McIlroy sings tired refrain after 29-birdie week: "I just need to cut out the mistakes"
Rory McIlroy hits balls on the practice range during the practice round at the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club (West Course) in Mamaroneck, N.Y. on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020. (Robert Beck/USGA)
When you make a career-best 29 birdies in 72 holes and finish three shots outside the top 10 and eight behind the winner, it's hard to claim you are in fighting form heading to the Masters.
One of Rory McIlroy's biggest problems at Augusta National in recent years has been his inability to eliminate the double-bogey or that destructive nine-hole run from his repertoire.
So while he was undoubtedly encouraged that he made more birdies than anyone else in the ZOZO Championship at Sherwood Country Club (his haul of 29 was one more than Patrick Reed), McIlroy knows that if he makes three double-bogeys and eight bogeys at Augusta National, he will do well to repeat last night's 66 for a tie for 17th behind Patrick Cantlay on 15-under.
“I played great yesterday, was seven-under coming to the last hole and made double. And then again today, seven-under playing the last three and made a bogey on the way in.
"But yeah, look, game's there, hitting plenty of good shots, giving myself plenty of chances. Obviously, it's a pretty easy golf course as the scores suggest this week, but I felt like I played pretty good the last three days. Game is definitely feeling better more than it did when I headed out here."
On Friday, when he snapped a wedge in two in frustration with his iron play, he lamented the fact that he was taking on too much when in trouble and running up double-bogeys trying to salvage pars instead of playing to make bogey at worst.
He did it again last night when his 260-yard approach to the 16th finished in a stream, and he ended up having to make an eight-footer for a bogey-six having come up short in a bunker with his fourth, attempting to play the perfect pitch.
"Just limiting the mistakes more than anything else," he said when asked what he needed to work on between now and the Masters. "Don't think it's anything technical, but yeah, mostly just I've sort of compounded errors this week a little bit, and last week [at Shadow Creek] as well. I had a really bad run there at the end of the tournament to go from wherever I was in the top-10 to outside the top-20. So yeah, it's basically that, when I get out of position.
"Even today, I didn't feel I hit that bad a shot on 16, hits the tree, comes back into the hazard. I'm trying to be super cute to just land it on the green, get it close so I could save par instead of just saying to myself give yourself a putt from 10 or 12 feet. I'm trying to be really almost just too perfect, and I'm maybe just being a touch aggressive when I get myself out of position. So just taking my medicine a little bit more when I do. That was sort of the story of the week.
"It would have been nice to hole that birdie putt at the last, I would have made 30 birdies for the week. So I made 29, which is more than enough to win golf tournaments, I just need to cut out the mistakes."
The lack of noise surrounding the Masters this year may well help McIlroy complete the career Grand Slam. But with so many players in better form, it will require a major turnaround in form for him to suddenly start piecing together clean scorecards.
Yes, he was second for driving distance, but he was just 10th for strokes gained off the tee, 50th for proximity to the hole, 25th for strokes gained from tee to green, 26th for strokes gained on approach and 33rd of 77 for strokes gained putting.
With Bryson DeChambeau working on a 48-inch driver and posting videos of his launch monitor showing him breaking the 400-yard barrier for carry, it's little wonder that McIlroy finds the Masters build-up low key this year.
"I like this more," he said of the COVID-19 Masters. "There's not as much hype, not as much, yeah, just noise. I sort of like this better, yeah."
As for his game, he honestly believes he is not that far away, and perhaps he's right.
"I think it's easier to eradicate bogeys than it is to find birdies," he insisted. "I've played tournaments where I feel like all I can do is make pars, which is not a bad thing, but at the end of the day, that's not what's going to give you chances to win tournaments.
"I'd much rather if the bad spells are a little more like this, a little more up and down, but at least you're having the good holes and giving yourself chances for birdies. The bad stuff then, that's easier I think to get rid of. That's a more conservative play off the tee, that's hitting it to the fat part of the green, it's all that. It's more of a strategy thing rather than I think finding birdies is more much -- it's a -- you're putting so much pressure on yourself to do that."
Despite all that, he admitted that making 29 birdies and finished tied 17th was not a good look, even if he did come home in 40 to shoot 73 in the first round.
"Yeah, so after two days I had made seven the first day, eight the second day, so I made 15 birdies after two days and was not in the top 40, so I was pretty proud of that (laughs.)
"And then I just continued it on. I made seven yesterday and seven today, so adds up to 29. It was just -- I kept saying to Harry every time I made a birdie, '23, 24, 25.' He said, 'That's not a good thing. You're 20th in the tournament, and you made so many birdies.' Just a running joke for the week. You know, if I can keep making that many birdies every tournament, sooner or later I'm going to get rid of the bad stuff and I'm going to be right there."
So what now?
With Houston ruled out, he plans to make a trip or two to Augusta National to familiarise himself with the course in autumn.
"Yeah, I will, a couple of times. I might go up once and spend a night and play a couple of days or maybe go up a couple separate times," he said. "No, not playing Houston. Augusta's my next one, and I'll take a couple of months off after that and come back Torrey, I think."
As for the ZOZO Championship, Cantlay closed with a 65 to pip Jon Rahm (68) and overnight leader Justin Thomas (69) by a shot on 23-under par.
“You know, I've been playing really well I feel like the last little stretch, I just haven't put it together four days in a row, and this week it was different,” he said.
Putting it together for four days remains McIlroy’s biggest challenge at Augusta National where he has shot four rounds of par or better just once in 11 starts.
That was in 2015 when he finished fourth, six shots behind Jordan Spieth, 41st at Sherwood on 11-under par.
