Forget his failures. Rory’s still set for Augusta glory
On the practice ground at the WGC- Cadillac Championship at Doral last week, a seasoned player came up to me and asked, in a half-serious tone: ‘Why are you not harder on Rory McIlroy?’
If you were that way inclined, I suppose you could certainly have a go at him following his latest failure to get the job done on Sunday — the second time in three tournaments in America, no less.
So brilliant on Friday and Saturday, McIlroy struggled in the capricious winds, as he has done on occasion in the past.
A three- shot lead at the start of play became merely another top-three finish as he stumbled to a 74 and was overtaken by the winner Adam Scott and Bubba Watson.
But did anyone who professes to know the game see anything that would worry them unduly if we regard the main objective as being in shape for a shot at completing the career Grand Slam at the Masters?
true, McIlroy is such a momentum player t hat a vi ctory would undoubtedly have done him a world of good. But did it really do him any harm not coming out on top, with two more tournaments still to play before Augusta?
It’s the nature of a hard, perverse game that there really were positives to seize. Chief among them was that he didn’t lose because his new putting method fell apart under pressure on Sunday. Just the opposite, in fact.
McIlroy lost on Sunday because he didn’t birdie any of t he par fives — just two out of four would have earned him a play-off — and how often does that happen?
So, with due apologies to the aforementioned pro, this piece is not hard on McIlroy either.
Like most people in golf, I’m delighted to see the true stylist Scott return to the top of his form and pleased as well to see england’s Danny Willett (tied third with McIlroy) continue his stellar progress to rise to 11th in the world rankings.
But if every leading player turns up with his A game at the Masters? I’m sticking with my belief that Rory would walk it.