Rory McIlroy on par with Leonardo da Vinci, according to Brandel Chamblee

Rory McIlroy is on par with Leonardo da Vinci, according to golf analyst Brandel Chamblee. The US Open will start on Thursday, amid a lot of anticipation among golf fans for the third major of the season. Before the tournament, Chamblee shared his thoughts about the reigning Masters champion’s form.

Chamblee joined the Dan Patrick show, and a clip of the podcast was shared on X on Thursday. In the clip, the analyst compared McIlroy with da Vinci and how both had a purpose on Earth. He wrote:

“Can he find his way back to focus? I hope so because he was put on this earth to play golf like Leonardo Davinci was put on this earth to paint angels. They just don't come around like him very often.”

McIlroy's form faltered after winning the Masters Tournament. In his last two PGA Tour appearances, the golfer missed the cut line at the RBC Canadian Open and finished in T47 at the PGA Championship. Last year, McIlroy missed the US Open trophy by one shot.

When will Rory McIlroy and other golfers tee off for the first day of the US Open?

Rory McIlroy will tee off with Shane Lowry and Justin Rose at 7:40 am on tee 10. Before them, Ben Griffin, Andrew Novak, and Maverick McNealy will start at 7:29 am on the same tee. Cameron Smith, Brian Harman, and Phil Mickelson will play at 8:02 am. Jordan Spieth, Jon Rahm, and Dustin Johnson will start at 1:14 pm.

Here's a list of tee times for the opening round of the US Open (all times in ET):

Tee No. 1

6:45 a.m. – Matt Vogt (a), Kevin Velo, Trent Phillips

6:56 a.m. – Chandler Blanchet, Alvaro Ortiz, Doug Ghim

7:07 a.m. – Evan Beck (a), Maxwell Moldovan, Justin Hicks

7:18 a.m. – Harris English, Tommy Fleetwood, Keegan Bradley

7:29 a.m. – Xander Schauffele, Jose Luis Ballester Barrio, Bryson DeChambeau

7:40 a.m. – Matt Fitzpatrick, Wyndham Clark, Gary Woodland

7:51 a.m. – Akshay Bhatia, Matt McCarty, Robert MacIntyre

8:02 a.m. – Cam Davis, Davis Thompson, Thomas Detry

8:13 a.m. – Richard Bland, Trevor Gutschewski (a), Lanto Griffin

8:24 a.m. – Edoardo Molinari, Sam Stevens, Ryan Gerard

8:35 a.m. – Thriston Lawrence, Noah Kent (a), Thorbjørn Olesen

8:46 a.m. – Jinichiro Kozuma, Cameron Tankersley (a), Chase Johnson

8:57 a.m. – Philip Barbaree, Riley Lewis, Brady Calkins

12:30 p.m. – Frederic LaCroix, Emiliano Grillo, Sam Bairstow

12:41 p.m. – Byeong Hun An, Joe Highsmith, Ryan Fox

12:52 p.m. – Victor Perez, Jacob Bridgeman, Adam Schenk

1:03 p.m. – Min Woo Lee, Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka

1:14 p.m. – Sam Burns, Nico Echavarria, Denny McCarthy

1:25 p.m. – Viktor Hovland, Collin Morikawa, Scottie Scheffler

1:36 p.m. – Corey Conners, Jason Day, Patrick Reed

1:47 p.m. – Joaquin Niemann, Bud Cauley, Daniel Berger

1:58 p.m. – Mackenzie Hughes, Tony Finau, Chris Kirk

2:09 p.m. – Ben James (a), Rasmus Højgaard, Stephan Jaeger

2:20 p.m. – Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Justin Hastings (a), Laurie Canter

2:31 p.m. – Frankie Harris (a), Emilio Gonzalez R., Roberto Díaz

2:42 p.m. – Grant Haefner, Joey Herrera, George Kneiser

Tee No. 10

6:45 a.m. – Zac Blair, Scott Vincent, Alistair Docherty

6:56 a.m. – Jacques Kruyswijk, Jordan Smith, Eric Cole

7:07 a.m. – Tom Kim, J.J. Spaun, Taylor Pendrith

7:18 a.m. – Ludvig Åberg, Adam Scott, Hideki Matsuyama

7:29 a.m. – Ben Griffin, Andrew Novak, Maverick McNealy

7:40 a.m. – Shane Lowry, Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy

7:51 a.m. – Patrick Cantlay, Si Woo Kim, Lucas Glover

8:02 a.m. – Cameron Smith, Brian Harman, Phil Mickelson

8:13 a.m. – Niklas Norgaard, Brian Campbell, Justin Lower

8:24 a.m. – Davis Riley, Jackson Koivun (a), Johnny Keefer

8:35 a.m. – James Hahn, Mark Hubbard, Michael La Sasso (a)

8:46 a.m. – Joakim Lagergren, Mason Howell (a), Chris Gotterup

8:57 a.m. – Zach Bauchou, Jackson Buchanan, Lance Simpson (a)

12:30 p.m. – Will Chandler, Andrea Pavan, Takumi Kanaya

12:41 p.m. – Bryan Lee (a), Guido Migliozzi, Preston Summerhays

12:52 p.m. – Erik van Rooyen, Max Greyserman, Matt Wallace

1:03 p.m. – Russell Henley, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Nick Taylor

1:14 p.m. – Jordan Spieth, Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson

1:25 p.m. – Tyrrell Hatton, Sungjae Im, Sepp Straka

1:36 p.m. – Cameron Young, Tom Hoge, J.T. Poston

1:47 p.m. – Jhonattan Vegas, Michael Kim, Matthieu Pavon

1:58 p.m. – Marc Leishman, Aaron Rai, Nick Dunlap

2:09 p.m. – Matthew Jordan, Yuta Sugiura, Carlos Ortiz

2:20 p.m. – Ryan McCormick, Trevor Cone, Zachery Pollo (a)

2:31 p.m. – James Nicholas, Tyler Weaver (a), Riki Kawamoto

2:42 p.m. – Austen Truslow, Harrison Ott, George Duangmanee