Rory McIlroy had a pretty decent start to the 2024 season with a blistering win on the DP World Tour’s Dubai Desert Classic. However, that does not justify his poor putting game. But with the first major of the season, the Masters Tournament nearing, the Northern Irishman seems to have figured out something to cure this weak point at the ongoing Arnold Palmer Invitational.
The four-time major champion started his Arnold Palmer Invitational campaign with an unforgiving round of 1 over 73. His first round had four bogeys which certainly garners enough attention to question the caliber that he possesses. So, after the end of the first round at Bay Hills, the 34-year-old pro was seen practicing the putting aspect of the game.
Rory McIlroy made less than 17 feet of putts on his back nine Thursday.
He spent nearly an hour on the greens after his round working on his putting. pic.twitter.com/ucIIlXvJgu
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 8, 2024
The World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who is considered a striking machine, has arguably stood on the 144th rank on the PGA Tour’s strokes gained list via putting. While Rory McIlroy stands even worse on the 150th rank. This is obviously a big thing to digest as the top two on the OWGR have similar problems on the greens.
But it seems that the hard work that the Northern Irishman put on his putting helped him in some way. On Friday, he shot a round of 2 under 70, but, still had four bogeys in his scorecard. However, his game peaked on Saturday’s third round, in which, he shot a comparatively better round of 4 under 68.
Rory McIlroy Addresses His Weak Point At Arnold Palmer Invitational
During the post-round press conference on Friday, the Northern Irishman was asked what he was trying to do after the end of the first round on Thursday evening and also if that has helped him. The 34-year-old replied that he thinks that it has helped him but does not know what the statistics look like.
“I don’t know what the stats look like, but it definitely felt a little better out there,” McIlroy said.
Rory McIlroy further revealed that he had worked on two things. The four-time major champ felt that his mallet sometimes got him a bit lazy, henceforth, he pulled out a blade and worked with it. He said,
“I worked on a couple of little things.” McIlroy further explained, “Sort of sometimes with the mallet, because it is so much easier to start it on-line, you get a little lazy. So, I brought the blade out last night just to hit a few putts to sort of get a feel of what I need to do to get the ball to the start on-line with a real putter.”
Rory McIlroy is aware of his weakness and is working to fix it as soon as possible. After all, the Northern Irishman must certainly be eying on to capture the green jacket at Augusta National next month. If he wins the Masters Tournament, the 34-year-old will finally complete his career grand slam.
