Rory McIlroy: Defending Champ Won't Repeat at 2012 US Open

After a first-round 77, Rory McIlroy has blown his chance at becoming just the seventh golfer to win consecutive U.S. Opens.

The 23-year-old Irishman was dominant at last year's tournament, posting the lowest aggregate score (268) and lowest score under par (16 under) in the 111 playings of the U.S. Open. Unfortunately, he hasn't been able to duplicate his success in 2012.

McIlroy bogeyed eight holes on the day, including four of his first five and three of his last four. He also had just one birdie in Round 1, despite leading the PGA with birdies or better on 25 percent of his holes entering the tournament.

McIlroy struggled throughout the round, and with current leader Michael Thompson sitting at four under, he faces quite the uphill battle. He would have to string together three flawless rounds to catch those at the top of the leaderboard, and with the difficulty of the 7,170-yard course at Olympic Club, I can't picture that happening.

He would also have to leapfrog the likes of Tiger Woods (one under), Graeme McDowell (one under) and Jim Furyk (even). As talented as McIlroy is, I don't think he can catch and surpass those guys on a course like this.

After missing the cut in three of his last four tournaments, we shouldn't be surprised at Rory's struggles in San Francisco.

He had a strong showing last week at the FedEx St. Jude Classic, but with his awful performance in Round 1, he'll be lucky to make the cut, let alone defend his title.