OAKMONT, Pa. — The daily drama of Rory McIlroy — Will he talk today? Will he not? — was energy wasted Sunday. McIlroy didn’t boycott the press as he’d done after six of his last seven rounds at major championships, the most prominent battle in the surreal press-vs.-player war being waged on the PGA Tour.

Of course, it probably didn’t hurt that USGA CEO Mike Whan was perched on the Oakmont Country Club back porch, less than 20 feet from McIlroy’s exit route, and that Whan loomed over the media scrum until McIlroy had fully answered every single question.

It also probably didn’t hurt that McIlroy shot 3-under Sunday, the first time in his last seven rounds he’d broken par. That included a 4-over, 2-over, 4-over start here at the U.S. Open. He’d ignored media requests after the first two days, then, on Saturday, painted himself petulant and pampered when he said, “I’ve feel like I’ve earned the right to do whatever I want to do.”

At any rate, McIlroy’s self-reflective candor resurfaced Sunday. So did his golf game, which had been in the doldrums since he won the Masters and completed the career Grand Slam after chasing it for 11 years. During Round 3, begun early with players who, like him, barely made the cut, he threw a club, destroyed a tee marker, then, afterward, roasted the media. Less than 24 hours later, sitting just outside of the top-20, McIlroy was more focused during his round and less agitated after it.

“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,” McIlroy said. “An Open at Portrush is certainly one of those.”

McIlroy said Saturday that, as he completed his round Friday, he wasn’t even sure he wanted to make the cut and subject himself to two more days of golf hell at the toughest course the tour regularly sees. This has been the low point of a stunning metamorphosis — from darling of the international sporting world, weeping on the 18th green at Augusta as millions basked in his joy, to full-blown WWE heel.

He hasn’t been himself.

“I just need to get myself in the right frame of mind. I probably haven’t been there the last few weeks,” he admitted Sunday. “Getting home and having a couple weeks off, hopefully feeling refreshed and rejuvenated, will get me in the right place again.

He hoped that the incentive of winning at home would rejuvenate him. There’s no guarantee that will happen. McIlroy always fights emotion.

The British Open will be played a month from now at Royal Portrush, 60 miles north of Holywood in his native Northern Ireland, where he shot a then course-record 61 as a cocky 16-year-old amateur. McIlroy missed the cut in 2019 at the last Open at Portrush, overcome by the moment.

“I didn’t realize how emotional I was going to be at Portrush. I think that was a thing I was unprepared for more than anything else,“ McIlroy said. ”I remember I hit a shot into No. 12 or 13 on Friday night, obviously trying to make the cut. I remember the roar I got when the ball hit the green, and I felt like I was about to burst into tears. Just that support and that love from your own people. I was unprepared for that."

How will he prepare this time?

Next week he will play the Travelers Championship in Connecticut, a semi-mandatory “elevated event” with an extra-large purse, a closed field, no cut, and amplified FedEx Cup points. Then he’ll fly back to Europe, check on his new home in London, play the Genesis Scottish Open from July 10-13, then hop over the Irish Sea to the Emerald Isle and give it his best.

“I can’t get motivated to get up for an Open Championship at home,” he said Sunday, “then I don’t know what can motivate me.”

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