Is Rory Mcilroy Back? | A Closer Look
Rory Mcilroy hunted down Rickie Fowler to secure his 20th Tour win on Sunday. Rory slumped over the past year and the golf world awaits his return to the top of the golf world. His slumps are a little blown out of proportion because of the unrealistic expectations put upon Rory, but the reality is Rory has underachieved recently.
The struggles reached a breaking point when Mcilroy was brought to tears at the Ryder Cup. He clearly is affected by his tough run of play and everyone wants to see him back in contention on Sundays at majors.
However, it is time to pump the brakes on the Northern Irishman. Mcilroy still isn’t back to his original form and it starts with concerning statistical trends.
Yet, a clear change in mindset might be a sign of good things to come.
Mediocre Iron Play
All of the best players in the world are great iron players. Iron play separates good from great and creates more scoring opportunities.
The statistic of strokes gained most accurately portrays a player’s success rate in a specific aspect of the game. Whether it’s putting, approach, or off the tee, strokes gained tells the story of what happened. This past weekend, Mcilroy lost strokes to the field in approach play.
Rory rode an unrealistic week of putting to victory. As a whole, putting does not translate week-to-week. Rory needs to improve in other aspects of his game before the golf world declares him back to playing at his potential.
On the other hand, the fact that Rory can win an event of this magnitude without his best stuff shows how special of a player he is.
Rory Mcilroy | A Change in Perspective
The golf world might look back at the 2020 Ryder Cup as a turning point in the career of Rory Mcilroy. His emotions reached a boiling point for a multitude of reasons.
Just saw the full Sky Sports interview with Rory. Might be even better than the NBC one. Wow.
"It is by far the best experience in golf."pic.twitter.com/IC0LanxKXP
— Kyle Porter (@KylePorterCBS) September 27, 2021
It seems as if Rory reflected about himself after the Ryder Cup and looks to change himself for the better moving forward. With someone as talented at Rory, a change in mental state might be enough to bring him back to the top of the game.
“I think for the last few months I was maybe trying to be someone else to try and get better and I sort of realized that being me is enough, and I can do things like this.”
Yes Rory. Being you is enough. Rory is arguably the most talented player in the world and at times he doesn’t carry himself that way.
Rory will be back, but it might take a little more time.
