Rory McIlroy remarked on Wednesday that he has “loved” Muirfield Village for as long as he has played the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, and this will be his 12th start there.
The fact that he has never won here serves as the best example of how he hasn’t always played it effectively.
His first two rounds in 2014, which were 63-78, were much more revealing.
“The main problem was that I missed fairways,” he commented after his dismal second round.
“One thing that stands out to me about the recent victories is that perhaps with the exception of Jon Rahm, they have all been sort of like medium-length hitters. On this golf course, I only hit four drives. five or four. Thus, it frequently takes the driver out of my hands. Many fairways become challenging around 330 or 340. And I have to admit that my biggest driver isn’t necessarily the one that works best on other golf courses.” he said
Two-time Memorial champion Patrick Cantlay and five-time winner Tiger Woods aren’t exactly medium-length hitters.
Even so, McIlroy’s disconnect persists. He hasn’t come close to winning here; his best finish was a T4 in 2016. He placed T18, T18, and T32 in his past three finishes at Muirfield Village.
He is in the midst of an up-and-down season as of this week. He’s been extremely successful, earning his 23rd and most recent PGA TOUR victory at THE CJ CUP in South Carolina last October, and extremely unsuccessful, missing the cut at THE PLAYERS Championship and the Master’s Tournament.
His performance at the Wells Fargo Championship at his favorite club, Quail Hollow, was only average with a T47.
Most recently, McIlroy had trouble hitting fairways at Oak Hill, hitting only 23 of 56, with only two of those coming in Round 1. Despite this, he managed to limit the damage and finish T7 at the PGA Championship.
“I don’t recall ever feeling so uneasy about the ball for four days. I needed to return home to finish some tasks, and after doing so, I felt much better about it and was less inclined to put on a brave face in public. I feel a little more liberated, which is a pleasant feeling.” he said.
Muirfield Village has four par 5 holes, thus McIlroy should be able to attack. It simply hasn’t happened, and the reason why he hasn’t done this has been a little unexpected. If he wants to change that, he will need to perform better off the tee this week. His current ranking for driving accuracy is 189.
He also ranks 144th in Putting and Strokes Gained.
There are many suggestions for how he can start winning again, and that’s just when he meets
Jack Nicklaus, the Memorial Tournament’s host.
“He doesn’t hesitate to express his opinions. Sometimes I’ll go to the Bear’s Club lunchroom, and if I’ve just had, let’s say, an average week on TOUR the week before, and I see Jack there, I always worry about what he’s going to say to me.”
He joked before swiftly changing his tone to commend the 18-time major champion for his numerous gifts to children’s healthcare and other nonprofits.
Those average weeks have been relatively rare for McIlroy, the third-ranked golfer in the world, but they still occur occasionally, just like they did for Woods and Nicklaus. McIlroy, who will compete in Memorial, the RBC Canadian Open, the U.S. Open, and the Travellers Championship in quick succession, doesn’t appear worried.
Nicklaus doesn’t either. When asked about McIlroy’s approaching nine-year major drought, Nicklaus brought up the young golfer’s final-round collapse at the 2011 Masters, which he was poised to win until a final-round 80. Two months later, he won the U.S. Open by eight strokes.
Nicklaus doesn’t either. Nicklaus brought up McIlroy’s final-round collapse at the 2011 Masters, which he was in contention to win until a final-round 80 when he was questioned about the younger player’s nine-year major drought. Two months later, he won the U.S. Open by eight strokes.
The lesson here is that McIlroy learns things very quickly.
“He is still going to triumph in many competitions,” Nicklaus mentioned.
In the upcoming four weeks, he will get four chances, beginning on Thursday at Muirfield Village
