Rory McIlroy Opens Up About Key Career Tweak That’s ‘Held Him Back’ During His Decade-Long Major Championship Drought .giang

Rory McIlroy has confessed that he hasn’t been as much of a “risk taker” on the golf course in recent years, amid his decade-long wait for another major championship victory.

The Northern Irish superstar last tasted success in a major with his 2014 PGA Championship win at Valhalla, marking his fourth major triumph. His other victories include the 2011 US Open, 2012 PGA Championship, and 2014 Open Championship, all achieved before he turned 25.

Only Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods had secured four majors by that age, placing McIlroy among the ranks of golfing legends. However, the former world No. 1’s drought in major championships since then is well-known, with the star narrowly missing out on ending this dry spell earlier this year at the U.S. Open.

He held a two-stroke lead with just four holes remaining at Pinehurst Resort but faltered, bogeying three of the final four holes. This slip-up gave Bryson DeChambeau a chance to gain ground in the competition, and the American capitalized on this opportunity to clinch his second career victory at the championship.

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McIlroy has now shed light on how his approach to the game has evolved over the years, providing some insight into why he hasn’t been able to secure another major win in the past decade. He explained: “I’m not as much as a risk taker in my profession, like in golf, as I used to be.

“I think in some way, that’s helped me because I’ve become a lot more consistent player. But maybe in other ways, it’s held me back over the last couple of years. Like the way my final days have gone, I’ll go out and shoot 70 or 69 and play a pretty solid round of golf, but it’s not enough to win.”

Recently, McIlroy has been vocal about the development of the breakaway LIV Golf tour and its impact on the sport’s eco-system. Reflecting on this period, he confessed that he is now more reserved on the subject, stating: “Sometimes you feel that responsibility to try to give a good answer.

“And sometimes you can come up with that one, but there’s other times where you can’t. I felt like there was a point over the last couple of years where people were looking forward more to my press conferences than they were to my golf. I was like, that’s not where I want to be.”

The Northern Irishman continued: “Because when you’re asked so many questions, especially so many questions around the same subject that has been going on in golf for the last three years, I feel pressure to give a thoughtful answer, but in a different way all the time.”

“You keep saying the same thing over and over and over. It starts to sound like a broken record. So I sometimes feel pressure to find an answer that is still thoughtful but is a little different.”