Rory McIlroy left with familiar feeling of Major regret as he confirms Irish Open not part of his schedule

Rory McIlroy insists the consistency is back in his golf game

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Rory McIlroy insists the consistency is back in his golf game

Brian Keogh

May 26 2022 07:30 AM

Rory McIlroy admits last week’s US PGA near miss will go down as “definitely one that got away”.

Confirming he’ll skip next month’s Horizon Irish Open, he’s upbeat about breaking his Major duck but disappointed with his mistakes at Southern Hills, where he finished just three shots outside a play-off.

“Regrets? Yeah I regret I didn’t take advantage of the benign conditions on Friday afternoon,” McIlroy said in a conference call to promote the new GolfNow Compete App.

“I regret the big numbers I made on the par threes on Saturday. The fact that I just needed to play the last 13 holes in one-under par to make a play-off on Sunday, and I didn’t.

“So, yeah, I definitely feel like it was one that got away. But, again, I have to take the positives – and the fact that eighth place in a Major is absolutely worst I feel I could’ve finished last week.”

PGA winner Justin Thomas described coming from eight shots behind with 10 holes to go to beat Will Zalatoris in a play-off as “unfathomable”.

It was also a lesson for McIlroy, who was leading after an opening 65 but shot a one-over 71 in the best of the weather on Friday, then played three par threes in six over in a 74 on Saturday before fading after an early charge on Sunday.

“That’s a completely different story to where I was the last couple of years,” McIlroy said, pointing out he contended for last year’s US Open, and finished second with a closing 64 at the Masters. “The first two Majors of last year, I missed the cut at Augusta and I finished like 50th at the PGA.

“I just have to stay as patient as possible. I know that if I keep playing the golf that I’m playing the chances are going to present themselves and I’m going to give myself a few more chances this year, not just to win Majors but to win golf tournaments in general.”

PGA champion Justin Thomas

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PGA champion Justin Thomas

Confirming he’ll play the Memorial, the RBC Canadian Open, the Travelers and the US Open before skipping the Irish Open and playing the JP McManus Pro-Am before The Open, McIlroy hasn’t spoken to mental coach Dr Bob Rotella about Tulsa.

“He sent me a nice text on Sunday night,” he said.

“There’s a lot to be positive about where my golf game is now compared to where it was last year, it’s miles ahead of that. I feel like the consistency is back in my golf game that really hasn’t been there.

“I feel like this year is very similar to 2019, when I had one of my best years ever and won four times, and I was PGA Tour Player of the Year.”

Missing the Horizon Irish Open was a given, considering he’s playing the next four weeks.

“I’ll play these next four weeks and then it’s two weeks out from competitive golf I guess,” he said. “I’ll go to Adare Manor and play JP’s Pro-Am and then just probably be around the area that week, play some links golf and then head to St Andrews maybe the weekend before to get some prep done.”

Pádraig Harrington and Darren Clarke compete in the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores in Michigan this week while Cormac Sharvin and Jonny Caldwell tee it up in the Dutch Open at Bernardus Golf.

Rory McIlroy left with familiar feeling of Major regret as he confirms Irish Open not part of his schedule

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