Seven years since his last major win puts a lot of scar tissue on McIlroy
IT IS nine years now since Rory McIlroy arrived on the South Carolina shore of Kiawah Island and swept away the field to win the US PGA Championship by a record eight- shot margin.
His second t riumph in a Grand Slam event at the age of only 23 sat easily alongside all those successes at the London Olympics taking place at the same time. We giddily wondered: how many majors will he end up winning? Could he beat Gary Player’s nine, the best ever by a non-American golfer?
In five weeks’ time, McIlroy will return to Kiawah, accompanied by a rather more sombre soundtrack, and genuine worries r e gardi ng hi s future. After a disastrous performance at the Masters, featuring his first missed halfway cut at Augusta since 2010, Sir Nick Faldo didn’t sugarcoat the massive task ahead to reboot Rory.
It’s one thing fixing his technical issues under the tutelage of new coach Pete Cowen. Sixtime major winner Faldo is more concerned about t he mental toll.
‘We’re seven years now since the last of his four major victories and that’s an awful lot of scar tissue,’ said the Englishman. ‘ Never forget that this game is like a knife, where confidence and trust can be cut away in one shot.’
Former Irish player Paul McGinley agrees there is ‘an awful lot of work to do’. Indeed, there’s a persuasive argument for believing McIlroy is presently mired in the worst slump of his career. Over the past month, he’s missed the cut by miles at the Players Championship, been thrashed by Ian Poulter at the WGC-Match Play and now Augusta, where the cruel truth is the only memorable shot he struck was the one that slapped against his father Gerry’s leg in the first round.
McGinley can see the stress lines etched all over McIlroy’s face. The former Ryder Cup captain sees a player trying too much and working too hard to put things right.
‘ I think the best thing for Rory would be to put the clubs away for a fortnight and enjoy some sunshine on a beach somewhere and clear his head,’ said McGinley. ‘Sometimes the harder you try the worse it gets in this game, no matter how talented you are.’
McIlroy’s bitter disappointment at the end of the major he craves more than any other was obvious. He declined to speak to the media and made his way disconsolately to the car park. Five weeks now to the next major, the one that ought to be filled with so many happy memories. He will be 32 by then, and 18 months will have passed since a victory of any kind.
McIlroy was, at least, in very good company among the fallen at Augusta. The leading 50 players and ties play on at the weekend at the Masters and, given there were only 88 competitors to begin with, including some old champions guaranteed to be among the back markers, it was curious how many stars failed to make it.
The list was led by defending champion Dustin Johnson, who dropped three shots in the last four holes to miss out by a couple. The world No 1 came into this event under a cloud, following the recent death of his grandfather, who taught him the game. Struggling, perhaps, for concentration, he had a terrible time on the greens, threeputting six times in 36 holes. ‘I hit the ball fine, but I just couldn’t get the speed of the greens,’ he lamented. A South Carolina native, expect him to have his game head back on by Kiawah.
It’s hard not to feel huge sympathy for Brooks Koepka, another to miss out. After winning four majors in three years, t he 30- year- ol d has had a wretched time with injuries, and there are grave fears that his right knee will never fully heal. Three weeks after an operation for a dislocated kneecap, he couldn’t cope walking up the steep Augusta hills.
Lee Westwood missed out by two strokes as well although, with his 48th birthday in sight, he’s rightly accepting of the fact there will be weeks like this. Then there’s Danny Willett, who has made just one halfway cut at Augusta in five appearances since winning the Masters in 2016.
None of this, of course, would have provided McIlroy with any consolation.
Two Masters in the space of 150 days seemed heaven sent for him to complete the career Grand Slam. Instead, they’ve come and gone with the dream l ooking further away than ever.