Some may have been surprised to see Rory McIlroy have such an underwhelming week at the Tour Championship with the Northern Irishman looking to win the FedEx Cup for a fourth time in his career.
While golf fans have not seen the best of Rory McIlroy since he became a Career Grand Slam winner earlier this year, many would have still been tipping him to contend to win the Tour Championship. The 36-year-old has won at East Lake on three occasions in the past.
Unfortunately, a fourth victory in Atlanta will have to wait. McIlroy finished outside the top 20 after ending the week on six under par. He failed to break 70 in either of his rounds over the weekend.
It has been such a bizarre season for McIlroy. While he produced one of the greatest victories in Masters history earlier this year, that triumph at Augusta National seemed to leave McIlroy wondering what his purpose would become on the golf course.
Rory McIlroy suggests where he really struggled during the Tour Championship
He has shown glimpses of his quality over the last few months, particularly at The Open Championship. But Luke Donald would be forgiven for wanting to see a little more from McIlroy with the Ryder Cup looming.
And speaking following his final round at East Lake, McIlroy explained what he has really struggled with of late.
“Yeah, the season is not over for me. I’ve still got a lot of golf coming up. I refuse to call this the end of the season,” he said.
“But yeah, this week, I hit it better. The things that I wanted to improve on this week, I did. Off the tee was much better. I’m probably leading strokes gained off the tee.
“I just couldn’t get the speed of the greens all week, and I struggled to see lines and to feel the speed. That was really the story of the week. My putting was so good last week at Caves and then my off the tee play wasn’t good and it sort of just inverted.
“I definitely improved from tee to green this week, and as I said, I just couldn’t get a putt to drop. But my game feels close. It certainly isn’t far away.”
What happened to Rory McIlroy for the first time this season on the PGA Tour at East Lake
Remarkably, the Tour Championship marked the first time on the PGA Tour this year that McIlroy lost strokes to the field putting in all four rounds.
| Round | Rory McIlroy’s strokes gained putting |
| One | -0.827 |
| Two | -0.593 |
| Three | -2.509 |
| Four | -1.442 |
He had previously had some hugely disappointing performances on the green. He lost more than six shots to the field on the putting surfaces over the final two rounds at the Genesis Invitational back in February.
But it will be a concern just how consistently he struggled on the greens at East Lake this week. Europe really cannot afford for it to be a similar story for McIlroy when they get to Bethpage next month.
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