Brandel Chamblee says one part of Rory McIlroy’s game has ‘never been worse’ ahead of The Open Championship

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Many will be expecting Rory McIlroy to put himself in the mix at The Open Championship at Royal Portrush in a year in which he silenced most of his doubters by finally winning The Masters.

The issue Rory McIlroy has had since winning The Masters in April is finding the motivation at the events which put him on anything other than the biggest stages.

That should not be a problem this week, with McIlroy getting a second opportunity to win an Open Championship title in Northern Ireland. He also has unfinished business after missing the cut at Royal Portrush in 2019.

McIlroy’s form has been improving. He finished tied for second at the Genesis Scottish Open having been in the top 10 at Travelers Championship before that.

Brandel Chamblee assesses Rory McIlroy’s game ahead of The Open Championship

However, it is a surprise that McIlroy has not added to the three victories he secured before May. He had appeared to find a way to win when short of his best, particularly at The Players Championship.

And perhaps he will need some of those same skills this week if he is to add a sixth major title. Speaking on Golf Channel, Brandel Chamblee suggested the issue McIlroy cannot afford to have impact his game in the coming days.

“In terms of where he is as it relates to his game going into The Masters, if you look at how he played at Houston before going into The Masters versus how he played in Scotland before coming in here, he played beautifully in Houston but even better in Scotland. So all that concern about his game sort of falling off after The Masters I think is at bay, so he comes in here at a high,” he said.

“And to your point, it’s never been said of Rory that the strongest aspect of his game is what he does on the greens. He is fifth in strokes gained off of the tee, he’s fourth in strokes gaining putting. He’s never been better. The only caveat is he’s got to find some fairways. When it comes to finding fairways, there’s only 177 players ranked in terms of rough tendency on the PGA Tour – he is 174th. So in terms of finding fairways, he’s never been worse. And you think about what happened in 2019, hitting out of bounds on the very first hole, there’s just almost no way that won’t be on his mind when he steps onto that first tee. But even having said that, he has to find more fairways than he’s been finding as of late.”

The surprising struggles Rory McIlroy had with his driver at the Scottish Open

McIlroy has rightly been known as one of the best drivers of the golf ball throughout his career. It has been such a game-changer for him and brought him so much success over the years.

So it was surprising that McIlroy’s driving was the weakest part of his game at The Renaissance Club.

Obviously, winning The Open while losing shots to the field off the tee is going to be extremely difficult for McIlroy. But he can take so much confidence from the fact that he did come so close to winning in Scotland.

If he can get his driver to behave over the coming days, McIlroy may well be extremely difficult to stop.