Rory McIlroy insists he did see some encouraging signs in his game heading into the US Open at Shinnecock Hills next week but lamented more driver woes which leaves him feeling like he is taking two steps forward and one back.
This all despite closing with a 68 for a four-under total and a share of 12th place at the Memorial Tournament as JT Poston edged Ryan Gerard in a dramatic playoff.
But McIlroy’s frustrating record at Muirfield Village continues. Like at Augusta National – despite winning – and last month’s PGA Championship at Aronimink, driver issues plagued him as he hit just 30 of 56 fairways, leaving him unable to mount a title charge.
“It was sort of like two steps forward, one step back,” the world number two said after a round that began with five birdies in his first six holes before he slowed up with bogeys on 7 and 12 and a birdie on 14.
“I actually felt like I played some of my best golf on Friday afternoon, and we just got tough conditions, and it was just hard coming in.
“Then yesterday, I felt like I left a few out there, and then today as well, after the fast start, it would have been nice to keep that going, but I wasn’t quite able to keep the momentum that I had on that front nine.
“But overall, not a bad week, got some good stuff out of it, and you know, I’ve got a week to prep and get ready for Shinnecock.”
On the positives, McIlroy found solace in his iron play and the statistics reflect that, ranking 10th in strokes gained approach to the green and he hopes he can take advantage of that from the wider fairways at Shinnecock.
“I’d say my iron play was better, wedge play was good. Off the tee still wasn’t where I want it to be.
“Thankfully, the fairways at Shinnecock are a little wider than they are here, so I still need to work on how I’m hitting it off the tee, but everything else, putting, felt pretty good for the most part.
“As I said, iron play and wedges were pretty nice, so I’ll just try to keep getting a little bit better each and every day heading into Shinnecock.”
But the driver issues are hard to escape from. The six-time major winner struggled with the lefts all week and just wasn’t able to find enough fairways to keep his challenge intact.
In typical golfing fashion, McIlroy knows exactly what the problem is. Fixing it is a different story however.
“I get a little bit underneath the plane on the way down and then from there I try to drag the handle to match it up, and then I get toe strikes, and then the toe strikes are — like, so if I’m aiming a touch left trying to hit a cut and I get a touch underneath it and then I try to save it by dragging the handle, I hit it off the toe and then it goes left. But then if I try to hit with one with a draw or pretty neutral, I’ll still get a little bit underneath it, and I’ll release it and it will overturn a little bit.
“But I have to try to get the club back out in front of me. But then when it gets out in front of me, if I do get it there, then it’s about having the right release pattern on the way through. You look very confused.
“I feel limited at the minute.”
Shane Lowry closed with a 73 to finish outside the top-20 on one-under.
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