“Rory McIlroy is a little bored and antsy” - Golf writer Alan Shipnuck on the Irish champion’s recent demeanor
It has not been a banner start to the year for Rory McIlroy. He has had fleeting moments during the season's tournaments and has a win under his belt, but it's not been the same crisp competition that fans have come to expect out of the Irishman.
Beyond the middling performances that are surprising, many have noticed a bit of a change in his body language as well. One fan went so far as to pose the question of what's happening with McIlroy to prominent golf journalist Alan Shipnuck.
He said via Golf Magic:
"Over the last decade the guy has won everything you can possibly win around the world: the Players, the Race to Dubai, the FedEx Cup, tournaments from China to Scotland to Canada to Korea to Ireland. Obviously the only thing missing is more major championships."
Shipnuck continued:
"Imagine the interminable wait for Rory from the end of the Open in July until the ensuing Masters in April. Torture! I'm sure he's a little bored and antsy with all these ho-hum tournaments he has to slog through to get to Augusta. Can't really blame him."
Shipnuck sympathizes with the Irish golfer, and he believes it's totally understandable to be out of it at the moment.
Why Rory McIlroy may be acting strangely
The Majors are what's most important to every golfer, but the difference between them and Rory McIlroy is that the Irishman has won them and has a real chance to do so again. That makes other events less important by comparison.
Combine that with the fact that he hasn't captured a Major victory in about a decade and it's easy to see why he's a little less concerned with events like the WM Phoenix Open and more concerned with the looming trip to Augusta National.
It's also more than possible that McIlroy has grown tired of it all. Not golf, but all the extracurriculars. There's so much going on in the sport and even though he hasn't ventured into it himself, McIlroy has had to be the face of the PGA Tour.
He had to fight the battle against LIV Golf largely by himself, and he was up for the challenge for a while. However, it seems to have grated on him. After Jon Rahm's departure, he changed his tune and backed off.
He no longer has tremendous disdain for the tour and its players, and he's even advocated for LIV players to be able to come back to the tour if they want and not face consequences.
Beyond the whiplash from the switch that Rory McIlroy employed, it must be tiring to be at the front of all of this. He retired from his Player Board position with the PGA Tour too, as it was clearly not something he was interested in anymore.
Whether he likes or dislikes LIV or any of that is largely irrelevant to this discussion because his role in it all has to have been exhausting. That, plus his determination to break his Major drought, is potentially weighing him down in regular events lately.