Rory McIlroy has openly expressed his worries about his performance at the RBC Canadian Open as he prepares for the U.S. Open, following a selective approach to tournament participation after his Masters triumph.
The Northern Irish golf sensation, who completed the career Grand Slam with his Masters victory, has played sparingly, choosing only to compete in the Truist Championship and PGA Championship while skipping the Memorial Tournament.
McIlroy’s last competition was in mid-May, and his recent outing at TPC Toronto, coupled with the limited play since his Masters win, may have played a part in him missing the cut. Speaking candidly to the press post-tournament, the 36 year old reflected on his game as he heads into the U.S. Open.
“Yeah, of course it concerns me,” admitted McIlroy, discussing his disappointing performance at the RBC Canadian Open, before going on to place his sponsors TaylorMade in hot water by taking about his equipment.
“You don’t want to shoot high scores like the one I did today. Still, I felt like I came here obviously with a new driver thinking that that sort of was going to be good and solve some of the problems off the tee, but it didn’t.”
With the U.S. Open on the horizon, McIlroy is honing his skills, aiming to rectify recent results which saw him finish T7, T47, and miss the cut in the three events following his April victory at Augusta, reports.
McIlroy candidly expressed concerns about his game before heading to the Oakmont challenge, highlighting a critical issue plaguing his recent performance. “Obviously going to Oakmont next week, what you need to do more than anything else there is hit fairways,” he emphasised.
Fearing the weakness in his tee shots, he confessed: “Still sort of searching for the sort of missing piece off the tee. Obviously for me, when I get that part of the game clicking, then everything falls into place for me. Right now that isn’t. Yeah, that’s a concern going into next week.”
The star added to his assessment: “I’m going to have to do a lot of practice and a lot of work over the weekend at home and try to at least have a better idea of where my game is going into next week.”
The dip in form may be traced back to McIlroy’s admission post-Masters victory of a diminished drive as he contemplates further ambitions. Ahead of the Canadian Open, McIlroy conveyed to journalists, “Yeah, I don’t know if I’m chasing anything,”.
Reflecting on the demanding nature of his routine following his monumental triumph, he shared, “I would certainly say that the last few weeks I’ve had a couple weeks off, and going and grinding on the range for three or four hours every day is maybe a little tougher than it used to be.”
Delving deeper into his psyche post-victory, McIlroy revealed, “You have this event in your life that you’ve worked towards and it happens, sometimes it’s hard to find the motivation to get back on the horse and go again.”
