Irritated golf hero Tony Jacklin has revealed he has been left cursing Rory McIlroy behind closed doors over perceived flaws in his game.
And the twice Major winner reckons the inconsistencies which have blighted one of the world's best players make him a "pain in the a***" to follow. Jacklin regards the Northern Irish hero as a pal but reckons the 34-year-old should be getting more out of his ability days after he came up short in his latest Major push in the US Open in Los Angeles. McIlroy is facing the real possibility of going a decade since his last triumph in one of the big four unless he comes out on top at The Open set for Royal Liverpool next month.
And Jacklin reckons it's high time observers started voicing perceived faults in his game which he spotted watching from home. Speaking to sportingpost.com, the golf icon said: "Rory is a precocious talent, I wouldn’t say he is out on his own as Scottie Scheffler is becoming a real player, but Rory? There’s no better ball striker. But you just don’t know what type of personality is going to turn up. I watched him at the Canadian Open and was surprised that none of the commentators noticed his body language wasn’t the same on the last day. These things dribble away.
"I won’t tell you what I say to my wife about him as I like Rory, I consider him a friend, but he is also a pain in the a*** when he doesn’t fulfil his potential. He just makes it look so easy, that’s the thing – fans like me lose the reality of how difficult it is. But his wedge play was awful in Canada, it’s one of the key clubs and his proximity to the hole for the number of short shots he hits isn’t good enough a lot of the time.
"I wouldn’t make him my stand-out favourite (for The Open). No. I certainly think he is one of them – he has far more experience than most on Links courses. But looking at Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson and Scheffler, I wouldn’t put Rory at the top of my list but he would be close."
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