HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Worried about Rory McIlroy having a bad case of the Sunday blues?
Don’t be. He’s not.
The world No. 1 has notched nine top-5s and a tie for ninth in his most recent 12 worldwide starts, including PGA Tour wins No. 17 and No. 18 in The Tour Championship and the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions last fall.
But a few stumbles on Sundays have many in golf circles wondering if anything is wrong when the final round rolls around even though McIlroy has won four majors, three PGA Tour player of the year awards and the FedExCup twice.
Cases in point this year: He was three back with 18 to play at the Farmers Insurance Open in January but bogeyed three of his first four holes before rallying for a tie for third. He was tied for the lead with 18 to play in the Genesis Invitational in February but tripled the fifth, bogeyed the sixth and tied for fifth. At the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March, he was tied for the lead with 14 holes to play but lost six shots to par in the next eight holes and tied for fifth.
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And then in last week’s Charles Schwab Challenge, he was three back with 18 to play but went out in 41, shot 74 and tied for 32nd. This prompted CBS lead analysts Nick Faldo to say McIlroy doesn’t have a Plan B when things go wrong.
McIlroy didn’t take Faldo’s comments personally and has just moved on to this week’s RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links, where another loaded field awaits, one that includes the top 6 players in the world.
“You’re going out there trying to shoot a good score, and that’s about it. That’s what you try to do every day. Some days you play better than others,” said McIlroy, who has played the RBC Heritage just once, finishing in a tie for 58th in 2009. “I remember everyone kept asking me about Fridays six years ago in 2014 when I had bad Fridays. Geez, a few Fridays in a row where I didn’t play well.”
By the way, McIlroy won the British Open, PGA Championship, BMW Championship and WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in 2014. Finished the year world No. 1, too.
“I don’t think it’s this thing,” McIlroy said about his recent play in the final round. “I try to go out there every day and shoot the best score I can, and the best score I could shoot on Sunday was 74. Hopefully, tomorrow I go out and try my best and shoot something a bit lower than that.
“Just each day, just try to go out there and do your best.”
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McIlroy admitted he was disappointed in his Sunday performance in the Arnold Palmer Invitation. But last week, when he finished outside of the top 10 for the first time since last September, McIlroy said he just played like crap. Even the best in the world have days like that.
“That was really it,” McIlroy said. “It was anything to do with the position I was in or I got off to a really bad start and got into the rough on the front nine and hit decent shots that ended up in a bunker or a bad lie or whatever. It’s one of those things where the momentum just started going the other way.
“I played OK last week. It was a good gauge to see where I was at and what I needed to practice and what I needed to do going into the next few weeks. Obviously disappointing not to shoot a good one on Sunday, but it was fine.
“It’s not like I’ve necessarily shot bad scores on Sundays. I got off to a couple of bad starts in some final groups, but I still was able to come back and shoot scores in the 60s. So, no, I’m not worried about anything.”
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