It is now more than four years since Rory McIlroy won the last of his four major titles at the 2014 US PGA Championship and Europe's 2014 Ryder Cup-winning captain, Paul McGinley, has given his opinion on the Northern Irishman's drought.
McGinley believes McIlroy has fallen behind American stars like Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Justin Thomas in recent years. Speaking to On The Ball, McGinley said:
Look at Dustin Johnson with his wedges, Brooks Koepka with his putter, and Justin Thomas the same. These guys are fabulous – absolutely fabulous.
Rory is only average. Sometimes the putting is good, but the wedge play is not great. Then the wedge play is not so bad, but the putting is off. Those scoring clubs are absolutely paramount, for a start.
There was talk of McIlroy enjoying a golden era, similar to that of the legendary Tiger Woods, when he won the US Open, Open Championship and US PGA Championship (twice) between 2011 and 2014. However, the rise of Johnson and co. has ensured that the aura surrounding McIlroy has diminished.
"The other thing is that this perception that if Rory plays his best, then he wins," McGinley told On The Ball. "That is not applicable any more. There are three guys that are better than Rory, if they are on their game – Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson.
"They have that extra gear that Rory used to have. Like Tiger having to box clever, Rory has to box clever – he’s coming up to 30 years of age."
McIlroy, who turns 30 in May of next year, won the Arnold Palmer Invitational to secure his first victory in eighteen months back in March, although he has struggled to hit the heights since.
The 29-year-old has hinted that he may miss the start of the upcoming FedEx Cup Play-Offs as he prepares to appear for Team Europe against Team USA during the Ryder Cup at Le Golf National, Paris, from 28-30 September.
