Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Glittering talent like Mcilroy’s requires gentlest of nudges
RORY’S Bay Hill revival was a thing of beauty.
It was also perfect timing, three weeks out from The Masters.
I kept faith with his mercurial talent in last week’s column when I tipped him at 16/1.
Decent odds in hindsight and what a super final round 64 to seal his first win since September 2016.
Mcilroy has a unique ability to blow away the opposition, regardless of who it is – so, why doesn’t he do it more often?
In 26 outings between his weekend triumph and winning the Tour Championship 18 months ago, he had nearly as many missed cuts as top five finishes.
Granted, injury has contributed to patchwork form, but it’s a major source of frustration to his fans that he doesn’t bring his A-game on a more regular basis.
I do believe the re-emergence of Tiger is a huge factor in Rory’s apparent renaissance.
He schooled his idol in the final round at the 2015 Masters and he may still be motivated to impress in the presence of the great man.
He certainly responded in esteemed company at the weekend.
Tiger tossed down the gauntlet with a final round 69 but Rory responded with five birdies in the last six holes.
Some people have claimed a pre-tournament chat with Brad Faxon helped ignite Mcilroy’s putting and I’d agree.
Faxon is one of the all-time great putters and the fact they didn’t discuss the mechanics of Rory’s swing speaks volumes.
It helped his mindset and he put on a clinic on the greens.
I’ve said all along, Rory just needs to play with instinct and freedom, and everything else follows. The big lesson he will have learned from Tiger – both in the past and now – is the value of being emotionally invested in your game week in, week out.
That is the biggest challenge for a player, whether you’re a top pro or a weekend golfer.
Regular readers will know I get frustrated when coaches get involved too much.
Out of form players often surrender to outside advice, but treading that fine line between instruction and instinct is the key to success.
Putting guru Phil Kenyon is a great lad – I know him personally – and he has improved many a player, but not Rory.
Rory doesn’t need too much info – just a gentle kick up the backside every now and again.
It’s a positive for him that Harry Diamond is now part of his inner circle; a close friend who is willing to tell it as it is.
Harry caddied brilliantly at the weekend and with Mcilroy in this kind of form, he will travel to Augusta with total confidence in his game.
A career Grand Slam is on.