HOYLAKE, England — Rory McIlroy’s major championship drought will enter its 10th year in 2024 with his inability to win this week’s British Open at Royal Liverpool.
McIlroy, who was the tournament betting favorite, shot a respectable final-round 3-under-par 68, but never truly threatened to win the tournament.
He won the last of his four majors in 2014 at the PGA Championship, a month after winning the British at Hoylake, the last time it was played at Royal Liverpool.
“Solid performance,’’ McIlroy said. “I improved on my score every day. Yeah, I missed a few putts [Saturday], but I felt like I putted a bit better today. It was just hard. I needed to go out and shoot something 63-, 64-ish, but really hard to do that in those conditions. Overall solid performance, not spectacular, but a lot of optimism going into the rest of the year.’’
McIlroy conceded that he’s becoming frustrated at being in contention at majors and not claiming one.
“Over the last two years would I have loved to have picked one of those off that I finished up there? Absolutely,’’ he said. “But … most times I tee it up, I’m right there. I can’t sit here and be too frustrated. I’m optimistic about the future, and just got to keep plugging away.’’
Asked about the 10-year drought, McIlroy said, “I don’t think that way. I think about trying to go and win a fourth FedExCup here in a couple weeks’ time, go try and win a fifth Race to Dubai, go and win a fifth Ryder Cup. I just keep looking forward.’’
Irishman Padraig Harrington, after finishing his round on Sunday, pinpointed McIlroy’s problems with his putting.
“He’s easily good enough,’’ Harrington said. “We all know that. He could win at any stage. But … it’s a little bit more complicated than just being good enough. There’s other guys who are good enough. There’s plenty of guys out here. The standard is very deep. Plenty of guys who are competing and playing.
“Rory has to bring his ‘A’ game. I see he’s pretty much down where I am putting this week (low in the stat rankings), and I can tell you that’s pretty miserable. He’s not going to win tournaments putting like that this week. I’m not saying he’s putting badly, but the fact is he’s probably given up 13 shots to Brian Harman, 12 in putts. I only had given up 14.
“There’s too many good players for you to go out there and not have all of your game at a decent level and some of your game at a really good level. It all has to fire. That’s the reality of it, and you only get four of those a year. He’s got four goals a year for another 20 years.’’
Harrington then painted a more positive picture.
“Look, it would be hard to see anybody who wouldn’t want to be in his shoes,’’ he said. “Maybe there’s somebody, but it would be an interesting one, wouldn’t it? If you were told you were starting in Rory’s shoes next year at the majors, I think you’d be pretty stoked.’’
