Rory McIlroy is "looking for another mountain to climb" as he reflected on an underwhelming U.S. Open.

McIlroy carded a three-under par 67 on Sunday to finish on seven over for the weekend.

Since winning the Masters to complete the career Grand Slam in April, five-time major champion McIlroy has struggled to find his best form.

He finished T47 at the PGA Championship and could not get going at Oakmont this weekend.

Having made his way back to the clubhouse before heavy rain suspended play, McIlroy is now readying himself to prepare for the season's final major, with The Open taking place in Portrush, in the 36-year-old's native Northern Ireland, next month.

As quoted by BBC Sport, McIlroy said: "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. An Open at Portrush is certainly one of those."

McIlroy was left in tears after he failed to make the cut when The Open took place at Portrush in 2019.

"If I can't get motivated to get up for an Open Championship at home, then I don't know what can motivate me," he added.

"I just need to get myself in the right frame of mind. I probably haven't been there the past few weeks.

"But getting home and having a couple of weeks off, hopefully feeling refreshed and rejuvenated, will get me in the right place again."

The early pairings are showing that there are scoring opportunities out there.

Rory now -3 for the day after this birdie. pic.twitter.com/04UsCELKPb

— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 15, 2025

McIlroy felt Sunday's display at least showed that physically, he is in a good place, especially with his driver.

"I feel like I've driven the ball well all week. After the way I drove it today, I'd say I finished in the top five in strokes gained off the tee," he said.

"[I'm] really encouraged with the driver and how I drove it as well. It's not necessarily the driver, it's more me and sort of where my swing was.

"I feel like I got a really good feeling in my swing with the driver, which was great. Hopefully, I can continue that on into next week. It's close.

"Physically I feel like my game's there. It's just mentally getting myself in the right frame of mind to get the best out of myself."