Lockdown was a bad break for McIlroy
RUSTY RORY NEEDS MAJOR SPARK CLAIMS DOUGHERTY
NICK DOUGHERTY believes Rory McIlroy has been “rusty” during golf’s restart and is missing the crowds badly.
But the former pro-turned-presenter says the sport’s belated first Major of the year can spark McIlroy again after his blistering opening to 2020 was halted.
Dougherty believes the Northern Irishman, who has slipped from first to third in the world rankings, will be anxious to impress when the USPGA Championship starts on Thursday at Harding Park in San Francisco.
“From a purely golf perspective, the shutdown came at a bad time when Rory was playing really well,” said Dougherty.
“He was late picking up his clubs because he took some time to reflect, which is understandable. But he then came out of an extended break a little bit rusty.
“The momentum he had before the pandemic and lockdown was lost. The impatience will be there because he knows how well he was playing.
“He won’t like being overtaken at the top by first Jon Rahm and then Justin Thomas. There are not encouraging signs in terms of his recent results. But he has found it tough with no crowds.
“This tournament will hopefully give him that little bump in intensity that has been missing since lockdown. This little blip will end somewhere and it could be this week.”
McIlroy triumphed at Harding Park in the WGC-Cadillac Match Play five years ago.
But he has not won a Major since 2014 and his form since lockdown has been mediocre.
McIlroy was 47th at the WGCFedEx St Jude Invitational on Sunday and has only finished in the top 30 once in his past five PGA Tour appearances.
It is a stark contrast to his early form this year when he enjoyed top-five finishes in his first four outings.
Sky Sports Golf presenter Dougherty said: “His iron play was superb pre-lockdown and he ranked third. He is a long way off that now, edging to the 100 mark. It is unlike Rory but not something he can’t fix. “His driving is very good, which is important on this course, and he has won at Harding Park, which is always a bump in confidence. “He can still lean on something going there but will need an uplift in his iron play because that part of his game isn’t good enough to hold off the top guys.”
After this week’s tournament on the west coast, McIlroy has further shots at Major glory in the US Open at Winged Foot on September 17 and in the Masters on November 12. He just needs to add a Green Jacket to complete a career grand slam.
“I fully expect Rory to be in full flow by the Masters,” said Dougherty.
●Watch the USPGA Championship from Thursday to Sunday live on Sky Sports Golf.