IRON ISSUES Mcilroy battling himself as
RORY MCILROY has gone back to struggling with his irons under the pressure of completing his career Grand Slam at the Masters, according to Paul Mcginley. The world No.2 admitted his golf swing felt “horrific” during a painfully slow second round which took six hours in gusting winds.
The Ulsterman carded his first birdie-free round at Augusta National in his 77 to end his 16th bid to win the Masters – and his 10th to finish his full set of Majors here.
Mcilroy, 34, tried to change his fortune in Georgia this year by heading for a coaching clinic with
Butch Harmon, going early to Augusta for a reconnaissance mission, playing the week before and arriving late on Tuesday.
He even cut his pretournament press conference to just over 10 minutes.
But it was the same old story for the Florida-based star who is now fast approaching the 10th anniversary of his fourth and last Major win in August 2014.
“His iron play was poor,” said his former
Ryder Cup captain
Mcginley (right).
“That is what he has really struggled with this year. He improved last week after going to see Butch Harmon in Las
Vegas and finished third at the Valero Texas Open.
“But he has back struggling with the irons in Augusta. I hate to see it happen. He is not playing very well.that’s the bottom
line. Players come in and out of form and Rory is not in good form at the moment.”
Speaking before the 88th Masters, six-time champion Jack Nicklaus warned Mcilroy that great players like Arnold Palmer and
Tom Watson never completed their career Grand Slams.
And the Golden Bear (left) criticised the Ulsterman’s concentration. “For some reason, Rory always has a little bit of a lapse somewhere around the tournament,” said Nicklaus.
“He’ll find a double bogey or triple bogey that sneaks in there.”
Mcilroy fell down the field on Friday when he took a double bogey at the 11th after a long wait on the tee and his second shot found the water in front of the green.
“My golf swing felt horrific for the last six or seven holes just from waiting around, especially the
11th hole,” he said.
“It felt like that took about an hour to play. It was stop and start. “Hard to get into a rhythm with the conditions and how slow the play was as well. Mentally it’s a grind.”
Mcilroy was given a lesson on how to stay in contention by his playing partner Scottie Scheffler. The world No.1 has 18 top-10 finishes in his last 24 starts and the 2022 Masters champion came into the first Major of the season as the hot favourite.
Double US Open champion Curtis Strange said: “The players go to the first tee knowing he is not going to give them anything.”