Rory McIlroy sparks concerns with ‘very worrying' US Open behaviour as Sky Sports pundit says ‘his eyes weren't alive'

The Sun

2 days ago

RORY MCILROY has sparked concerns ahead of the US Open.
The reigning Masters champion has not won a tournament since his brilliant Augusta triumph.
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McIlroy, 36, has found himself in a slump, last week failing to even make the cut at the RBC Canadian Open.
With the US Open set to get underway later today, McIlroy has given a press conference.
The Northern Irishman's body language during the presser concerned Sky Sports' former Ryder Cup captain analyst Paul McGinley.
Discussing McIlroy's chances at Oakmont, the Irishman, 58, said: "You'd have to say it was very worrying looking at his press conference there. His eyes weren't alive. The energy was not there.
"He certainly didn't have the pointy elbows the way we saw coming into the Masters. He was a man on a mission, he was a man on a bounce, he was a man out to prove something. 'Get out of my way, here I come.' You could see that and feel the energy.
"You don't see it at the moment. I know from my own experience, when you win tournaments, you check out. You don't feel the same.
"You want to be there, and you put in the energy, but something inside you is just missing.
"It takes some time for that to reset, and I think he's going through a period of that. He's completed a Grand Slam – it's a huge achievement.
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"I'm no psychologist but it looks like the air has been sucked out of him a little since that, not just in the way he's played but in his press conferences.
"It's very un-Rory-like to have such low energy. This is not normal Rory.
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"This is not when he's at his best. In my opinion, I think he's at his best when he's p***ed off or following off a big loss or something that went wrong."
During the presser, McIlroy did claim to be feeling good.
The Masters champion said: "I feel like, as the last few weeks ago, I think I learnt a lot on Thursday and Friday last week.
"Did a good bit of practice at home and feel like I'm in a better place with everything going into this week."
Mcilroy then went on to reflect: "I think it's trying to have a little bit of amnesia and forget about what happened six weeks ago, then just trying to find the motivation to go back out there and work as hard as I've been working.
"I worked incredibly hard on my game from October last year all the way up until April this year.
"It was nice to sort of see the fruits of my labour come to fruition and have everything happen. But at the same time, you have to enjoy what you've just accomplished.
"I certainly feel like I'm still doing that and I will continue to do that but, at some point, you have to realise that there's a little bit more golf left to play this season.
"There's here, Royal Portrush, Ryder Cup…those are obviously the three big things that I'm looking at for the rest of the year.
"I think weeks like Quail Hollow or even weeks like last week, it makes it easier to reset in some way, to be like, 'okay, I sort of need to get my stuff together here and get back to the process'."