DON’T LOOK MAC IN ANGER
Rory admits he was ‘dog **** ’ at the Masters, Koepka success got to him and he wasted a year fighting LIV rebels
RORY MCILROY has revealed his frustration with his game and his worries about the reemergence of Brooks Koepka in behind-the-scenes TV footage.
And the Ulsterman, who branded his performance at the Masters as “dogs**t,” admitted his struggles were a “wake-up call” to focus on golf and not LIV politics.
Mcilroy finished last season strongly as he returned to world No.1 and led Europe to victory at the Ryder Cup.
But he has now gone nearly 10 years without adding to his four Major titles – and he saw LIV star Koepka overtake him by winning his fifth at the US PGA last May.
After finishing tied for seventh at Oak Hill, Mcilroy shared his heartache in an expletive-laden conversation with his caddie Harry Diamond and agent Sean O’flaherty in the locker room caught by the cameras in the new Netflix Full Swing series.
“My technique is nowhere near as good as it used to be,” he says. “I almost feel I want to do a complete reboot. No, I do. It’s the only way I feel like I’m going to break through.
“It feels so far away. I’m not at the stage of my life where I feel like I can do taser two-week boot camps. I feel good enough to be f ***** g top 10 in my head but not good enough to win. Like pull away. Like winning f ***** g Majors.”
Mcilroy, who was a vocal supporter of the PGA Tour before the June 6 framework agreement with the Saudi Public Investment Fund over LIV Golf, later admitted: “The pressure I was feeling to be this spokesman and this leader, I think that was part of the problem, I was just disappointed and wanted to get away from it.”
The immersive documentary showed Mcilroy sportingly econgratulate Koekpa in the car park after the US PGA and he told the American: “I am so happy for you.”
But he then admitted to the Netflix cameras: “F***. Someone in my era has got more Majors than I have. It is hard for me not to define myself as one of the best golfers in the world.
“So when you struggle like that, you feel a little lost. But I think it was a wake-up call for me to say: ‘Let’s just focus on the golf for a little bit’.”
Mcilroy, who turns 35 in May, was left stunned by the shock June 6 announcement of merger talks with the Saudis. “Why did I just waste 12 months of my life to fight for something that was always going to come back together again?’ he asked.
But the series captures his evolving stance on re-uniting the game which now sees him oppose any punishment for LIV players returning to the PGA Tour following the signing of European stars Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton.
His Major quest remains consistent. After finishing runner-up at the US Open, he insisted: “I am going to get one of these things f ****** sooner or later.”
Mcilroy is 8-1 favourite to win the US Masters in April.
■■*Full Swing Series 2 will be available on Netflix from March 6