Days After His Mysterious Illness, Rory McIlroy Makes a Bizarre Admission, Strongly Contradicting the Common Misconception

World No. 3 Rory McIlroy entered the PGA Championship, vying to salvage his rep after a disappointing couple of months of golf. To add to his woes, the last time the golfer had claimed a major title was way back in 2014 when he had won the PGA Championship at Valhalla.

These past few days, however, spectators at Oak Hill were able to catch glimpses of vintage McIlroy in action as he made the charge for a 3rd Wanamaker trophy. But, unfortunately for the Irishman, he could only muster up another top-10 finish, further adding to his major drought. Following his T7 finish, the 23-time PGA Tour winner opened up about his mixed feelings regarding the outcome!

Rory McIlroy makes an unexpected admission as major drought continues

Rory McIlroy’s 2023 season kicked off with the golfer holding the No. 1 position in the world rankings. But things soon went downhill for the player. In early March, he had shockingly missed the cut at the Players Championship. Another colossal disappointment followed when the career grand slam-chasing golfer failed to make the cut at Augusta National in April.

His only other start between the Masters and the PGA Championship came at the Wells Fargo Championship, wherein he recorded a not-so-memorable T-47 finish. Consequently, fans’ expectations going into Oak Hill were understandably low. However, despite a slow start to the tournament, the former World No. 1 managed to turn things around significantly and eventually achieve a T-7 finish on Sunday.

However, the wait for a 5th major title drags on. Speaking at the press conference after the events on the final day, McIlroy admitted his bittersweet feelings about the result. “I guess I have learned that I don’t need my best stuff to compete. I feel like I need my best stuff to win, but you know, I don’t need my best stuff to compete and hang in there,” he expressed.

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“But, yeah, I need to be better,” confessed McIlroy. The PGA Tour pro’s revelation comes on the heels of his recent admission about battling a mystery illness. Earlier, the 4-time major winner had opened up about feeling a bit under the weather after he struggled to post a one-over 71 on the tournament’s opening day.

McIlroy finishes in the top 10 despite his mystery illness

When the 105th edition of the PGA Championship kicked off last Thursday, Rory McIlroy visibly struggled to keep up with the tournament leaders. After bogeying the 15th, 17th, and 18th, the golfer ground to card a one-over 71 at the daunting Oak Hill course. His form witnessed an improvement on the event’s second day as the golfer fired a one-under-69 to stay in contention for the Wanamaker trophy. A third-round 69 further helped McIlroy move up the leaderboard.

On Sunday, the 2-time PGA Championship winner kicked things off with a birdie, only to follow it up with a disappointing bogey. An up-and-down last round resulted in him tying for the 7th position with Austria’s Sepp Straka. For their achievements, both golfers took home $575,000 in earnings.

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Do you think Rory McIlroy will be able to bounce back to his past winning ways down the road? What was your favorite moment of the PGA Championship? Tell us in the comments!