Rory McIlroy’s former coach Pete Cowen believes that his ex-client is capable of ending his 10-year major drought.
The Northern Irishman came within touching distance of putting an end to his rut with a victory at the US Open, but he self-destructed in the final four holes, hitting three bogeys, to hand the trophy to Bryson DeChambeau.
McIlroy was unable to bounce back from the defeat at The Open recently either, finishing 11-over after two rounds. The back-to-back defeats means that the 35-year-old will have to wait until 2025 for the chance to win another major.
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Doubts have now been raised about whether McIlroy is capable of landing the third major of his career after years of underwhelming performances, but he has now received a vote of confidence from his former coach, Cowen.
Asked whether he believes McIlroy is capable of winning one of the big four competitions, he told Bunkered: “If I had to put money on it, I’d say yes, but golf’s a funny game. You get a good break and all of a sudden you could win two or three in a row like Xander (Schauffele), but it gets harder. He wins big tournaments in any case.
“It’s a smaller stage. As the stage gets higher, the more difficult and the more stage fright you get. You’ve got to look at it and say when the stage gets that high, like on a major because that’s the highest stage he can hit, sometimes you get a bit of stage fright. Everybody does.
“Some players can put the blinkers on all the way round for five hours but a lot of people can’t put the blinkers on. You’ve got to win again, you’ve got to restart.”
Cowen then went on to explain that he believes McIlroy’s biggest issue is actually a long-term problem that he has suffered with, a technical fault which enters his game when the pressure is on.
He explained: “He’s got the same fault all the time. The good thing about it is it’s the same fault, but that’s also the bad thing about it. He knows exactly what he does.
“He drops (the club) under a bit and starts flipping it a bit and doesn’t get under any pressure on it so struggles with the ball flight. But he knows he’s had the same problem for a long time. He does address it and sometimes when he’s addressed it he plays great and wins.”
