SCOTTISH OPEN

McILROY: I can’t go from minor to major like Brooks ... I need to be on song every week

RORY McILROY insists he wouldn’t trade Brooks Koepka’s Major hot streak for his own super consistent season.

The Northern Irishman is enjoying arguably the most consistent year of his career with two PGA Tour wins and 11 top 10s from 14 appearances – but his frustrating five-year drought without a Major continues.

Contrast that with Koepka who can’t stop contending in the big ones with an astonishing record over the last three seasons including back-to-back US Open and US PGA titles.

In his last nine Major appearances the world No.1 has racked up seven top 10s and his results this year were runner-up at the Masters, winner at the PGA and another second place at last month’s US Open.

Yet when it comes to regular Tour events Koepka has been little more than an also-ran while McIlroy has consistently been an ever-present near the top end of the leaderboard. And he’s proud of it. McIlroy, preparing for today’s start to the Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club, said: “I wouldn’t trade. I look at Brooks and see what he does in these Majors and you think, ‘Wow, if he produced this sort of stuff every week it would be very tough to compete’.

“Why that is, I have no idea. But he obviously does put a lot of extra emphasis on the Majors and it works for him.

“When I sort of try to put extra emphasis on tournaments, it almost goes the other way for me. I need to relax and just sort of let it go. That’s how I play my best golf.

“I look at what I’ve done this year – my results, scoring average and stats and everything is right where it needs to be.

“I am very proud of the body of work ’ve been able to put in this year, and that’s been a big focus of mine – the big picture, the long term rather than putting too much importance on the Majors and trying to play them like any other event.

“It’s four tournaments a year out of 25 that you play. I honestly think this BY EUAN McLEAN ‘peaking for Majors’ idea is a little bit of a myth.

“You’re trying to play well every week. Why would you turn up at tournaments if you didn’t want to try to compete and win and play good golf ?

“The golf I’ve produced the last two Majors has been good enough in spells. I just haven’t put it all together.”

If he can relax enough to put it all together next week at Royal Portrush it will be a great sporting story for the ages in a year when Tiger Woods has already delivered one at the Masters.

After all, next week’s venue is the place he tore apart as a 16-year-old kid, smashing the course record with a stunning 61 at the Northern Irish Open in a performance he vividly remembers shot for shot to this day.

So perhaps it shouldn’t have come as such a surprise to McIlroy he felt so at home last week when he returned to the Dunluce Links to start his preparations.

He added: “I expected it to feel different than it did. It still just feels