Believing in himself, McIlroy is back to 100% and winning
AUSTIN – Although he’d gone nearly 18 months without a victory, a stunning, frustrating stretch of 26 starts around the world, former world No. 1 Rory McIlroy didn’t celebrate deep into the night after he won the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Sunday.
Instead, he had two glasses of Opus One wine and a bowl of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, a large scoop of Americone Dream on one side, another large scoop of Salted Caramel Core on the other.
“And I watched the highlights, but I feel asleep before the fireworks started on the 13th,” he said. “Just tired.”
Not that he wasn’t elated. He was still all smiles Tuesday at Austin Country Club, home to the Dell Technologies Match Play beginning Wednesday. Through his long struggle to overcome a rib injury he suffered in January 2017, through all the missed cuts and all the early Sunday finishes and all his putting woes, he never lost faith.
Others wondered what was wrong as he slipped to 13th in the world rankings, but the four-time major winner said he has always turned negatives into positives and had seen the light at the end of the tunnel.
“I’ve always believed in myself, and I know that me being 100% healthy is good enough to not just win on the PGA Tour but win a lot. And I guess that’s what kept me going,” McIlroy, 28, said after a practice round. “I wanted to get back to 100% fitness which I have, and that allows me to practice as much as I want, go about my business, do everything that I need to do to feel 100% prepared to play golf tournaments.
“I never lost belief. I know that I’ve got a gift for this game, and I know that if I put the time in I can make a lot of it.”
He made the most of his chance Sunday with a tour de force finish. At even par through six holes, McIlroy “then played a perfect round of golf,” he said, rattling off birdies on 13, 14, 15, 16 and 18 to win his 14th PGA Tour title and first since the 2016 Tour Championship.
“I needed to execute shots coming down the stretch and I did. I hit different shots, holed putts, chipped in and did everything that I needed to do,” he said after closing with a 64. “Yeah, right up there with the best I’ve played.”
And up there with the best he’s putted. Two long practice days following his missed cut in the Valspar Championship two weeks ago included meeting up with Brad Faxon, one of the best putters during his days on the PGA Tour.
Suddenly, McIlroy was a kid on the greens again, giving no thought to technique and just putting by feel.
“Freed up my head more than my stroke,” McIlroy said of Faxon’s advice. “I was sort of complicating things a bit and thinking a little bit too much about it and maybe a little bogged down by technical or mechanical thoughts. The objective is to get that ball in the hole and that’s it. I think I lost sight of that a little bit. That sounds silly, but I just reminded myself that it doesn’t matter how you do it as long as that thing goes in, and that was my mind-set.”
His mind and game are in a good place this week. He won the Match Play in 2015 and finished second in 2012 and fourth in 2016, when it was held in Austin for the first time. This will be his last tournament before heading to Augusta for the Masters in two weeks. A win there would give him the career Grand Slam.
“Obviously, I’m very happy to have my game in this shape going into the first major of the year,” he said. “Even if I hadn’t won last week, just to see the signs that my golf game was in good shape would be good enough for me knowing that going into Augusta I was ready to play well.
“I’ve had three goes at winning the Slam. The last three years have gone OK. I’ve played well. Not well enough. And hopefully I put the last piece of the puzzle in there this year and get it done.”