Could be the end of the line for Rory McIlroy.
At least for this season.
Chi-Town.
Third stage of the FedEx Cup Playoffs are a go for Conway Farms on Thursday.
The Top Five players in the world have aligned themselves as leaders in the FedEx Cup points.
Rory McIlroy is not in either category.
McIlroy, once the world’s No. 1, has fallen all the way to sixth and his stock continues to fall after a missed cut two weeks ago in Boston left him a lowly 51st in the FedEx Cup standings.
That’s a long way from winning it all in 2015.
All you need do is watch him play and you’ll know why.
Typical Rory McIlroy hole: 489-yard hole, a beast for most players.
McIlroy blasts a perfect drive, 370-yards dead-center of the fairway. Wedge to 25 feet, two putts for par.
Another Typical Rory McIlroy hole: 450 yards, still long for a par four.
McIroy blasts a perfect 350-yard drive, right center of fairway. Sand wedge to 18 feet, two putts for par.
By now you should get the picture.
Yes, Rory McIlroy drives the floo-bash out of the golf ball. The kid is extremely long.
But this scenario reminds me of stuff we have heard from golf civilians for decades:
“You should see how far this kid hits the golf ball!”
How many times have you heard that around town, around your town or course?
We’ve heard it hundreds of times.
If you want to throw those “you should see how long this kid hits the ball” exclaimers for a real loop, ask them: “How well does he putt?” Typically they won’t have an answer. People are blinded by the long ball.
Always have been.
Which brings us back to Rory, holder of four major championships. Hasn’t won any since 2014 when he won two of his four.
He looked like he’d add to that total after winning the FedEx Cup last year.
Now here we are, a year later and it looks for all intents and purposes like Rory won’t be in the final 30 comes Sunday. Not unless something happens in a hurry this week at the BMW.
You look at his struggles this season and it all goes back to the rib problem that got his season stuck in the mud from the get-go.
The world’s Top Five — Dustin Johnson (No. 1), Jordan Spieth (No. 2), Hideki Matsuyama (No. 3), Justin Thomas (No. 4) and Jon Rahm (No. 5) are all in the thick of the FedEx Cup chase.
Number Six is not.
McIlroy hinted he might shut down for the season three weeks ago but showed up for the playoffs. A tie for 34th at the Northern Trust and then the missed cut at The Dell tell us that maybe he should have shut it down.
He’s got one last shot this week but at this point, it’s a long-shot.
The culprit remains the second shots after those enormous drives.
His putter hasn’t been much help either.
Rory looks like a man more desperate for a long vacation than a man desperate to make it to Atlanta next week.
2 Comments
RM
Great analysis. Sounds like when he gets the rib thing under total control, he needs to quietly take a page out of DJ’s improvement book as far as wedges and putting go. DJ has come a long way since Chambers Bay.
Putting practice should not be impossible even while nursing the rib injury along.
Love to see him pull it together.
Tom Edrington
Thanks RM, the Trackman helped DJ get his wedges dialed in….I’d be disappointed if my wedges were as far from the hole as many of Rory’s……needs to get some comfort on the greens, still misses too many putts inside 10 feet and you’re right, the rib injury doesn’t stop him from focusing on the putter.