Paul McGinley has suggested there are two reasons for Rory McIlroy's major drought.
After a disappointing Masters in Augusta, McIlroy is now in contention for his fifth major at this week's US PGA Championship, which takes place in Louisville, Kentucky, at Valhalla.
Coincidentally, McIlroy, who currently has four majors and is looking to win a record-breaking fifth, is at the same venue as his last major win in 2014.
If he achieves success in Kentucky this week, it will mean McIlroy joins the likes of Seve Ballesteros, Byron Nelson, and Peter Thomson, who each have five major wins.
McIlroy's quest for another major is one of golf's long-standing narratives that has fascinated people for years.
McGinley believes there are two reasons for his drought when it comes to winning the big prizes in golf. The first reason is that he believes that McIlroy was more determined than other contenders on the golf course when he broke onto the scene all those years ago.
Rory Daniel McIlroy is about ready to go on a run of ass and Major Championships the likes of which we haven’t seen since prime Tiger.
— Club Pro Guy (@ClubProGuy) May 14, 2024
"There are two issues as to why he is not the player he was back then when it comes to major championships," McGinley said on the Golf Channel.
"The fields are stronger now. Back then, he was a young guy forging his way, and his elbows were at their pointiest. It was really a case of, 'I am on a march to be the top player in the game, so get out of my way.' He had a clear vision.
"As you get there and climb the mountain, can you stay there? He has done that in PGA Tour events where his win ratio of 10% is fantastic compared to anyone else. Even Scottie Scheffler has only a win ratio of 8%."
McGinley's second suggested reason is that there are psychological problems encountered by McIlroy nowadays. However, he claims that if McIlroy does win one major, then the floodgates will open.
"But there is no doubt that there is a psychological build-up from not getting over the line in major championships since he hasn't circumnavigated yet.
"I say yet because if he gets it once, I feel—maybe not—that there are certainly another three or four majors in Rory McIlroy.
"It is all about getting the first one. You would have to think that a golf course like this, that he has won on before, is the kind of thing that could ignite him."
