How Rory McIlroy worked through the stages of grief after losing the U.S. Open

If they’d suffered the kind of defeat that Rory McIlroy did at Pinehurst last month, a whole lot of people would have burned their golf clubs, changed their name, and disappeared into the hills, never to return.

Rory McIlroy? Well, he just changed his phone number.

“Went from being very disappointed and dejected to trying to focus on the positives to then wanting to learn from the negatives and then getting to the point where you become enthusiastic and motivated to go again,” McIlroy said on Tuesday prior to this week’s Open Championship.

McIlroy returned to golf last week at the Genesis Scottish Open, but this marks his first real test of major-level golf since the U.S. Open. McIlroy has a history of rebounding from adversity — he won the very first major after his 2011 Masters debacle — and he’s already one of the favorites to win this week at Royal Troon.

“It’s funny how your mindset can go from, I don’t want to see a golf course for a month to like four days later being, Can’t wait to get another shot at it,” he said. “When that disappointment turns to motivation, that’s when it’s time to go again.” How long did it take to make that transition? “Three, four days.”

McIlroy spent his time immediately after the loss losing himself in Manhattan, Airpods in. “It’s liberating in some way,” he said. “Trying to find the joy from the small things in life I think is really important. Going there especially is a good reset, just in terms of seeing everyone living their lives and the hustle and the bustle. Honestly, no one gave a [darn] if I missed the putt at Pinehurst. It’s a nice perspective to keep.”

As for that phone number? Blame the media. McIlroy said he received about a dozen texts from media members, and decided it was time to give himself a little distance, so he changed his number. That led to the odd little circumstance of missing a condolence text from Tiger Woods.

“I didn’t get it until he told me about it [Tuesday]. I was like, oh, thanks very much,” McIlroy said. “So I blanked Tiger Woods, which is probably not a good thing.”

McIlroy tees off at 5:09 a.m. Eastern on Thursday alongside Max Homa and Tyrrell Hatton.