Paul McGinley, a former Ryder Cup captain for Rory McIlroy, has suggested that the four-time major winner’s prolonged wait for a fifth is due to both psychological issues and the strength of the competition.
The 35-year-old’s last major victory came at the PGA Championship in 2014. After almost ten years, McIlroy is back at Valhalla, the location of his most recent victory, to try to win a third PGA Championship. However, given his performance at the Masters this year and the fact he was tied for 25th in Kentucky prior to the start of Sunday’s final round, it seems likely that he will have to wait.
McGinley thinks he has figured out the primary causes of McIlroy’s extended dry spell. McGinley stated on the Golf Channel, “There are two reasons why he is not the player he was back then when it comes to major championships.” “Now, the fields are more robust.
When he was a young man paving his path, his elbows were the sharpest they had ever been. In actuality, it was more of a “I’m marching to be the best player in the game, so get out of my way” situation. He saw everything clearly. Can you stay there while you arrive and ascend the mountain?
“He has demonstrated that in PGA Tour competitions, where his 10% victory ratio is exceptional when compared to others. Scottie Scheffler’s victory percentage is merely 8%.
McGinley,57, went on, “But there’s no denying that there has been a psychological build-up from failing to cross the finish line in significant championships because he hasn’t completed a circumnavigation.”
“The reason I say yet is that, even if he only succeeds once, I think Rory McIlroy has three or four more majors left in him. Getting the first one is everything. You would have to believe that he could get fired up on a golf course like this, which he has previously won.”
On Sunday, McIlroy hopes to have a strong finish. “I have to go out there and try to shoot a low one,” he stated. “On Thursday, I putted extremely well, but in the last few days, it has kind of abandoned me. I definitely have another low one in me, so I need the putter to kind of heat up again.”
In order to get to four under, McIlroy continued, “I really got it going around the turn there. Then, I had good looks at 11, 12, 13, and 15, and I made two bogeys.” The putter just kind of cooled on me for a span of seven holes.
“Depending on what happens tomorrow, if I look back on the tournament, I may rue that six-hole stretch where I wasn’t able to hole any putts.”
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