Rory McIlroy experienced a rollercoaster of a round on Thursday at Oakmont during the U.S. Open, shooting a 4-over 74. After a strong start, McIlroy made several mistakes in the latter part of his round, leaving him eight shots behind the early leaders.

McIlroy began the day with two birdies in his first three holes, briefly sharing the lead. This was a positive sign for the golfer, who had been struggling to find motivation following a poor performance at the PGA Tour event in Canada the previous week.

Despite hitting some impressive drives early on, McIlroy's round took a turn for the worse with multiple errors on the greens. He struggled with three-putts, missed short putts for par, and faced challenges on the notoriously difficult Oakmont greens.

By the end of the round, McIlroy's score of 74 was still better than his playing partners, Justin Rose and Shane Lowry. However, he found himself in 54th place as the afternoon wave of players teed off.

McIlroy chose not to speak to the media after completing his round, leaving fans and analysts to speculate on his performance and mindset going into the rest of the tournament.