McIlroy looking to pick up where he left off

Bob Weeks

TSN Senior Reporter

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If Rory McIlroy enjoyed one benefit of being away from golf for three months it’s that he was able to enjoy time sitting by his pool.

“It’s probably the most tanned my pasty Irish skin has ever been,” he said with a smirk.

Starting Thursday, however, it’s back to work and a golfer’s tan. McIlroy will tee off at 1:06 local time along with Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka, the top three ranked golfers in the world, in the Charles Schwab Challenge. It will be golf for real once again, where every stroke counts.

“I'm excited,” said McIlroy. “I'm excited to be back on the road and doing what I'm supposed to do, play golf and compete.”

Now the question will be whether the Northern Irishman can continue the torrid pace he set before the season was halted in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In six events, McIlroy finished no worse than tied for fifth and notched a victory at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions tournament. He’s a combined 56 under par over that stretch and is second in Strokes Gained: Total at 2.537.

Needless to say, the halt to the tour stopped any momentum he had. Now he’ll see if he can pick up where he left off.

“I wouldn't say I'm frustrated,” said McIlroy. “I'm eager to get back and I'm eager to play and get back into competition mode, but I'm sort of … expectation-wise, we'll see how it goes. As I said, I feel like I'm as sharp as I can be coming in here. I've played a lot of golf over the last few weeks and I've practised a bit. My game seems to be there.”

In addition to tanning, working on puzzles and riding his Peleton, his pandemic schedule included playing rounds with other tour players in his area in Florida. He had regular games with Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler, Justin Thomas and Shane Lowry, trying to stay sharp by putting some cash on the line.

However, he knows that until every shot counts and there are no gimmees or mulligans, he won’t know the complete state of his game.

“I'm feeling as good as I can, but in terms of expectations and how I'm playing, I think the first couple of days here will be the real test,” he said, “and I'll learn a lot about myself and my game over those first couple days.”

It’s the first appearance at the Charles Schwab Challenge for McIlroy who cited a busy schedule in past years as the reason for not playing the tournament. But maiden runs haven’t been an issue for him. Since the start of 2019, he’s appeared in tournaments for the first time on four occasions. He’s finished T4, T5, T3 and a win, that coming at last year’s RBC Canadian Open, which would have been played this week had the schedule not been upended by the pandemic.

Of course, there have been plenty of changes to the golf world in this pause, including the new rules for the tour’s re-start. It may be different, but for McIlroy it’s all part of getting back to playing golf.

“It'll be a little eerie that you're not getting claps and you're not getting feedback from good shots and stuff like that,” he said, “but I think at the same time, it's what we have to do, right? It's what we have to do. It's what we're going to have to live with for the foreseeable future, and if that's what I have to adapt to, to be able to get out here and play on tour and get back to work essentially, then I'm happy to do that.”

As for the other protocols, they won’t come naturally, McIlroy said. The social distancing guidelines mean breaking years of doing things in a certain manner such as standing beside a caddie or grouping up on a tee. Even things like high-fiving after a great shot mean halting a natural reaction. And these infractions will no doubt draw out the trolls on social media who will be quick to point out the faults.

“It is going to be very easy to fall back into old habits because it's just what we've done,” he stated. “I'd say for the viewing public just to give the players and the caddies a little bit of leeway in terms of if they see something on TV that isn't quite right. We're having to figure it out as we go along, as well.”

Indeed. This week will be about more than golf. It will be about golf in a new way, with the eyes of the golf world and most of the sports world focused in.