McIlroy tries to plot how to salvage a season without winning a major

Published Jul. 20, 2024 7:36 a.m. ET

Associated Press

TROON, Scotland (AP) — Rory McIlroy had plenty of time to accept that a 10th straight year would pass without him winning a major. He now has to wait 265 days for the next one, when he hears the starter at Augusta National say, “Fore, please. Rory McIlroy driving.”

The realization came on the fourth hole of the second round. He needed a good start to make the cut, maybe get back in the British Open. What he got was a triple bogey.

“Twenty-two holes into the event and I'm thinking about where I'm going to go on vacation next week,” McIlroy said after rounds of 78-75 to miss the cut by five shots.

Whatever he had in mind for vacation, his next thought was how to salvage another season that will not include a trophy from the four biggest events.

This has been a tougher year than most because of the previous major.

He had a two-shot lead on the back nine of the U.S. Open. He was very much in control until missing a 30-inch putt on the 16th hole and then falling behind when he missed a par putt from inside 4 feet on the last hole.

McIlroy was so distraught he peeled out of Pinehurst, withdrew from the next tournament that week and spent a few days in Manhattan trying to collect his thoughts.

It brought to mind McIlroy famously saying after the 2023 U.S. Open — another opportunity he let slip away — that "I would go through 100 Sundays like this to get my hands on another major championship.”

His takeaway from Troon?

“I’d much rather have a disappointing Sunday than going home on Friday," he said.

One lesson from the U.S. Open was to remind himself that he's a very good player who has accomplished more than he would have thought when he turned pro in 2007 at age 18. He has four majors and 26 titles on the PGA Tour alone, along with three FedEx Cup titles.

“It's not as if we only play four events a year,” McIlroy said. “We play like 25. So there's still a few things there's left to play for. Obviously, the majors have come and gone.”

Next up for McIlroy is the Olympics, and that raises a question how much a gold medal could fill the void of so many silver trophies he left behind this year.

The royal and ancient game is relatively new to the Olympic program, having only returned in 2016 at Rio de Janeiro. McIlroy skipped those Summer Games, still torn and slightly irritated about a Northern Ireland golfer having to choose between flags of the UK or Ireland.

He played in Tokyo as an Irish golfer and lost in a seven-man playoff for the bronze. “I've never tried so hard in my life to finish third,” he said.

McIlroy believes a gold medal might feel like a gold standard several years down the road, much like it has in tennis. For now, it's about all he has.

“And then again, I'm in contention to try to win both titles on either side of the Atlantic,” McIlroy said, referring to the FedEx Cup on the PGA Tour and the Race to Dubai on the European tour. McIlroy is at No. 3 in the FedEx Cup, and leads in Europe.

“Still some things to play for until the end of the year,” he said.

There really isn't another choice but forward, as long as that includes looking 265 days ahead to the start of the Masters.

Tiger Woods went 11 years between majors, but that was easy to explain. His personal life imploded after a shocking revelation of serial adultery, followed by more injuries to his legs, four surgeries on his back, the pain medication that led to an embarrassing arrest for DUI and age.

McIlroy was 25 when he won his last major. He missed one major with an ankle injury from playing soccer with friends.

If he has underachieved in the last decade, it's more than not winning — it's a player of this talent having so few chances to win. There was Pinehurst and Los Angeles at the last two U.S. Open. There was Carnoustie in the 2018 British Open. And there was St. Andrews in 2022, when he two-putted every green and closed with a 70.

McIlroy is 35, by all accounts entering the prime of his career. If he seems older it's because this is his 17th year on tour. That's a lot of scar tissue that builds up over time. Losing happens far more often than winning in a sport like this.

Only five players in major championship history have gone 11 years between majors — Woods, Ben Crenshaw, Hale Irwin, Julius Boros and Henry Cotton. The longer McIlroy goes between winning his next major, the tougher it likely will get.

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