The Weight of Expectation Is Taking its Toll on Rory McIlroy

After starting Saturday’s third-round by birdieing three of Royal Liverpool’s opening-five holes within the Northern Irishman’s return to Liverpool at the 151st Open, McIlroy wasn’t able to capitalize on another birdie-opportunity from there-on in as he played his remaining-13 holes in 1-over par (including 12 par’s and 1 bogey during that 13-hole stretch).

Entering Saturday, Rory was tied for 11th and nine-shots off-the-pace set-by second-round leader Brian Harman at 10-under. Needing to-go low on moving-day (and) like Jon Rahm did (via his third-round 63) in order to vault himself up-the-leaderboard, McIlory seemed poised to-do precisely that (early-on) before his momentum was stalled thru his cold-putter letting him down coming-home on the final 13 holes.

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As we’ve witnessed time-and-time again over the course of the past nine-years or since Rory won his last major, Rory’s ball-striking performance was top-notch on-Saturday and provided him with a multitude of quality, birdie opportunities (of) which he failed to make/capitalize-on. At some level, it’s beginning to appear as-if major-Rory is pressing on-the-greens and, especially (so) when he gets into contention.

Since winning his third-and-fourth majors in back-to-back fashion at Royal Liverpool and Valhalla within the 2014 Open Championship and the 2014 PGA Championship, Rory’s major-less streak has continued to mount and appears to-be extending beyond the 2023 Open Championship (and) despite whatever chances he still has entering Sunday sitting 9-back of the lead. The fact that Rory’s contended in recent majors and won 14 worldwide-events after Valhalla circa 2014 speaks volumes about his current major-slump.

In all, the 34 year-old (in Rory) has won 24 PGA-Tour events and 16 European-Tour events throughout his future-HOF worthy-career thus far; (of) which includes his four-victories within major-championships. At 15 years-old, Rory was a child-prodigy playing-in Northern Ireland when his own father placed a bet on-him to-win the British Open by the time he reached 25.

Nine-years ago, the (then) 25-year old made-good on his father’s prediction by capturing the 2014 Open Championship. From 2012-2014, the 23-25 year-old (in) Rory approached the game with a sustained-level of fearlessness and confidence (of) which produced the winning-machine that McIlroy was in his younger years.

Fast-forward to 2023, and the elder-version of himself still passes the eye-test from a physical/technical standpoint. As was the case in his major-winning seasons from 2012 to 2014, Rory still moves-the-ball incredible-distances (both-) off-the-tee and w/ his-iron’s while hitting beautiful, sky-high iron-shots (of) which are used-to setup those precious birdie-chances that major-winners are notorious for making.

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Back in 2019, Rory won the biggest event of his post-2014/major-less streak at THE PLAYERS Championship and seemed destined to-win his fifth major-title shortly thereafter. During his post-fourth round press-conference at the 2019 Players, Rory told the world that his proverbial “Christmas was coming” in an attempt to-shed light-on his personal-opinion that he was on the precipice of winning another major. Sure, Rory values/treasures his victory at THE PLAYERS Championship and (in) other regular-Tour events to a level that’s near and dear to his heart. However, Rory knows better than anyone that his own legacy is largely-dependent upon his overall-record within golf’s four most-prestigious events.

In attempting to-draw parallels throughout sports-history to Rory’s career-arc, it’s difficult finding several players/athletes who closely relate-to Rory (and) in the sense that they experienced continued-success into-their-30’s and performed-well within everything except-for their respective sports’ biggest-events; since reaching greater-heights at a young-age.

In tennis, American tennis-legend, John McEnroe, is currently 14th on the all-time list in grand-slam wins via winning 7 grand-slams. Similar to Rory’s smaller-stature and his freakish-ability compared-to his peers, the 5’11” tennis-star in McEnroe was also a child-prodigy who certainly passed the eye-test as he moved gracefully around-the-court boasting his superior-power/touch in order to-best his opponents.

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After McEnroe’s biggest-rival (in) , Bjorn Borg , began losing his motivation to-compete at the highest-level of the sport, the fire within McEnroe also began to-decline and to the point where he never did regain his mental/physical-edge over the competition. Unlike John’s substantial-loss in motivation as he progressed thru his twenties, Rory’s fire remains fully-intact as his aging-process continues to unfold.

In a fashion that’s at-least somewhat similar to Rory’s career-trajectory, the career of South-African legend and 4-time major-winner (in) Ernie Els began with him being a can’t-miss player who clearly possessed superior-talent compared-to almost all of his peers. Now in his fifties, Els captured 19 PGA-Tour victories and 28 European-Tour wins but left much to-be desired within the context of how his own career ultimately didn’t pan-out like many believed it could’ve/should’ve. The “Big-Easy” hit the ball with effortless-power off-of-the-tee and w/ his irons while (also) possessing exquisite touch around-the-greens.

Similar to Rory’s putting-struggles plaguing him as they do now, Els often failed to hole-enough timely-putts and had his fair share of near-misses within the major championships (and-) during his prime-years of his career. Nevertheless, Els is commonly considered one of the top-20 players to ever play-the-game and accomplished everything he did in light of lofty-expectations.

Impressively, the 6’3”South African captured two of his 4-total major-championship titles when he was at the advanced ages of 42 and 32. At that time, Els happened to be one of several players whose prime-years overlapped with those of the greatest-player who-ever lived in Tiger Woods (from 1997-2009) ; thus preventing Els from winning more tournaments. Those unfortunate-circumstances set-aside, it would be remiss of me not-to mention the fact that today’s level of-competition is-as stiff as it’s ever-been.

The longer Rory goes without capturing his fifth major-championship, the more likely it is that the tension within him continues building. After winning the 2023 Scottish Open, Rory was the odds-on favorite prior to the start of the 151st Open. It’s difficult imagining Rory not opting-to apply loads of pressure onto himself these days given his career’s present-circumstances. In simplest terms, Rory looks tight and is playing tight within the majors.

Until we witness Rory win his fifth major-championship when he’s still playing at a world-class level, it would be unwise to-insist that Rory’s largest-obstacle moving-forward is anything-or-anyone but himself. Remember who you are, Rory , and not who you used-to be or once-were.

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Heading into the 2024 major-championship season, it’s up to Rory to flip the narrative. Not his putting-coach (Brad Faxon), not his swing-coach , or anyone else. Although Faxon was one of the best putters of his generation, he also never putted under the same duress that Rory’s dealt with time-and-time again when he’s in-contention at-majors.

From a technical-standpoint , Rory’s putting-stroke is immaculate and as good as ever. Knowing this, it’s obvious that Rory doesn’t need Faxon’s assistance, period. Boasting 8 Tour-victories on his resume including none within majors, Faxon is an accomplished player (of) who (-m) still never finished better than fifth-place at any major-championship in his life and, because of this, isn’t equipped with the tools to-help Rory putt better (especially) at major-championships.

If Rory’s putting-problems were mechanical/technical, Faxon would be able to help him more. Ditch Faxon, Rory, and trust in the fact that you know better than most. Most importantly, be able to trust that you know better, and are better, than anybody else in-the-field that you’re competing against. Do that, and that long-awaited Christmas shall come.

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