Rory McIlroy is hoping to use the pain of missing the cut at the US Open to spur him on to success at the 100th Open de France at Le Golf National.
The Northern Irishman missed just his fifth cut in a Major Championship with rounds of 77-71 at Oakmont Country Club but has been in fine form this season with that result his only finish outside the top ten so far.
He won the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Hosted by the Rory Foundation just four weeks before his trip to Pennsylvania but the four-time Major Championship winner sets his bar very high and admits he has been working hard on his game.
"You need to use the setbacks to learn and grow and move forward," he said. "It's very disappointing to miss the cut at the US Open and forego a chance to win another Major Championship.
"But at the same time, I had to be aggressive with a few things and it was almost like it needed to happen, just to assess everything and try to make a few changes where I needed to. I was trying to play with a few things and I just needed to go back to the drawing board a little bit and work on a few things.
"I felt like I've always used setbacks well. I've always learned from my mistakes and I think it's been one of the great things about my career that any time I've had a setback, I've usually come back pretty well. There's no reason why I can't do that again.
"At the end of the day, that's what I'm trying to do. Trying to use those disappointments as fuel for the fire going forward and hopefully I can get to where I want to in my golf swing and the way I'm playing and have a good run this summer."
This week is McIlroy's first trip to the Open de France since 2010 when he finished just one shot out of a three-man play-off, with Miguel Angel Jiménez taking the title after prevailing over Alejandro Cañizares and Francesco Molinari.
Le Golf National will also play host to the Ryder Cup in 2018 and McIlroy is looking forward to re-familiarising himself with the Paris layout.
"I'm happy to be back in France," he said. "I've been wanting to come back for a while and being the 100th anniversary and just two years to the Ryder Cup, I thought it was a good thing to come and support the tournament, support the European Tour and familiarise myself with the golf course for two years' time.
"And last time I played here, I finished one shot out of the play-off.
I've had some good form on this golf course and hopefully I can continue that this week - Rory McIlroy
"If you can place your ball in the right positions off the tee, it's very important. I don't know how thick the rough is but I'm imagining it will be pretty thick with all the rain that's been here over the last few weeks."
