DUBLIN, Ohio — If I had a nickel for every time I heard “Rory McIlroy is hard to beat when he is at the top of his game,” I wouldn’t be writing about Rory McIlroy. I’d be counting my millions while sipping a cocktail in the tropics.
McIlroy is indeed a beast when his game is on form. The problem confronting the long-hitting 34-year-old is the sixth word in the previous sentence.
When.
Or as it relates specifically to the issue of McIlroy’s nine-year major championship victory drought: When?
Golf is a fickle, frustrating game. On the first hole, your 5-iron feels like Excalibur, slicing through the air to send a Titleist two feet from the pin. On the second hole, using the same club, it’s the Titleist that slices … into the woods.
The best players in the world are more consistently excellent than high-handicappers, but no less prone to periods of golf putrefaction. They experience ups and downs and periods of drought like the rest of us. The biggest difference, besides doing their pouting while flying by private jet instead of while drinking a sad trombone beer on the back porch of the local muni, is expectations. We expect to card a par or two over 18 holes. They expect to collect a major or two over their career.
Which brings us back to McIlroy. It remains a puzzler why the Northern Irishman, now fully acclimated to living in southern Florida, cannot seem to win a fifth. His last major came in 2014 at the PGA Championship.
For a player whose swing comes close to perfection and whose short game is top shelf when it is on, failing to come away with a major trophy for almost a decade is akin to Rafael Nadal constantly coming up short in the tennis Grand Slam. It should not happen, and in Nadal’s case has not happened.
No one can explain it, not even McIlroy. Though he tries. Ahead of the Memorial Tournament on Wednesday, the No. 3 golfer in the world addressed the state of his game, explaining how three weeks ago at the PGA Championship his swing felt more uncomfortable than it has in a long time. Yet he still tied for seventh, a testament to his talent.
Rory McIlroy signs autographs after the Workday Golden Bear Pro-Am ahead of the 2023 Memorial Tournament at Muirlfield Village Golf Club. (Photo: Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch)
Swing “feels” come and go, but that cannot explain why McIlroy keeps coming up short in majors; sometimes just short. He was in the hunt at the 2022 British Open, leading at St. Andrews entering the final round. And while he did not choke away his chances, shooting a respectable 2-under 70, he finished third when Aussie Cam Smith shot 64 to win.
McIlroy has won 23 times on the PGA Tour, including 14 wins since his last major victory, and he has captured the top spot in nine international events. He has been ranked No. 1 in the world nine different times since turning pro in 2007. The resume rivals anyone’s on tour, which is why he is as stupefied by his inability to win again on the biggest stages. Too much emotional scar tissue from faltering when it matters? Too focused on the “life” side of work-life balance? Not enough of a step-on-their-throat mentality, the kind of killer instinct that made Tiger Woods so successful?
As for not being ruthless enough, McIlroy provided an illuminating answer.
“I find being that way pretty exhausting in life in general, to be that ruthless and that. It’s not as if I can’t get into that mode, but I don’t feel like I need to be that way to be successful on the golf course,” he said.
As for feeling pressure to win another major to secure his legacy as one of golf’s greats, he again shed light on the subject.
“If I don’t win another tournament for the rest of my career, I still see my career as a success. I still stand up here as a successful person in my eyes,” he said.
That does not make McIlroy soft, but it does make him flesh and bone, and acting human in a game that demands single-minded attention to self is not conducive to winning majors.
“I’ve certainly experienced it,” McIlroy said. “You go through that whole life process of getting married, having children, having interests outside of the game that take up some time.
“Look, I would love to sit here and say that I’m just a golfer, and that’s all I focus on, but that’s not reality. So it’s about managing your time the right way so that you can continue to hone your craft and make sure when you show up at events …”
When you show up at events.
There’s the rub. McIlroy tends not to show up for all four rounds. Could it be a concentration issue? Memorial Tournament host Jack Nicklaus hinted at it.
“I don’t know what to make of it, because he’s very confident,” Nicklaus said. “He works very hard at it. He’s a good student of the game. He practices a lot. I don’t know whether his is a constant lack of being able to keep that (72-hole) concentration for the whole thing or not, because sometimes he is par, par, par, double, 8. He does that sometimes. But as far as talent, he’s as talented as there is in the game of golf. Why he hasn’t won in nine years? Kind of a mystery to a lot of people, because he is so good.”
Next up: the U.S. Open, June 15-18, in Los Angeles. If not then, when?