RORY MCILROY hopes this week’s Travelers Championship proves less of a grind as the Masters champion looks to get back into the groove ahead of The Open.

It has not been the smoothest of returns to action for the Northern Irishman following his Augusta triumph in April, which completed a long-awaited career Grand Slam.

The 36-year-old saw his driver ruled as ‘non-conforming’ ahead of last month’s PGA Championship before he missed the cut at the Canadian Open.

It was also tough going for McIlroy at the US Open over a punishing Oakmont course, where he battled to make it into the weekend before eventually tying for 19th.

McIlroy, though, played his best golf of the week during Sunday’s final round, where his three-under-par 67 was the joint best of the day.

After playing at the Travelers Championship in Hartford, Connecticut, McIlroy will head back to the UK for a break before the Scottish Open and then mount his challenge for another Open crown at Royal Portrush in County Antrim.

With plenty of background noise having again followed him at Oakmont, McIlroy hopes to be able to stay focused on the job at hand at the final PGA Tour Signature Event of the season.

“I think the weeks after major championships in these events, sometimes when you are in contention and you are trying to win them, it can feel quite difficult to go play the next week,” McIlroy told a press conference at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell.

“After a week like I had at Oakmont, where you are not quite in the mix but you might feel you find something in your game, you are excited to come back and play again.

“This is the perfect sort of chaser for what Oakmont was last week, and nice to get out on a golf course where you feel you can make quite a few birdies.”

McIlroy added: “There are a lot of guys in the field this week where this is their fourth tournament in a row, so they have been put through the wringer the last few weeks.

“This is a welcome set-up where they feel like they can relax a little bit and not have to grind so much for your score.”

World number two McIlroy is set to head out to India for the new DP Tour event during October, as well as back to Melbourne for the Australian Open at the start of December.

As to whether Manchester United fan McIlroy will get the chance to bring the Green Jacket to Old Trafford any time soon, that remains to be seen.

“Probably not. I don’t know if I will have the opportunity. If I do have the opportunity, I would like to. Yeah, we will see,” McIlroy said.

McIlroy will tee off alongside American Keegan Bradley on Thursday morning.

World number one Scottie Scheffler will defend his Travelers Championship title and has been paired with newly-crowned US Open champion JJ Spaun for the opening round.

“I didn’t have my best stuff last week but was still able to get a decent finish,” said Scheffler, who tied for seventh at Oakmont.

“I have felt good about my prep work so far this week and I’m excited to get the tournament started.”

Spaun admitted it had been “pretty hectic” and “crazy” since lifting the US Open trophy on Sunday.

But the 34-year-old is not about to take things easy when he heads back out on the course.

“I definitely need to keep the hunger there. I think I will have the hunger just because I want to continue to prove myself, but not prove myself to anybody other than myself,” he said.

“As long as I keep that up, I think I will continue to play well, and obviously winning the US Open is going to be a huge boost to that sort of inner ego, I guess you could say, to keep that self-belief alive and burning.”