Rory McIlroy throws down ‘catch me if you can’ challenge to his rivals at Royal Troon
Four-time Major winner manages crisis of confidence to insist: 'I'm happy where my game is and can’t worry about other guys'
RORY McILROY is convinced he is still the man to beat at this year’s Open despite owning up to a crisis of confidence affecting his Troon chances.
It is now almost two years since the Ulsterman last mounted a serious challenge for one of golf’s Major titles.
The former world No 1 took NINE shots during practice at the infamous Postage Stamp hole yesterday, hardly the ideal preparation for a man who failed to make the cut at last month’s US Open.
Yet he is adamant he is getting somewhere close to his best form and was keen to point out that he has still had more success than any of the three golfers currently above him in the rankings.
When it was pointed out to him that he might still be part of golf’s Fab Four but is in danger of turning into Ringo, he said: “I’ve got four Major championships and I’d love to add to that tally, just as those other guys would love to add to their one or two.
“I am happy where my game is and I can’t worry about other guys. If I’m playing the best that I can, I’m pretty confident I’m going to win more times than not.”
McIlroy, 27, was a reluctant spectator when Zach Johnson won last year’s Open as he recovered from the ankle injury sustained during a football kick-about on the eve of the tournament.
And it is clear that he believes he is his own worst enemy when it comes to reaching the targets set for him when he won his fourth Major in three years at the 2014 US PGA.
He confessed: “Golf is 75 per cent mental and sometimes I can doubt myself on the course.
“Once you lose your belief, that’s when things can snowball and start to go the other way.
“It’s very hard. If you’re not hitting good shots and not holing putts, it’s difficult to keep the belief than you can still play the right shot when it’s required.
“You can’t just wait for things to get better. You have to try to make something happen and the only way to do that is to battle through it and start to get some confidence again.
“I definitely feel like I’ve become a little more conservative and tentative over the years.
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“There have been a couple of times this year, in the third round at Augusta or the first round at Oakmont, where I just haven’t had the confidence to hit the shots that are required.
“The more experience you get, the more you have stuck in your head. Sometimes they’re good memories and sometimes they’re bad.
“I’ve tried to play smarter and if I do that I can still make enough birdies to win tournaments.
“But one of the main reasons I haven’t won more this year is because I’ve made birdies but haven’t limited the damage of too many bogies.
“Definitely one of the criticisms I have of myself is not being aggressive enough, committing myself to the shot and trusting myself.”
At least he was able to shrug off yesterday’s run-in with the Postage Stamp, where he found himself floundering in the Coffin Bunker and unable to find an escape route.
He smiled: “I think I took an eight or a nine, so that didn’t go too well. I headed into the front bunker and it took me five or six goes to get out of it.
“There’s a lot of sand in that bunker, so when the ball just trickles in, it doesn’t roll into the middle, it sort of stays below the vertical lip.
“So every time I tried to get it out, the ball would go back into the same spot. Hopefully that’s my struggle with that hole out of the way.
“Even though it’s only 120 yards, it’s one of those holes where you can’t be aggressive. Just try for the middle of the green. If you make four threes there this week, you’re going to gain ground on the rest of the field.”
McIlroy, who won the 2014 Open at the Royal Liverpool club, is making his first visit to Troon this week.
He is relishing the opportunity to get his hands back on the Claret Jug, but warns: “Winning Majors is not easy. It’s not just about turning playing and collecting a trophy.
“If someone said at the PGA at Valhalla two years ago that I wouldn’t win any of my next five Majors, that wouldn’t have been a surprise.
“It’s golf. We’re trying to beat 150 guys every week and sometimes it doesn’t matter how well you play because someone might just be that little bit better.
“It’s a very long career so there’s plenty of time to try to rack up more big championships. If that means I have to go through a dry spell for a year or two, then so be it.
“But I feel when I do play my best golf, if I’m not the favourite I’m certainly one of them.
“Missing last year’s Open put things into perspective for me.
“When you’re here and part of it, it feels like it’s everything. But when you look outside at the bigger, wider world, you realise that it’s not the be-all-and-end-all.”