Self-help books give Mcilroy

TO UNDERSTAND the rebirth of

Rory Mcilroy and the journey of self-discovery that led to his thrilling return to the winner’s circle at the Players Championship this past Sunday, we need to head back to the US Open last June.

It was a week where Mcilroy was hell bent on making amends for missing the cut the previous two years, and for failing to do himself justice in the final round of the Masters, where he was well beaten by Patrick Reed.

It was a time when he turned up at Long Island 10 days before the event, played or practised during the day, and walked the course in the evening shadows. Where he lived and breathed the venue – Shinnecock Hills.

What happened when the event began? After 10 holes, he stood at eight over par.

“When I analysed what had gone wrong, I realised that I’d let golf define not only my professional life but who I was as a person,” Mcilroy explained this week.

“If I shot 65 I was happy and if I shot 75 I was sad.

“Over the past seven months I’ve worked really hard on my attitude, especially my attitude to golf, and separating it from who I am as a person.

“I’ve had a few people point me in the right direction but mostly I’ve worked it out myself.

“I’ve read a lot of self-help books. It took me a while to get to that point where I realised who those two people were, but it’s been a big help this year.

“It’s the reason I’m now so consistent, giving myself a chance to win most weeks.

“I don’t have the highs and lows that I used to have because I have that perspective.”

It was all there on another dramatic Sawgrass Sunday, when Mcilroy calmly ended a roller-coaster round with two precision shots to the most difficult hole, the 18th, to seal a one-stroke victory.

In the past we have seen Rory the golf obsessive wheel his arms in jubilation in victory or cup his ears to the crowd. We have seen his shoulders slump dramatically following a bad shot, and him fall away as a consequence.

At the Players Championship, the difference in his demeanour at the end from when he double-bogeyed the fourth was barely noticeable.

On the 18th he shook the hand of his playing partner, Jason Day, and acknowledged the crowd with a single wave.

This, then, is the Mcilroy we will see for the second phase of his career, as he prepares to enter his thirties in May.

Goodness, we are going to miss the best bits of the old one. The kid with that lovely candy shop smile as he posted his 62s and 63s. The first nonamerican to travel to that great land and win 15 events on the PGA Tour and four Majors before the age of 30.

Heck, only two people from the US managed it, and they go by the names of Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus.

But it is hardly surprising that Mcilroy has great faith in this rebooted version of himself.

I have walked a couple of times with him in practice rounds this year and the difference in his personality is startling.

He has always been likeable with an easy manner but there was also the undercurrent of a man with pointy elbows, who knew he was the best and was never happier than when he had to prove it.

Now, he is so clearly a man comfortable in his own skin.

Even during the five earlier occasions this year where he had chances to win before settling for