Former champion Rory McIlroy believes he needs to rediscover the carefree approach which led to his unlikely victory in the 2014 BMW PGA Championship to potentially emulate the best season of his career.
Victory at Wentworth four years ago came just days after a visibly upset McIlroy revealed he had called off his wedding to tennis star Caroline Wozniacki, the Northern Irishman admitting being inside the ropes had been his “sanctuary” during a turbulent week.
And while the four-time major winner, who married Erica Stoll in 2017, would clearly not wish for any similar personal heartache this week, he is well aware that 2014’s triumph was followed later that year by consecutive victories in the Open Championship, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and US PGA.
“I guess all you need is that spark or that catalyst,” McIlroy said. “I felt like my game was trending in the right direction in 2014, but didn’t quite have the win.
“On that Sunday I was seven shots behind going into the last day. I didn’t expect to win. I just wanted to go out and play a good final round.
“I think about that a lot because you’d love to go out and play with that mindset all the time, but that’s not life and we’re wired as human beings to be a bit more careful, to stay away from the water, don’t hit it in that bunker.
“I think that’s just the way we’re wired as humans and it’s a constant battle with yourself out on the course to try and get away from that and freewheel it and be a bit more confident in your decisions and make free golf swings.
“I’d love to go out and play that way every single time, but I don’t think that’s possible. I’d like to get to the point where the majority of the time you can play that way.
“But it did snowball from there (in 2014) and I got on to a nice little bit of a hot streak, and I’d love to be able to do something like that again.
“I’ve got a busy summer coming up. There’s a lot of big tournaments to play in, still got three major championships and the Ryder Cup and everything else. So yeah, maybe this could be the spark that gets that all going again.”
McIlroy’s 2018 campaign has hardly been a disaster thanks to an impressive victory in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and three other top-five finishes, but he has also missed three cuts and failed to complete the career grand slam after a disappointing final round in the Masters.
“The win at Bay Hill was great,” McIlroy added. “I think playing my way into the final group at Augusta was fantastic, as well, so they were real steps forward compared to, say, the last 18 months.
“I just feel like it’s been a little bit inconsistent. If I can just get my play a little bit more consistent and swing a little more consistently, that would be a step in the right direction.”
