Mcilroy must beware ‘trying too hard’ in his attempt to master the greens
Brad Faxon, the putting guru on whom Rory Mcilroy seems to be increasingly reliant, has opened up on the pressures the Ulsterman felt during the final round of the Masters two months ago. But Faxon believes his charge has learnt the lessons of that let-down and can resume his major collection here at the US Open this week.
Mcilroy first consulted with Faxon – the eight-time winner on the PGA Tour who played in two Ryder Cups – in March, soon after splitting with the Southport putting coach Phil Kenyon.
Originally, the relationship was as much based on the pair living near each other in south Florida as Faxon’s almost legendary status with the flat stick. But after the 90-minute “chat” paid immediate dividends with the 29-year-old’s first title in 18 months at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, Mcilroy put Faxon on speed dial. And after his Sunday performance on the greens of Augusta – which saw his hopes of a career grand slam go south – Mcilroy sought to make the partnership more official.
“There’s no contract and I like to keep it low key, which I think Rory likes, but he called me a couple of weeks ago and I was up with him [here at Shinnecock Hills] for a day and a half last week,” Faxon said. “We played with his dad and a friend. I don’t know what I am to him, but it’s important to say this is a guy with so many tools, probably the most gifted player out here, so it was just nice timing for me.”
Faxon is being modest. Clearly Mcilroy took plenty from Faxon’s “free-flowing” advice and is praying it works for him here on putting surfaces he calls “as challenging as any set of greens I’ve ever seen”.
“I think he kind of realised he was pulling a little in the wrong direction for him,” Faxon said. “We talked about trying too hard. I think that’s always a danger among the top playchampionship
ers. When they want something so badly, how do you keep yourself at a level when you can still perform your best?”
Those comments were obviously resonant after Mcilroy’s Augusta shortcoming. The golfer denied he was overawed, but Faxon does not believe it could be put down solely to technical faults.
“I don’t believe everything falls apart mechanically without great input from the mind,” he said. “It acts so strongly, if you add a lot of thoughts, you go in the wrong direction. He’s really good at processing what he didn’t like about that day, learning from it, and going on.” Faxon has no doubt that Mcilroy’s barren run in the majors – which now stands at four years – will be ending soon. Perhaps even here. “It’s a good course set-up this week for Rory and he’s seen it under different wind conditions,” he said. “But no one has seen it as firm as it will be come the first round. I think the better players want that, the more difficult conditions. “Rory’s got more potential than anybody. He can hit the ball long, high, low, right, left, and he’s good around the greens. He’s got the most complete game I’ve ever seen.”