“I feel sort of close but also so far away at the same time”: Rory McIlroy continues to struggle at Golf majors

Rory McIlroy once again didn´t win in a majors tournament. This weekend, he saw one more chance to end his nine-year drought without winning one of the four majors pass him by.

However, can it be called a bad performance? In his own words, Rory McIlroy didn't feel like having "a chance of winning this week".

In summing up his performance at the recently concluded PGA Championship, the Northern Irish golfer returned to the subject of his mental approach to the tournament.

Rory McIlroy at the 2023 PGA Championship (Image via Getty)

According to Golf.com, this is what McIlroy had to say:

“I feel sort of close but also so far away at the same time. It’s hard to explain. I feel like sometimes it was the worst I could have played, but then at the same time, it’s like the best I could have done.”

McIlroy continued:

“I guess I just came in here trying to play a golf tournament, not thinking about — honestly, not thinking about getting myself in contention. Not thinking about winning. I honestly didn’t feel like I had a chance of winning this week,” he added.

However, McIlroy's (logical) dissatisfaction shouldn´t lead us to the mistake of considering his performance as bad. Not in the 2023 PGA Championship, nor in major tournaments in the last nine years. The fact that his results have not lived up to the expectations of himself and his fans does not mean that what he has done has been disastrous.

This criterion comes from the very high quality of Rory McIlroy as a golfer. Being one of the best so far in the 21st century, any result equal to "not winning" can be presented as "bad". However, this is only the case if one takes into account the extraordinary competitiveness that professional golf represents.

After evaluating the specific result as a whole with the quality of the tournament in question, everyone can see that Rory McIlroy's performances have been good, if not excellent. Although, of course, he has lacked the icing on the cake: the victory.

Rory McIlroy in major tournaments

It is well known that Rory McIlroy has four majors victories to his credit (2011 U.S. Open, 2012 and 2014 PGA Championship, and 2014 The Open Championship). What has happened since then?

After winning The Open Championship in 2014 to date, McIlroy has started in 30 majors tournaments. That is, he hasn't missed any (except those suspended due to the pandemic).

Rory McIlroy at the 2023 PGA Championship (Image via Getty).

He has made the cut in 25 of the 30 tournaments played, with 16 Top-10 finishes, including eight Top-fives and two runner-ups. His worst performance was T50 at the 2018 PGA Championship. All the while, in parallel, he won 14 PGA Tour tournaments, in addition to other great international performances.

That he has lacked victory in majors? It's true. Will he come across it in the future? Who knows. I like to think so, for golf's sake. If not, however, I think McIlroy will always find a way through golf to make our lives more entertaining.