McIlroy aiming to profit from Nicklaus talks

There is nothing quite like a chat with the Golden Bear. In anticipation of the US Open, Rory McIlroy took advantage of the opportunity to talk to Jack Nicklaus.

McIlroy, 25, who has had a perplexing trend of 40-plus nine-hole rounds in several tournaments, opened Nicklaus' Memorial Tournament two weeks ago with a 63, followed by a Friday 78 in which he shot 43 on his first nine.

That was one of the subjects during their two-hour conversation last week at Nicklaus' office in North Palm Beach.

"He said to me, 'How the hell can you shoot 63 and then 78?''' McIlroy said. "I said, 'I wasn't meaning to, Jack. I'm not trying to.' He said to me he was never afraid to change thingsMcIlroy is making his sixth US Open appearance and won the tournament in 2011 at Congressional.

The two met for the first time in 2009 when McIlroy was playing the Honda Classic in Florida. Nicklaus recognised McIlroy in a Palm Beach Gardens car park and introduced himself, welcoming the golfer to his nearby Bear's Club.

That is eventually where McIlroy chose to base his Florida practise operations and they have remained in contact since. "To have that at my disposal is... I mean it has to be an advantage in some way,'' McIlroy said.

The Northern Irishman had never seen Pinehurst No.2 until last week, when he visited for two practise rounds. Ranked sixth in the world, McIlroy has had 10 top-10 finishes around the world this year, including a victory