The US Open is just days away, and Rory McIlroy is at Oakmont Country Club looking for his sixth major championship. He started this major season by winning The Masters and completing the career Grand Slam. But he has not played well since then, missing the cut at the RBC Canadian Open just last week. In his Tuesday press conference, McIlroy admitted to a horrendous practice round score that may leave fans worried ahead of the year's third major.

“They had the pins in dicey locations, and greens were running at 15½ (on the Stimpmeter). It was nearly impossible,” McIlroy said, per Paolo Uggetti of ESPN. “I birdied the last two holes for 81. It felt pretty good. It didn't feel like I played that bad.”

McIlroy said that this round came last week, before the Canadian Open. He proceeded to miss the cut in Toronto with a one-over-par 71 and an eight-over-par 78. In 2016, a much younger McIlroy missed the cut at the US Open at Oakmont, which was won by Dustin Johnson.

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The good news for McIlroy and his fans is that the greens were running faster that day than they will during the tournament. Golf Channel's Todd Lewis reported that the USGA wants to have the greens running between a 14.5 and a 15. But the biggest problem recently for McIlroy has been his driving. He knows how important his driver will be to competing in the US Open.

If you miss a fairway here, you can't really do anything with it unless you're in the middle of a fairway bunker and you can get something over the lip.”

The US Open starts on Thursday, when McIlroy will tee off at 7:40 A.M. with his Ryder Cup teammates Shane Lowry and Justin Rose. If he wins, it would be his sixth major in an epic career.