LIV Golf caddie claims Rory McIlroy has an issue Tiger Woods never did and it’s stopped him winning ‘a lot’ more majors

Rory McIlroy must feel that he returns to Royal Portrush with a point to prove this week, having missed the cut when The Open Championship was previously held in Northern Ireland.

It was hard not to feel that the 2019 Open Championship was set up perfectly for Rory McIlroy to win his second Claret Jug. It was only the second time ever that Royal Portrush had hosted the event.

McIlroy had finished inside the top 10 at both the US Open and the PGA Championship that year. And he had triumphed at The Open back in 2014.

Unfortunately, he could have hardly got off to a worse start at Portrush in what became one of the most infamous major performances of McIlroy’s career.

What separates Rory McIlroy from Tiger Woods among the all-time greats

McIlroy was anxious the moment his opening tee shot left the club face. Ultimately, he would fail to keep the two iron in bounds. It set in motion a series of events which would leave him walking off the first green with an eight.

It left Portrush stunned. But it seems that not everyone was entirely surprised to see McIlroy struggle to rise to the occasion.

Paul Casey‘s caddie Paul McLaren had the best seat in the house for McIlroy’s round that day, with the two Europeans in the same group alongside Gary Woodland. And speaking to The Telegraph, McLaren recalled what he made of McIlroy’s demeanour before that opening tee shot.

Photo by Warren Little/R&A/R&A via Getty Images
“When we saw the draw on the Tuesday, we thought ‘oh boy, this will be lively’. And the atmosphere was incredible. Darren [Clarke] had hit the first tee shot at about 6.30am and the crowd was pumped. Walking to the first tee… well, I can best sum it up by saying it was Ryder Cuppy. But Rory seemed very nervous. He kept taking practice swings and was clearly jumpy. He was pacing around, couldn’t get settled. I said so to Paul. ‘He needs to calm down and focus’. Seeing him like that, I wasn’t surprised about what happened next,” he said.

“Harry [Diamond, his caddie] was relatively new on the bag. There was a right-to-left wind and there was out-of-bounds on the left as well as on the right. If I were on his bag, I would have given him a really small target and said, ‘just keep looking at that, nothing else, and ignore the rest’. And I’d have been really close by and kept talking the whole time about what we’re going to do. It was not an easy tee shot as there was a right-to-left wind and that out-of-bounds on the left.”

“At this stage you’re just trying not to look and concentrating on your own man. It was extraordinary, though. Like I said, I wasn’t too shocked, as Rory is quite prone to nerves, otherwise he’d have probably won a lot more majors really. That’s where he differs to Tiger. He gets hyped up.”

What Rory McIlroy did at the 2019 Open Championship which was just as incredible as his first round

The first round was scarcely believable, but what McIlroy did on day two was just as remarkable – and arguably whetted the appetite for his return six years later.

McIlroy did miss the cut, but only after a masterful second round. He ended up missing the cut by just one shot after firing a 65.

In fact, McIlroy briefly held the course record with three other players, before Shane Lowry – who won the entire event – posted a 63 over the weekend.

McIlroy will be aware of which shot will inevitably be in the back of his mind come the first tee on Thursday. But having proven at The Masters that he can battle back from all of the demons over the years, he has every reason to be confident this week.

McIlroy’s redemption arc at Portrush is just waiting to be completed.