Rory McIlroy: ‘I was more impulsive back then. I’ve matured, I’ve learned’

The golfer explains how Steph Curry and a sports psychologist have inspired him to find inner comfort as the Open nears

Sun, 11 Jul, 2021 - 19:05

Ewan Murray

It used to be that the admission of vulnerability by high-profile sportspeople was met with general disdain. Flash cars, flashier houses and sponsorship deals worth telephone numbers were supposed to offset any nagging professional doubts. Rory McIlroy has encountered a lifetime of this; onlookers erroneously believe he has become a little too comfortable with life outside the ropes.

The formalisation of McIlroy’s relationship with Pete Cowen, the renowned swing coach , drew attention. Under the radar, though, was another key detail; McIlroy is once again working with Dr Bob Rotella, the renowned sports psychologist. At Royal St George’s next week, McIlroy will seek to claim a second Claret Jug and end the wait for a fifth major that has stretched to seven years.

“It’s about not being bogged down by who I am or what expectations are,” McIlroy explains. “It’s about loving who I am, loving what I have the opportunity to do, loving the game of golf, loving the position I’m in.

“It’s that. My big inspiration over the last few months has been Steph Curry. Of all the athletes I have watched and looked at; he loves being Steph Curry. I need to love being Rory McIlroy.”

Rory McIlroy on the 10th tee during day two of the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club, North Berwick.

Curry may well secretly fancy trading places with McIlroy. The Golden State Warriors NBA star has been widely depicted as a golf obsessive. Curry is also known as an excellent golfer. “If I had to put as much time into golf as I did basketball, could I have made it?” Curry once asked. “We’ll never know, but it’s always competed in terms of my attention.”

Not that McIlroy, who will head into the Open on the back of a missed cut in the Scottish Open , believes matters of the mind are fundamental as he looks to clamber back to the top of his sport. Hence why he turned to Cowen.

“As Pete says, Bob can’t do his job unless Pete does his,” the Northern Irishman says. “The best sports psychologist in golf is a square club face. If you know where the ball is going, you can get your thoughts in the right place. You are hitting good shots, you are positive. If you are standing on a range and you can’t hit it straight? There’s nothing a sports psychologist can say.”

Were they in cahoots a decade ago, Rotella would inevitably have warned McIlroy against a notable outburst. McIlroy railed against tournaments – and specifically the Open – where he perceived the outcome was determined by weather. A return to Royal St George’s, the scene of that verbal volley , will conjure memories. Nowadays, the 32-year-old has a different perspective.

“I remember it well,” McIlroy says. “I felt like I battled really well in bad weather that Saturday morning, I was two over through 13. I had battled my nuts off then all of a sudden the weather started to turn, it got better just as the leaders were heading out. I took my rain jacket off on the 14th tee, hit it out of bounds, made a double bogey and ended up shooting four over. It brightened up as the day went on and the leaders separated themselves from everyone else.

Rory McIlroy on the practice green before his round during day one of the Scottish Open. Picture: Jane Barlow/PA Wire.

“I felt like I got the bad end of the draw in 2011 but I got the really good end of the draw in 2014 when I won . You play in enough Open Championships … it certainly is the golf tournament most affected by weather but play enough and you’ll have good draws and bad draws.

“I was definitely more impulsive back then. There was no reason for anybody to know I was that frustrated. I have matured, I have learned. That’s 10 years ago and since then I’ve had good ones and bad ones. It’s the Open Championship, you learn that’s just the way it is and there is nothing you can do to change it. Back then, I got frustrated about things I had no control over. Now, I’m a lot better about that kind of stuff.”

McIlroy played a practice round on Wednesday with Darren Clarke, who prevailed in 2011 amid moving scenes. McIlroy has joked umpteen times since that “at that point he didn’t look anywhere near being able to win the golf tournament”. Cowen, coincidentally, is credited with a key role in what happened next as Irish golf’s stunning majors success story continued.

“It was massive for him, it was huge,” says McIlroy of Clarke’s win. “Especially I think because you had Pádraig Harrington doing what he did in 2007 and 2008, Graeme McDowell won a major in 2010, I won a major in 2011. There was probably a bit of pressure on Darren to get one as well.”