LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY | At 1 o’clock Wednesday afternoon, on the eve of the PGA Championship here at Valhalla, Rory McIlroy looked unshaven and ill at ease, and his voice was a little less confident than usual. He bore little resemblance to the man who had celebrated hard with Shane Lowry, his fellow Irishman, after their victory in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans three weeks ago. From the tone of his voice and the serious look on his face, one never would have thought that McIlroy, 35, had won the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina – and with it, $3.6 million – three days earlier.
Nor that as he walked up the 72nd hole at Quail Hollow on Sunday, he was greeted with roars of “Ror-ee, Ror-ee” by spectators who clearly loved him. Nor that these two recent victories had caused a significant upsurge in TV viewer ratings, which had been going the other way for much of this year.
Rather, McIlroy looked like a man who would rather have been anywhere other than where he was. Even facing a curling 8-foot putt to make a bogey on a green with a Stimpmeter speed of 13.5 in order to make the cut in a big tournament would have been preferable.
The reason for his demeanor was that McIlroy now was facing the media in his first appearance since the announcement Monday that he and his wife, Erica, were to divorce. Journalists were warned in advance that McIlroy would not be making any additional comment about his private life.
His appearance lasted for less than 15 minutes, and seven questions were posed, only one to do with his personal situation. A journalist asked: “It’s been quite a few years for you. How are your energy levels and, just on a personal level, how are you doing?” McIlroy gave his questioner a firm stare and said tersely: “I’m ready to play this week.”
All this was eerily similar to a press conference that McIlroy gave at Wentworth Club in England on the eve of the BMW PGA Championship on the European Tour, as it then was known, in May 2014. Then he looked teary and pale, and the reason was that he had just announced that he was breaking off his engagement to Caroline Wozniacki, the tennis player.
Sad as it might seem to delve into the private circumstances of a man in McIlroy’s situation, there might be some encouragement to be found there. Ten years ago, after that appearance on the Wednesday of the BMW PGA, McIlroy won the event. Not only that. He went on to have a banner year, winning the Open at Royal Liverpool, the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio, and then the PGA at Valhalla, by one stroke over Phil Mickelson, coming in near-darkness. After two wins in his past two events and confidence in his golf surging through his veins, McIlroy might be on the verge of what would be his first victory in a major championship since that triumph here 10 years ago.
“I thought at that point in time that we might see Rory win 10 major championships.” – Andy North
It would be about time. He must be sick of answering questions as to why he hasn’t added to his total of four major championships – the 2011 U.S. Open, the 2012 PGA, and the 2014 Open and 2014 PGA.
After his performance at Valhalla in 2014, commentators were predicting big things for McIlroy. “I thought at that point in time that we might see Rory win 10 major championships,” said Andy North, the 1978 and 1985 U.S. Open champion who is now a respected TV commentator. “He had limitless ability, unbelievable length, could do everything and was making it look really easy.”
Curtis Strange, like North, a two-time U.S. Open champion, thought similarly. “We thought he was going to be spectacular. He has been spectacular at times but not as consistent. We never thought he was going to be as consistent as Tiger Woods, the way he played. He played at full throttle. He was all out. And he has been a little more inconsistent and hasn’t won the majors that we had thought or hoped he would … because at 35 if he could win a major championship then the energy that it would create within him might be phenomenal. Who knows?”
It didn’t happen, but perhaps the release of tension created by two victories in as many weeks can boost his confidence to such a level that he can play that stunning, make-it-look-so-easy golf that he demonstrates when he is at his best.
“I would say from a technical standpoint, some of the shots that I hit last week, some of the three-quarter shots, some of the wedge shots, some of the iron shots, combined with, you know, how good I feel with the driver at the minute, you know, when I can see those three-quarter shots and those wedge shots going and starting on the right line, you know, that obviously gives me a lot of confidence,” McIlroy said Wednesday.
“I can only vaguely remember coming here off the back of winning the Open and the old WGC at Akron [in 2014]. But you know, I think it’s all about confidence and momentum, and I have a lot of confidence and quite a bit of momentum coming into this week. It’s some time since my game has felt this good.”
Some experts consider that McIlroy’s play in Charlotte was as good as any since his victory here in Kentucky 10 years ago. Might his reappearance at a course he likes, one on which he has won before, and at a time when he is clearly in a vein of rare form, be sufficient for him to win that fifth major championship that has eluded him for a decade?