Hoylake, England — As Rory McIlroy finished playing 14 holes during a practice round with Shane Lowry on Tuesday morning, it’s starting to rain on the Royal Liverpool Golf Club again.
McIlroy, the world No. 2 ranked player, was asked if playing the course brought back fond memories of the last time he played at Royal Liverpool, when he won the 2014 Open Championship. He claimed his fourth major title a month later at the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.
“A little bit, not as much as you think,” said McIlroy. “You know, over the last nine years a lot has happened in my life and I’ve played a lot of golf tournaments. But, yeah, there are some things that I remember and it’s nice to be back on the golf course and kind of reacquaint yourself with it.”
A lot has happened in McIlroy’s life during his nearly nine-year drought without a major championship. He became a husband and father. He won 19 other world championships. He became a three-time Tour Championship winner. He was the face of the PGA Tour during its two-year battle with the LIV Golf League for the world’s best players.
McIlroy didn’t just win another major. He came into The Open this week thinking he was closer than ever to ending his frustrating drought, especially after winning the Scottish Open last week.
“The results say so, but, I mean, I should just go out and play golf,” said McIlroy. “Since 2014, I’ve won everything else to win in the game, except for a major championship, so I know I’m good.”
McIlroy, 34, has come agonizingly close to ending his drought over the past eight seasons. He has finished second in three majors since his second Wanamaker Trophy at the 2014 PGA Championship. He tied for second at the 2018 Open, last year’s Masters and the US Open in June, when he only had one birdie in the final round and finished one stroke behind winner Windham Clark.
It wasn’t just close calls. At the 150 Open in St Andrews in Scotland last year, McIlroy took a share of the lead heading into the final round. The stage was set for him to end his golf home drought. He made a round 70 and finished third, one stroke behind winner Cameron Smith.
“You only get four chances a year, and the lead in golf is very strong right now,” Lowry said. “Like I keep saying, you don’t have a God-given right to go out and win and do well. It’s a battle day for professional golfers, and that’s what it is.
“Rory has always been one of the best players in the world over the last 12 or 14 years. Since winning here in 2014 he’s done everything in the game to do it twice, apart from winning a major, and he came really close. Honestly, I was pretty sure he was going to win the US Open this year, and I was happy to hear he didn’t take it hard. He was very happy with the way he played.”
McIlroy bounced back much better after nearly missing out at the US Open than he did when he missed out on losing the Masters in April when trying to become only the sixth man to complete a career Grand Slam. He skipped a scheduled start at the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, next week.
McIlroy said he missed the tournament to focus on his “mental and emotional well-being”. He forfeited $3 million of his $12 million player impact program bonus due to missing a certain second event of the season.
After tying for 47th in the Wells Fargo tournament in his first start in early May, McIlroy has compiled six consecutive top-10 finishes. He is tied for seventh in the PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York, and Monument is tied for ninth in the RBC Canadian Open and tied for seventh in the Travelers Championship.
“Hammock in a better place,” McIlroy said. “I did some work after Oak Hill. Even though I pulled it together a little bit in Oak Hill, it felt really bad. I did really well before Memorial, and I think Memorial, Canada, US Open and Travelers was a four-week stretch to get really comfortable with what I was trying to do, and I just continued on that little stretch.”
Winning last week on a links course in windy conditions in Scotland gives him more confidence.
“I think regardless of whether I won or not, I would have been confident in the way I’ve played over the last month and a half,” McElroy said. “My game seems to be in good shape, but I think seeing the way I played last week and being able to control the ball in very difficult circumstances, I feel good about that this week.”
McIlroy told ESPN on Tuesday that he hasn’t seen the highlights of 2014 as he prepares to try to win another Claretty pitcher. He remembers sticking to his game plan and not taking too many risks when he won nine years ago.
“As clever as I was,” McIlroy said, “I don’t know if it was as free as I was, but definitely smart. I think I really got my thinking hat on that week and played a lot of good golf strategically. It’s definitely a game of chess here, lying on some bunkers and battling it out with others. You just try to stick to the game plan, whatever the game plan is.”
McIlroy will be playing a different course this week, as Royal Liverpool Golf Club has undergone extensive changes over the past two years. There is a brand new par-3 17th hole. The 10th hole was switched from the par 5 to Paral. The 15th hole was extended from par 3 to par5. The 16th hole is now par 4. Despite the changes, McElroy said the Royal Liverpool FC is facing the same challenges.
“It’s basically how I remember it,” McIlroy said. “It’s a very strategic golf course off the tee. It’s very well fortified. The biggest challenge of this course is avoiding those bunkers off the tee.”
McIlroy is the heavy bet favorite to win this week. It wouldn’t be the first time in the past nine years that he’s considered the player to win a major championship.
“He’s clearly a very talented player, he’s put himself in his position and that just hasn’t happened yet,” said John Rahm. “I can’t say what he has in mind of course. No doubt he wants it. He wants to get to five.” [majors]. Not many players get five. He still has a lot of years to play, so I know he wants to keep adding to that count.
“I hope he does. I’m sure he’ll get fifth at some point.”