantage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The advantage of hitting it 328 yards is massive, but not if you’re hitting it in the cabbage all the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve always had this idea about Rory: he never plays firm, fast courses well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“That seemed to bear that up this time. But he’s going to get another 20 or 30 chances to win a major, and they’re not all going to be like that.”<\/p>\n

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McIlroy’s final round at the PGA Championship also included a heated exchange with a spectator<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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He shouted an expletive at a heckler who distracted him in a crucial moment and appeared to urge security to step in.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The incident was reminiscent of McIlroy’s Ryder Cup campaign last September in which the golfer and the European team were subjected to frequent abuse by some US supporters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chandler said: “I think his expletive was an admission that the course got the better of him early.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I think the course definitely wasn’t his type of course.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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“I’ve always said with Rory, he needs a bit of softness in the course, and there was no softness there.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“He needs a course that allows him to drive it slightly inaccurately, and it didn’t. The course was never up his alley.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It was definitely not a course where you were going to be able to shoot 64 and play catch up.”<\/p>\n

\"Rory <\/p>\n

Rory McIlroy won the 2011 U.S. Open<\/p>\n

Despite the exchange, Chandler said the atmosphere at the PGA Championship was “quite pleasant”.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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“You’ve got a few idiots shouting out, but not many,” he said. “Somebody shouted at Rory, didn’t they?\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Rory gave it a glare and obviously said something to one of the troopers. I don’t know what he said.<\/p>\n

“He’s got plenty of security protection. He has people there following him around the course.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I think if you end up giving him too much protection, it looks ridiculous.”<\/p>\n

Chandler was speaking to CanadaCasino<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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