Over the course of his professional career, Rory McIlroy has won 45 titles, including six majors.
He’s completed the career grand slam, he’s been a world No 1 and he’s amassed the kind of fortune that could sustain a number of small nations.
But this game is a wonderful leveller, isn’t it? It doesn’t matter if you’re a superstar like McIlroy or a hapless weekend howker who couldn’t hit a bull with a banjo let alone a bull’s backside, the auld stick and ba’ pursuit often leaves us lamenting and cursing the same things. It’s delightfully relatable.
“Oh my God,” wailed McIlroy as his approach to the 16th in the final round of the Genesis Scottish Open soared well left and into the rough. “I am so bad at golf.”
Don’t worry, Rory, we’ve all said that, even if some of us probably mutter such a despairing cry during the brief trudge from the practice putting green to the first tee to begin our bloomin’ rounds.
It had been a topsy turvy weekend for McIlroy. The 37-year-old had been well in the hunt for a second Scottish Open title of his career after two rounds here at the Renaissance but the wheels came off his assault during a weather-disrupted Saturday.
He was three-over-par when play was halted and he couldn’t salvage much when he resumed round three early on Sunday morning. McIlroy ended up with a 73 which left him six shots behind with 18 holes to play.
As ever with McIlroy, the catch-up job was engrossing. With the kind of early charge that could’ve been accompanied by a bugle call, McIlroy picked up five birdies in his first seven holes. He looked pretty good at this golf lark.
A bogey on nine tempered the push and, despite birdies at 12 and 13, the spilled shot at 16 was a frustrating moment and it prompted that epic, withering assessment.
He still closed with a six-under 64 for a 12-under aggregate and will head down the road to Royal Birkdale in reasonable fettle for an assault on The Open.
There’s always work to do, though. “I felt like I was pretty much in control of everything after the first two days,” he said as he reflected on his week on Scottish soil.
“Then we had a long day yesterday (Saturday) waiting around. I didn’t get off to the best of starts then didn’t finish the third round off today particularly well.
“I sort of pieced it together, realised what I was doing and tried to figure it out on the range before I went out for my final round. At least I know what I am doing.
“Obviously there was some good in there today, but there was some bad as well. It's nice to sign this week off with a good score but I know I need to do a bit of work between now and next Thursday (first round of The Open) to feel really comfortable with my game.”
McIlroy, who lifted the Claret Jug at Hoylake in 2014, finished in a share of fourth the last time The Open was played at Royal Birkdale in 2017.
Does he fancy his chances again this coming week? “I think so,” he added before delving into some golfy technicalities. You’ll need to focus reading this next bit.
“I just need to hit some balls in a right-to-left wind,” added the Northern Irishman. “That usually helps me. Again, it's the same thing that I get a lot when I start hitting balls in a left-to-right wind like it has been over the weekend here.
“My path and my club face just get too far apart. My face is further left than my path is and I start hitting these left shots, especially with the irons.
“It was feeling good coming in here. I hit some really good iron shots over the first couple of days but the more I hit balls in a left-to-right wind, the more that starts to sort of show itself, and then it's a bit of a struggle.”
As for his “I’m so bad at golf” utternace? “The shot I hit with that 6-iron was a very, very poor golf shot, so in that moment, I was so bad at golf,” he said with a wry smile.
He may not have won the Genesis Scottish Open, but McIlroy certainly took home the quote of the week prize.
