TROON, Scotland—Rory McIlroy’s re-emergence at last week’s Scottish Open dispelled all notions that the four-time major winner would be in a serious hangover from his meltdown at this year’s U.S. Open at Pinehurst.
His T4 finish was notable in dealing with a balky putter—finishing No. 63 in the field for putting but still able to score impressively, with rounds of 65–66–67–68. Credit a superior tee-to-green effort in ranking second in the field for both Strokes Gained: Off the-Tee and Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green.
McIlroy’s defense of his 2023 Scottish Open title was a solid effort even if the win was not forthcoming.
“I had a lot of chances that I wasn’t able to convert, and that was sort of the story of the week,” McIlroy said afterward. “Felt like the ball-striking was there pretty much every day. There were a few scrappy bits here and there, but overall, it was a good week to see where my game is heading into next week, especially after the back of three weeks off.”
Thursday is the start of the 152nd Open Championship and, for the 10th time, storied Royal Troon will be the host venue. McIlroy will be a figure watched by countless eyes.
Smartly, McIlroy opted to hold off returning to competition right after the sting of that jolting defeat, and the return to defend his 2023 Scottish Open win gave him a sense of perspective and a desire to get back into the fray.
“The reason that I like to play the week before the majors is to knock a little bit of rust off and try to get sharp, and I feel like I’ve done that this week,” McIlroy said. “If I can get the putter to cooperate and get the speed of the greens down–I feel like I’ll be in a really good spot.”
While McIlroy’s form is still ever present the broader question remains: can he finally change the story and add a fifth major?
Rory has said he has reconciled the events at the U.S. Open and moved beyond it. His play at Renaissance demonstrated a clear return to the top of the leaderboard. Contending is one thing—winning is another.
But can McIlroy finally end the drought and show he is clearly ready to battle world-number-one Scottie Scheffler?
The accumulation of scar tissue given the various mishaps and pratfalls since his 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla is always a concern.
It is hard to know if the spigot of the major championship has dried up permanently or is on hold for now.
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The longest time span between major championship wins
· Henry Cotton 1937–1948 Open Championship
· Julius Boros 1952–1963 U.S. Open
· Hale Irwin 1979–1990 U.S. Open
· Ben Crenshaw 1984–1995 Masters
· Tiger Woods 2008 U.S. Open–2019 Masters
· Lee Trevino 1974–1984 PGA Championship
· Ernie Els 2002–2012 Open Championship
· Willie Park Sr. 1866–1875 Open Championship
· John Henry Taylor 1900–1909 Open Championship
· Gene Sarazen 1923 PGA Championship–1932 U.S. Open
· Phil Mickelson 2013 Open–2021 PGA Championship
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No one can say when the spigot for major championships has dried up permanently.
Take, for example, the situations that impacted Arnold Palmer and Seve Ballesteros.
Palmer claimed his then-record fourth green jacket at The Masters in 1964 and it appeared the 34-year-old was on a projected pathway in winning a double-digit number of major championships.
Unfortunately, Palmer never won another major after his Augusta triumph.
The same holds true for Ballesteros. The 32-year-old had just won his 3rd Open title with a brilliant final round 65 to overtake Nick Price and win at Royal Lytham & St. Anne’s.
The Spaniard was the world’s top-ranked player and it appeared several more majors were inevitable. Like Palmer, Ballesteros would never celebrate such a moment again.
The time clock for McIlroy would appear to provide a slew of future opportunities and his embrace of links golf has simply meant getting his game adjusted to the situation.
“Just getting myself familiar again with links conditions, links turf, green speeds. Obviously, we play a majority of our golf in the States and green surfaces that are quite different to here. So just trying to get, I guess, reacclimated to that. Not that—obviously grew up playing a lot of links golf, but when you only come back to play once or twice a year, it just takes you a little time to adapt.”
McIlroy has never shied away from a challenge and he realizes that Troon will be a split dynamic between the outward and inward nines.
“It’s basically a tale of two nines on this course. You feel like you have to make your score on the way out and then sort of hang on coming in.”
Major championships have always been the benchmark for determining legacy. When McIlroy won four majors by the age of 25, he placed his name alongside Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only golfers to do so.
Given his stellar start, the ceiling was naturally set far higher. In the last 21 major events played dating back to the 2019 PGA Championship, McIlroy has finished in the top 10 an amazing 13 times and six times in the top five.
During his Tuesday pre-Open press conference McIlroy said his failure to win his 5th major “doesn’t bother me” and that given his recent performances, “It means that I’m getting closer.”
McIlroy has shown the capacity in the past in shaking off debilitating losses. In 2011, a green jacket was in the offing but he collapsed on the back nine and limped home with a score of 80. Just two months later he pulverized the field, setting various U.S. Open scoring records and winning by a commanding eight shots.
The sting of Pinehurst was noticeably present in the aftermath but he said it’s been set in the appropriate place.
“I would say maybe like three or four days after, went from being very disappointed and dejected to trying to focus on the positives to then wanting to learn from the negatives and then getting to the point where you become enthusiastic and motivated to go again.”
Resilience is the mark of a champion. Setbacks are common and the central element is shaking off the dust and rejoining the next opportunity when presented.
McIlroy has faced the music plenty of times but this will mark the final major event for 2024. To have gone a full decade without another major triumph only becomes a greater weight to shake off.
The inability to end the major-less streak this week will only intensify the probing with the 2025 Masters.
But the real test will be once he is back in the hunt, when a final round is presented and the stakes are crystal clear.
How will he react? Will the memories of past failures be ever-present?
A major win could be the catalyst for McIlroy to put in motion a second-half career with other major wins to follow. Interesting how the bounce of the ball on a links course is always problematic. Rory has seen that firsthand and this week at Royal Troon he has a challenge that will test him undoubtedly.
The Rory story.
Never a dull moment.
