Rory McIlroy insists his iron play must improve heading to the tight targets at TPC Sawgrass if he is to capture a second PLAYERS Championship title this week.
McIlroy admits he has been struggling with a left miss for a few weeks and his final round came to a crushing blow as he slumped to a 76, missing ten greens and ranking 57th of the 58 players who made the cut in strokes gained approach and 55th overall, losing four strokes in total.
“Another great week off the tee. I feel like I found a good feeling with the putting as well. I putted well the last three days. Just the iron play’s let me down,” he lamented after ranking 2nd in strokes gained off the tee and 19th in putting.
“It’s sort of been the same story the last few weeks, sort of struggling with a left miss with the irons and it’s hard because the longer clubs, the woods, feel so good and then the irons don’t really feel that good, so I feel like I’m having to put like two different swings on the woods and the irons at the minute, which is a struggle. But everything else feels pretty good, so if I can get the irons tightened up, I feel like I’ll be in a good spot.”
Keen to focus on the positives, McIlroy feels like he is purring off the tee and has found a spark on the greens after some late night surgery with Brad Faxon on Thursday night.
The four-time major winner hasn’t been taking advantage of his excellent driving in recent weeks but feels he isn’t too far away from all facets of his game from clicking into gear.
“I’m going to Sawgrass next week, like, super comfortable with how I’m hitting it off the tee. If you can get the ball in play there, then I think that’s half the battle. But then you’ve got very small, demanding greens that you got to hit it on the right levels, and you have to be pretty precise with your approach play as well.
“Yeah, I guess for me, in my head at the minute, it’s all about the approach play because that’s the thing that I’m struggling with. I’ve got three days here to try to figure it out and get some good work in. Again, I think I’ll probably lead the field in strokes gained off the tee this week, for the third week in a row, so I just need the other — once I do that, then the next part is the key for me.”
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