Dejected Mcilroy is losing the plot

What on earth has gone wrong with Rory McIlroy?

The young Irishman looks a pale shadow of the player who waltzed to a sensational US Open victory last year.

‘Rors’ has missed a series of cuts this season, including the US Open, Memorial Tournament, Players Championship and the BMW at Wentworth, and again looks out of sortd at Royal Lytham despite getting off to a bright start.

Admittedly he made the cut at The Open but again struggled for any form and rhythm in the 3rd round where he played alongside three-times major winner Padraig Harrington.

It was a massive disappointment for the hordes of fans who follow McIlroy’s every step, every shot.

McIlroy gave his army of followers precious little to cheer however. His body language early doors never looked right and may be he should take a leaf out of Harrington’s book – the Dubliner wasn’t exactly tearing up the course himself but at least he played with a smile on his face now and then.

McIlroy just looks uptight and beat and fed up – as if he didn’t want to be there. May be he needs to lighten up and chill out a bit and take the rough with the smooth.

At the moment he seems to dwell on things and gets too down on himself when things aren’t going according to plan. As strange as it sounds, he seems to be lacking a bit of fight, a bit of pluck – essential requirements for an Open champion.

May be the burden of expectation is weighing too heavily on his shoulders and it’s likely he’s trying too hard as a result.

May be he’ll have to go back to the drawing board in a bid to return to his former dazzling winning ways.

After returning a 3rd round 73, McIlroy himself pinpointed the source of his recent problems. “It’s just consistency, lack of consistency with my swing.  And from there it’s tough: whenever you’re not confident in the shots that you’re trying to hit, then it is tough to sort of trust it.

“But I was up for it this morning, trying to go out there and post a good score.  But after playing the front nine like I did, you’re just trying to shoot the best score you can.  And for me today that was only a 73.

“I’m frustrated, but that’s the way it is.  That’s golf.  And you just have to get on with it and keep trying and keep practising and stay patient until it turns around.”

All being well that will be sooner rather than later. The game desperately needs a young gun like McIlroy firing on all cylinders. The packed, four-deep Lytham galleries are testament to that….