Rory McIlroy: Stress on athletes escalating

The pressure to succeed in sport is pushing more and more athletes towards stress-related illnesses, according to Rory McIlroy, who bids to put a troubled year on and off the course behind him at this week’s Australian Open.

McIlroy, who slipped from the top of the rankings to world No 6 after a winless 2013, said the mental toll of sport could far outweigh the physical pressures and cases such as that of England cricketer Jonathan Trott were becoming more frequent. Trott flew home from Australia on Monday to deal with a stress-related illness following England’s calamitous start to the Ashes series.

“It’s sad to see something like that happen and it just shows what a mental toll sport can take on you sometimes,” McIlroy said at Royal Sydney.