Golf 2013: Rory McIlroy…Still Work In Progress ?

Long before the sky turned black on Sunday afternoon at The Shell Houston Open, the World Number two player, Rory McIlroy had already posted his 25 foot birdie putt on the 18th hole, and was on his way to wherever. McIlroy is still in the state of confusion when it comes to his golf game, and most of his problems are mental.

"A famous player, I can’t remember if it was Bobby Jones, or Ben Hogan who said ” golf is a game played on approximately 160 acres of land, but largely played in the five inches between one’s ears”. Nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to 23-year-old Rory McIlroy. He’s on the verge of breaking out of his slump, but just isn’t quite there yet."

In fact, when he’s on camera, he looks miserable at times. He’s definitely not enjoying himself out there at the present time, and I’m not sure it all has to do with his golf swing. It almost appears that maybe the pressure, and life style isn’t something he’s either comfortable with, or truly wants. Maybe it was more overwhelming than he expected.

If you watched the debut at Abu Dhabi after the big Nike announcement, you saw the huge differences between his psychic, and that of Tiger Woods. When the wheels came off, Tiger was fighting until he was penalized out of the tournament by the plugged ball, Rory McILroy had already given up, and was ready to go home. It all happened again at The Honda Classic. Tiger was struggling, but wouldn’t give up, Rory just left the golf course.

I’m not sure when McIlroy will be a factor again, but I don’t think another week at The Valero Texas open will ready his game enough for Augusta. I will even go out on a limb here, and project he won’t even make the cut at the Masters. I don’t think his game is ready for that kind of test at this point. Of course, he needs more tournament time, and Valero will help. But with that being said, if he doesn’t get his attitude adjusted somewhere, it won’t make a difference when he tees it up next Thursday among the Azalea’s.

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