Rory McIlroy is not having the dream start to the season on the PGA Tour. In his first four tournaments of 2024, his best position has been a 21st place. Something he hopes will change this week at the TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, in Florida, the venue for the famous THE PLAYERS, a tournament he won in 2019 and where he seeks to find in United States the good feelings he left in Dubai in his first tournaments of the year, on the DP World Tour.
The Northern Irishman shone from the tee at the Genesis Invitational, the Cognizant Classic and the Arnold Palmer Invitational, but showed problems in his approach shots last week at Bay Hill, beyond his usual ups and downs when it comes to accuracy with the putter. “I’m not missing cuts, but the way I’ve been hitting the ball with the drive in recent weeks, I should have been competing for the tournaments I’ve participated in,” he confessed this Wednesday.
“True, I have to work a bit with the irons and try to get them in tune, but I feel that the rest of the aspects of my game are in good shape,” he added. “I have the feeling that I fixed the problems with the putter last week, I did well on the greens the last three days of competition at Bay Hill, so it’s just a matter of taking advantage of the positions I’m finding from the tee,” he insisted.
About his problems with the irons, more specifically, Rory said: “I have incredible feelings with my woods at the moment, but when I try to recreate them with the irons, I miss on the left. The club face closes and it goes on that side, they are like two different swings. I have one swing thought with my woods and I need a different one with my irons and that’s what I’ve been working on these last few days.”
The big favourite this week at the THE PLAYERS, after his victory last weekend, is once again the world Number One, Scottie Scheffler. The Arnold Palmer was his seventh win in just over two years. But it was the first since he decided to change his putt for a mallet looking for a higher percentage of accuracy on the greens. “I’m not going to give him any more advice, that’s for sure,” said McIlroy after suggesting to Scottie during the Genesis Invitational that he try a new putter.
“It’s very complicated to talk about other players. Scheffer has already had enough criticism with his putt. It was basically me trying to talk about myself more than talking about Scottie. It was like saying that when I used the putt he was using, I struggled. When I switched to the Spider, I did better and was more consistent. But I didn’t know he was going to put it in his bag and then win by five strokes,” said the Northern Irishman.
“I think over the years, moving up in category, people have been good enough to me if I’ve asked for advice to give it to me, so I think I should be able to give it back if at some point they come to me,” he confessed.
Regarding whether it’s time to win a Major again, with the coveted Masters with which he would complete the Grand Slam just around the corner, the 34-year-old golfer is hopeful: “I look at my history in the majors over the last two years and I think I’ve started to be much more consistent. I’m not deluding myself or thinking that time is running out, it’s been 10 years since the last one I won. I’ve had opportunities, but it didn’t turn out the way I wanted. I just have to keep putting myself in those situations and sooner or later, it will happen,” he concluded.
