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Over the last two seasons, Rory McIlroy has finished T-8 or better in seven of the eight majors with the lone outlier being the 2023 Masters where he missed the cut.
Yes, he has yet to break his major drought that stems to 2014, but he has been in the mix more than any other player in the world. In fact, over the last eight majors, McIlroy is 41 under. That’s five shots better than Scottie Scheffler, the next best player who has teed it up in all eight.
Many in the media, many on social media, blame the putter for McIlroy’s inability to get it over the finish line at the game’s biggest events.
Brad Faxon — McIlroy’s putting coach — is tired of hearing it.
“He didn’t have a great putting couple of days but he had a great final round and a great putting week,” Faxon said during an appearance on Golf Channel. “And you know, when Rory McIlroy finishes fifth in a major, tied for sixth in a major, the world is going to end, according to some of the media.
“It bugs me to no end, and what particularly bugs me, and I hope whoever posted this one is listening now, because when other instructors want to criticize Rory’s stroke or Rory or potentially me, when they don’t know anything about how a player thinks and what motivates them, what drives them, it’s beyond reproach.”
McIlroy hasn’t played since the Open, but returns next week for the first event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis — he missed the cut in 2022. The Northern Irishman is hoping to win his fourth FedEx Cup at East Lake later this month.