Rory McIlroy: Between the Giant's Causeway and the Claret Jug

Irish Examiner

16 hours ago

Forged by nature 50 to 60 millenia ago, the Giants Causeway embodies extreme fluctuations in temperature over time. Volcanic lava erupted through cracks in the earth's crust. As it cooled on surface, it shrank and cracked again creating the hexagonal columns still seen today. In a timeless lesson, nature reminds us that after every breakthrough, comes a time to cool off.
Seven miles along the same coastline, the dramatic rock formations give way to well-groomed grass, sandy bunkers and the flag poles of Royal Portrush. The last time the British Open was played there was 2019. Rory McIlroy had lobbied for years to bring the competition to one of his favourite courses.
Back then, days before tee-off, he told the media: 'Now that I'm here and see everything come to fruition it's hard not to think of having a putt to win the Open. I don't get that emotional in golf. I can separate the emotion from it and the logic but if it were to happen, it would take a lot not to burst out crying.'
As dusk fell on the Friday evening, Rory was still trying to make the cut for the final two days of the Open. He fell short. His emotional premonition was replaced by scenes of his Irish teammate Shane Lowry lifting the Claret Jug.
This week, Rory has returned for the same event at Royal Portrush months after securing his career grand-slam. Wearing his green jacket, with the gait of a man unburdened, Rory spoke about the emotion of achieving that life goal.
Back in 2011, Master's glory had seemed to be within reach. Awakening on the final day, Rory was top of the leader board. But he wasn't prepared for it: 'I started to think about what it would mean, started to think about the green jacket. Champions' locker room, what you're going to serve at the dinner. There's a lot of things that are going through your head.'
Skill execution failed, composure crumpled, losing his lead and finishing joint eighth. He promised himself that if he got in that position again, he'd not 'think about those things'. But ahead of Portrush in 2019, those thought patterns resurfaced.
Fast forward to April 2025 in Augusta after the play-off with Justin Rose. Rory told the assembled media: 'My battle today was with myself. It wasn't with anyone else. You know, at the end there, it was with Justin, but my battle today was with my mind and staying in the present.'
Returning to Royal Portrush this summer, with a lifetime of learning about golf at this level, how much has Rory learned about himself ? In what he sees as a 'battle' with his mind and 'staying in the present', how has he changed?
Last year, in the off season, Rory played more golf. He brought in a coach to help refine his technique. Perhaps the most important part of this changed approach was psychological. Renowned sport psychologist Dr Bob Rotella began consulting with Team McIlroy. Athletes speak of being 'in the zone'. This comes from a concept in sport psychology known as the Individual Zone of Optimal Functioning (IZOF: Hanin, 1980). It's a psycho-physiological state of optimal arousal which aids optimal performance.
Sky Ireland has unveiled a striking sand mural on Downhill Beach, Co. Derry, honouring golfing legends Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Pádraig Harrington, Darren Clarke and Fred Daly, to mark the 153rd Open at Royal Portrush this week. Artist: Sean Corcoran. Pic: Sky Ireland
Speaking to one of the many news networks camped at Augusta, Rotella said: 'We've had some very specific goals, and really, he's just trying to be in a great mindset. And there's a 'feeling state' when he knows he plays his best golf. And our major goal has been to be feeling that way all the time we're on the golf course.'
Then look again at Rotella's influence on Rory's 'train-of-thought' this season. Five days before the Masters 2025, Rory McIlroy gave an interview to the BBC in which he used the word 'feel' seven times in the space of thirty seconds, including: 'I feel good, I feel relaxed, I feel ready'.
Conversations he's been having with Rotella, and with himself, have focused on a feeling state which is most conducive to high performance. Some might dismiss this as guesswork, but in high performance sport, psychologists help athletes create frameworks.
On the basis of interviews and observations, Rory's inner world appears to be experienced, expressed and exhibited with great emotional intensity. Coming to understand and manage this better is something which he and Rotella have been working on for many months. But, a bit like the formations at the Giants Causeway, patterns of behaviour take shape over time. Change isn't easy.
At the PGA Championship in May, a controversy about a non-conforming driver coincided with a poor performance on course. One month later, Rory broke a tee marker and slammed clubs at Oakmount. All of which suggests a person, and a high performance athlete, in a state of considerable flux.
None of this should be surprising. When he won at Augusta, fulfilling a lifetime career goal, Rory compared it to reaching the summit of Everest. A similar metaphor formed part of the guidance and support for those who competed for Team Ireland last summer at Paris 2024. Sport psychologists and lifestyle advisers who support our Olympians and Paralympians know the importance of pre-planning for the post-event period. Research reveals the physical and psychological downside which can be experienced after such a peak.
Psychologist Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar coined the phrase ' the arrival fallacy' to describe the false belief that achieving a big goal inevitably brings long term happiness and personal fulfilment. That's why the post-event cycle requires as much attention and care as the pre-event preparation on mindset and mood-state.
For Rory, no obvious time-out has happened between Augusta and Portrush. To what extent that summit descent has been choreographed by Team McIlroy remains to be seen. Somewhere between the Giants Causeway and the Claret Jug, we may be about to find out the answer.