Amid Rory McIlroy’s Putting Woes, 3X Major Champion Adds Salt to His Wounds With His Bold Claim

The competition at the Royal Liverpool this year is exhilarating. And a field like this demands better than the best, where being good is not enough. Now, one fan favorite Rory McIlroy is a favorite pick to win this year. And his impressive records add up to more reason to support him for the year’s last major.

McIlroy’s gameplay, however, has been pretty average in this major, and three-time major winner Padraig Harrington, grabbed on to that and made a bold statement. His uncanny assertion went on to make the golf world have second thoughts about the Irish golfer.

Padraig Harrington’s take on Rory McIlroy’s performance

Rory McIlroy who lifted a major trophy last in the year 2014, has been lacking the grade-A performance which he showcased in his era of dominance. This stands as a major reason why he has been lagging behind Harman and many others on the Open Championship leaderboard as of now. 

Harrington went on to shed his knowledge of what he understands about McIlroy’s performance in contrast to the current golf game scenario.

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Harrington in a recent interview disclosed that, “He’s easily good enough. We all know that. He could win at any stage. But as I said, it’s a little bit more complicated than just being good enough. There’s other guys who are good enough. There’s plenty of guys out here. The standard is very deep. Plenty of guys who are competing and playing,” referring to the extent the competition has reached, and there are many others who are as good as the Irish golfer, or even better.

Harrington further said, “ He’s not going to win tournaments putting like that this week,” reflecting on the fact that in order to win, Rory has to eradicate the putting displays he showed last Saturday and bring in the masterclass performance he once had and is capable of. 

Rory McIlroy and his performance so far in the 2023 Open Championship

With the start of Thursday’s game, Rory McIlroy had been playing safe and had an even-par score, at the end of round 1. He had three birdies on the second, fourteenth, and fifteenth holes. Followed by round 2, when he had a score of one under, by putting birdies on the first, fifth, and eighteenth holes. After the third round, he had a total score of 69 and his performance relatively got better.

But instead of getting better, the 4 time major winner had been continuously lagging behind Brian Harman, who had a score of four under after round one. Followed by round 2, where he shot an eagle on the 18th hole and ended up with a score of 65, and 69 after round 3.

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Till now, according to the leaderboard, McIlroy lags behind Harman by a lot. But it is to see if he can still cope up and lift the Claret Jug this year and put an end to his drought. Who is your pick for the Open Championship? Let us know in the comments below.