RORY MCILROY SAYS he’s at a loss to explain why he’s struggled to make an impression on the top of the leaderboard at golf’s majors in recent times.
McIlroy closed out his weekend with a 68 at the US PGA in San Francisco yesterday.
He has now gone six tournaments without a top 10 finish and, having been top of the rankings, has seen Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas both go ahead of him.
Asked why he finds it difficult to ‘hang around for 54, 63 holes in recent seasons compared to say earlier in your career’ the Northern Irishman admitted he didn’t know.
“Maybe I’m just not as good as I used to be. I don’t know,” the Holywood native said.
“I really don’t know. I feel like the golf that I’ve played in the majors has been sort of similar to the golf I’ve played outside of them, and I’ve won some big events and played well and had a good season last season.
“Yeah, I can’t really put my finger on it. I go out there and try my best every single day. Some days I play better than others, and just got to keep going and keep persisting and see if you can do better the next time.”
McIlroy also suggested that Brooks Koepka may have overstepped the mark with his controversial comments after his third round about 54-hole leader Dustin Johnson. Koepka reminded his fellow American that he had only managed to win a single major.
“I was watching the golf last night and heard the interview and was just sort of taken aback a little bit by sort of what he said and whether he was trying to play mind games or not — if he’s trying to play mind games, he’s trying to do it to the wrong person. I don’t think DJ really gives much of a concern that,” McIlroy said.
“But just different. I certainly try to respect everyone out here. Everyone is a great player. If you’ve won a major championship, you’re a hell of a player. Doesn’t mean you’ve only won one; you’ve won one, and you’ve had to do a lot of good things to do that.
“Yeah, I mean, sort of hard to knock a guy that’s got 21 wins on the PGA TOUR, which is three times what Brooks has.”
