Another major, another disappointing result for Rory McIlroy. It’s almost seven years since the Northern Irishman last won a major, something that would have seemed inconceivable when he burst onto the golfing scene by winning the 2011 US Open.
He finished his Sunday at Royal St George’s one over par, meaning he turned in a scorecard of 280 for the weekend, exactly level par. It represents a truly average result which belies a roller-coaster weekend in which McIlroy played some majestic shots but too often these were counteracted by some woeful mistakes.
“There are a lot of birdies in there but a lot of bogeys, too,” McIlroy told reporters. “I think it’s just more the bogey avoidance and the mental errors, because I’ve made 17 birdies this week, which is more than enough to challenge to win this golf tournament. It’s just that I make too many mistakes, and that’s the part that I need to try to get right.”
“There is enough good stuff in there to contend at these golf tournaments, but I’m just not allowing myself to do that with some of the mistakes I’m making.”
Of greater concern to the 32-year-old will have been his errant play from the teebox over the weekend. He found the fairway just 50 per cent of the time on Saturday and 57 per cent of the time on Sunday, well below the course average 62 per cent and 63 per cent on each day respectively.
This was no better illustrated than his efforts on the very first hole. A wayward drive with the iron saw him in instant trouble in the rough. In his efforts to rescue his round almost before it had started, McIlroy took a wild swing that ended up shanked off behind the grandstand. He was forced to take an immediate drop, costing him a bogey right out of the gate.
“I need to look at the positives, and the positives are I made enough birdies this week to contend in the golf tournament. I made too many mistakes. I think that’s going to happen a little bit when you’re trying to do some things a little bit differently,” he said, as he trudged back into the clubhouse at T46.
“I need to do a better job of just maybe being a little bit more disciplined out there.”
In March, the four-time major champion hired Pete Cowen to come in and fix his ailing swing. His short-iron game was in need of particular attention, and though there were signs of progress over the course of the Open, too often McIlroy short game proved wayward.
His double bogey on ten highlighted this, as some haphazard iron play saw him struggle to reach the green. There was a clear desire to attack the back nine, where he had disintegrated 24 hours before. Back-to-back birdies on 12 and 13 helped him recover some pride, particularly 13, a hole on which he had turned in a poor bogey the day before.
But the over-aggression on the tenth cost him dearly as he lacked balance in his approach, something McIlroy himself admitted to the assembled press corps post-round.
“Some weeks you might need a little bit more indifference and some weeks you might need to be a little bit more aggressive,” he admitted. “For me at the minute it’s just the process of trying to work my way back to the sort of form and the sort of the level that I know I can play at.”
“Whether that’s trying to be a little too aggressive from bad spots or putting myself in bad spots to begin with, but it’s just a matter of just trying to iron out the mistakes.”
While McIlroy was never in contention for the Claret Jug coming into the final round, he understood the importance of posting a good score on which he can build with the all-important Ryder Cup looming. McIlroy remains in the automatic qualification spots, but will know he must pick his game up if Europe are to retain their crown on enemy turf.
“There are a few things to concentrate on before the Ryder Cup. FedExCup in the States is a huge goal of everyone’s. I guess that’s the real next big thing for me,” McIlroy said, refusing to get drawn in too far on the topic.
“Obviously the Olympics are in a week’s time. You know, I want to just try to get on a good stretch of golf. I’ve probably got four tournaments between now and the Ryder Cup, and I sort of just want to focus on them first before I turn my attention to that.”