Paul McGinley on Rory McIlroy’s ‘devastating’ US Open collapse: ‘That’s pressure. That’s what it does to you’
Paul McGinley believes Rory McIlroy’s “devastating” US Open collapse was due to loss of focus and not technical woes as he failed to add another glorious chapter to his major resumé.
The Dubliner said in the build-up that major championship scar tissue is an issue for the Holywood star, who has gone ten years without adding to his four major wins.
Tipped to rival Tiger Woods and even Jack Nicklaus after winning four majors by the age of 25, the weight os expectation has sunk the greatest Irish and European golfing talent of his generation.
“It's devastating,” McGinley said after missed short putts on the 16th and 18th cost the Co Down man a long overdue fifth major win that would have put him level with Seve Ballesteros and left him just one shy of Nick Faldo in his quest to become the most successful European in the modern game.
“A devastating loss for any player - not just Rory. It's absolutely devastating. I’ve been there in the heat of battle and it's so, so, so difficult. Rory has faltered coming down the stretch. Bryson took advantage.”
For McGinley, the miss on the 16th was egregious enough but he felt the three-and-a-half-foot, downhill left-to-righter he wafted wide on the 18th took much of the pressure off a “box office” DeChambeau, who got up and down from 55 yards from a bunker and made a four-footer for his second US Open win in five years.
“I think it would have been a whole different scenario if Rory had made him put on 18, and Bryson had to get up and down on 18 to get into a playoff.
“That would have flipped the pressure onto Bryson. He had a free run with that bunker shot.
“I know it was great. I know it was well executed. But it wasn't the most difficult shot when you knew that a five was going to be a playoff.
“But still, you've got to give him credit. I want to give him full credit for what he did. His heart, his battle, everything was huge this week. His game was not quite on today. But he found a way of getting it done. You've got to give him so much credit for that.”
McGinley blamed a lack of concentration for McIlroy’s collapse as his Golf Channel sparring partner Brandel Chamblee pointed to McIlroy’s swing faults as key to him losing a two-shot lead with three bogeys in his last four holes.
“Like I've been saying all week, it's not about the talent, it comes down to a drop in focus,” McGinley said.
“And through 13 holes he was on it. He was exactly where you wanted to be. And that element of doubt came in.
“He started second-guessing himself; he started backing off shots, which he never does.
“He started having an extra couple of looks down the fairway before he took the club back. He started having an extra little bit of time over the putts, which he never does.
“That's pressure. That's what it does to you. And ultimately he succumbed to it. And, you know, I think Bryson can't believe his luck at the end of the day and that it's panned out the way it has for him.
“But a door was open and he walked through.”
McIlroy’s putting coach, Brad Faxon, articulated what many observers were thinking as McIlroy watched DeChambeau putt out from the recorder’s area before accepting his death sentence and heading away like a condemned man, resignedly descending to the cells.
“Nobody’s had more pressure on him over the last 10 years,” Faxon said. “Everybody in the world knows he hasn’t won a major since 2014.
“I think it’s the way this happened: the short missed putts there on 16, certainly on 18. I don’t know how you get through this thing. It’s really tough.”
Chamblee maintains that McIlroy is under even more pressure because his swing has changed and can no longer hold up to the stress.
“I think the reason he hasn't won since (2014) is because his swing simply isn't as good as it was prior to that,” he said. “Four of his first 15 majors., he won two of those by eight shots.
“I'm going to list all the people that have won two majors by eight shots or more since 1900, Rory and Tiger, and that's it. Just two and that forecasts into the future. Domination? Yes. But he changed his golf swing.
“His golf swing is not in the same place it was in 2014. It's deeper, and it tends to be across the line and it comes from the inside… there’s a nagging pull left and a nagging flare up to the right. That puts him a little bit on the edge.
“We saw it today. I mean, we'll remember the putt at 16. And we'll remember the putt of 18. But if you go back and look at all those iron shots, he just didn't hit crisp enough.”
McGinley disagreed, maintaining that McIlroy’s swing has been good enough to put the best in the world to the sword in umpteen tour events since 2014 and as recently as last month when he left Xander Schauffele in the dust in the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow.
“He gets to Quail Hollow, and he just takes the opportunity, and he seizes it, and he runs off into the distance, and he kills the opposition,” McGinley said. “He wins…
“The difference in major championships is when the initiative is presented to him he doesn't run off.
“And that's not just because all of a sudden he lost his swing. Mentally, he got on the precipice of winning this tournament, and instead of driving over the line, he hesitated.
“And if you hesitate with guys like Bryson around, who is fearless and plays with fearlessness, you've got a problem and that's what happened.”
For McGinley, it’s the weight of history and not technical issues that dog McIlroy.
“He underperforms in the heat of battle. The first three days, he gets in position every single time,” he said.
“The reason he's not won majors is not because his game deserts on Sunday, it’s because he doesn't have the confidence to drive over the line like he does in PGA tour events. That's the difference.”
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