AP Photo/Luis M. AlvarezRory McIlroy is eyeing his third consecutive major title. When the Masters begins in less than a month, Rory McIlroy will try to become just the fourth player ever to win three consecutive majors, and just the sixth player in the Masters era (since 1934) to complete the career grand slam.
So what’s the state of McIlroy’s game as he prepares to head to Augusta with a shot at history?
Shaky in the States
McIlroy began 2015 in Dubai, where he looked like the same player who won two majors and was named PGA TOUR Player of the Year in 2014.
In eight stroke-play rounds (all under par) in Dubai, he was a cumulative 40 under par and posted a scoring average of 67.0.
But in six rounds (two weeks) of PGA TOUR play in the United States, it’s been a different story -- just one round under par and a cumulative score of six over par.
His missed cut at The Honda Classic marked the first time in his PGA TOUR career that he’s missed the cut in his first start of a season, and it’s the first time since 2011 that he’s cumulatively over par after his first two stroke-play PGA TOUR events.
Par 5s
The biggest difference between McIlroy’s play in Dubai and the United States has been his performance on the par 5s. In Dubai, McIlroy played 32 total par 5s (four per round), and recorded 19 birdies and 0 bogeys on those holes (4.41 scoring average, 59 percent conversion rate).
On the PGA TOUR, he’s played 20 total par 5s, making seven birdies and an eagle (4.70 scoring average, 40 percent conversion rate).
After tying for fifth on the PGA TOUR last season in par 5 scoring average, McIlroy’s current scoring average on those holes (in an admittedly small sample) would rank tied for 150th on the TOUR if he had enough rounds to qualify for a ranking.
Iron Play
The other factor in McIlroy’s scuffles early in the PGA TOUR season has been his iron play. In 2014, he capitalized on long, accurate driving by posting the TOUR’s sixth-best proximity to the hole on approach shots struck from the fairway. He was tied for 113th in approach shot accuracy on shots hit from the rough.
So far this year, he’s hitting fewer fairways than he did a season ago (55 percent compared to 60 percent), but even when he’s playing from the short grass this season, he ranks just 190th in approach shot proximity.
McIlroy has committed to play the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in two weeks, a par-72 layout that will give him plenty of chances to polish up his form on the par 5s.
With a missed cut and a T-9th so far this season, it’s worth mentioning that McIlroy has never won a major without posting at least one top-five finish on the PGA TOUR earlier in the season.
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