Rory McIlroy Says Open Championship Is Next 'Mountain to Climb' After Winning Masters

Rory McIlroy had another disappointing showing at the U.S. Open at Oakmont this weekend, but he's finding inspiration as he looks to the next major event.

McIlroy, who won his first Masters in April, said the Open Championship in July is his next "mountain to climb."

"Look, I climbed my Everest in April, and I think after you do something like that, you've got to make your way back down, and you've got to look for another mountain to climb," he said, per ESPN's Brooke Pryor. "An Open at Portrush is certainly one of those."

McIlroy carded four bogeys and one double bogey in Round 1 before collecting a pair of double bogeys and a bogey in the second round at an unforgiving Oakmont course. Things didn't get better in Round 3 as he bogeyed six times.

McIlroy finally figured things out on Sunday, picking up six birdies and three bogeys to finish at 3-under 70 for the day, but his solid effort didn't come soon enough. He finished seven-over par for the tournament, far off from the leaders.

Since his Masters win in April, McIlroy has been far from impressive. He had a pair of top-15 finishes at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and the Truist Championship early this spring, but finished in 47th at the PGA Championship last month before missing the cut at the Canadian Open a week ago.

It's a bit understandable why he hasn't played with the same competitive edge he did before the Masters. The 36-year-old needed just a win at the Masters to complete a career grand slam, and he had been chasing that coveted win for years. Now having his career grand slam, McIlroy doesn't necessarily have a certain accomplishment he's chasing.

But now, it appears McIlroy has found his new motivation. He wants to get his first win at the Open Championship in more than a decade.

"If I can't get motivated to get up for an Open Championship at home, then I don't know what can motivate me," he said, per Pryor. "I just need to get myself in the right frame of mind. I probably haven't been there the last few weeks.

"Getting home and having a couple weeks off before that, hopefully feeling refreshed and rejuvenated, will get me in the right place again."