McIlroy admits he has been guilty of 'delusion' as he hunts down Scheffler
Rory McIlroy has made a flying start to the PGA Tour season after making a conscious effort to follow Scottie Scheffler's lead, with the Ulsterman stamping out 'delusion' in his thought process
Rory McIlroy has made a flying start to the PGA Tour season after making a conscious effort to follow Scottie Scheffler's lead, with the Ulsterman stamping out 'delusion' in his thought processRory McIlroy is trying to take a leaf out of Scottie Scheffler's book (
Image: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images for The Showdown)
Rory McIlroy has made no secret of the fact he has taken inspiration from Scottie Scheffler as the Northern Irishman bids to end his 10-year major drought.
World No. 1 Scheffler has been the sport's dominant force over the past three seasons, winning the Masters twice and racking up win after win on the PGA Tour. Numerous aspects of Scheffler's game are worthy of admiration, but McIlroy has been particularly impressed by the American's bogey avoidance.
No one is better than Scheffler on the PGA Tour at keeping big numbers off his card, and when he does drop a shot, he has developed an uncanny knack for responding immediately with a birdie to get back on track. McIlroy believes Scheffler's results have been built on keeping things simple and only unleashing his flair when required.
McIlroy, however, admits he has been guilty of leaning too heavily on his immense natural talent at times over recent years, causing a "delusion" that he can take on high-tariff shots rather than taking his medicine when he is out of position.
McIlroy, 35, has made a conscious effort to be more risk-averse so far this season, and his new-found conservatism on the course has paid dividends. After a fourth-place finish at the Dubai Desert Classic last month, McIlroy produced a beautifully controlled performance to win the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am a fortnight ago.
Scheffler is better than the rest at minimising mistakes and keeping big numbers off his card (
Image:
Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images for The Showdown)
"It's about picking and choosing your spots to be aggressive," McIlroy said of his new mindset. "Sometimes I think I can get overly aggressive with approach shots and that's something where you just have to realise that sometimes par is good on a hole and you move on, but if you hole a 25- or 30-footer, that's a bonus.
"It's more maybe just picking some more conservative targets at times. Scottie has proven over the past two or three years that he's definitely the best at that.
"It's a bit of a double-edged sword. I have a lot of belief in myself but sometimes that belief can turn into delusion depending on the situation. It is a little bit of that and I feel I can pull off any shot that I want to hit, but over the course of a season, over the course of a tournament, the more conservative strategies definitely pay off."
McIlroy's good form has continued this week, sitting three shots off the lead heading into the weekend at The Genesis Invitational. The four-time major champion carded an impressive five-under-par second round at Torrey Pines to move into contention for a second successive victory.
But he faces a big challenge on Saturday and Sunday with Scheffler lurking ominously in second place at seven-under-par, one shot back from overnight leader Davis Thompson. McIlroy will play with third-place Denny McCarthy on Saturday, who is at six-under for the tournament.