PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – No one knows the pressure felt by Rory McIlroy at this week’s Open Championship. Not countryman Darren Clarke. Not countryman Graeme McDowell. Not defending champion Francesco Molinari.
Molinari doesn’t pretend to have been under the same weight of expectation as McIlroy, who was playing in a home major, but he shouldered a self-imposed load that has buried him near the bottom of the leaderboard through his three rounds at Royal Portrush.
“I guess the outside pressure is always there in majors. What I probably would do different is my expectations [of] myself. I put too much pressure on me, especially the first day.