Rory McIlroy To Throttle Back Aggressive Shots at Players
TPC Sawgrass demands shrewd course management & Rory McIlroy thinks he has it figure out this year.
Rory McIlroy said he’s learned that the most aggressive shot is not always the best shot, at least not at TPC Sawgrass. He talked with the media about that lesson on the even of THE PLAYERS first round.
“Coming in, being a little more positive and being accepting of the fact that I might not be able to play the golf that I might want to play, in terms of being super aggressive off the tee and hitting drivers, it’s more of a positional golf course, and I think that’s why you see such a variation of winners here, because it doesn’t really play into anyone’s hands,” McIlroy explained during his press conference.
“It doesn’t play into the long hitter. It doesn’t really play into the short hitter. It really just plays into the hand of the guys that are coming in here hitting the ball well that week.”
Rory McIlroy used the second hole, a par five with the trouble on the right and trees left, as an example of how he has changed his thinking.
“I took driver the first two days and got up-and-down both times for a par last year,” he explained. “And then I hit 3-wood off the tee the last couple of days and made two birdies.”
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Rory McIlroy said there was the obvious tradeoff between having a longer second shot or having a better chance of being in the fairway trying to hit to a very small green.
“It’s better off trying to get your ball in play, have a chance to get it up around the green and get up-and-down for birdie,” he added.
Then at the 6th hole, Rory McIlroy said he was too conservative.
“I was hitting 4-iron off the tee there, and then I was leaving myself 160, 165, and guys can get it down there and have a sand wedge or a wedge in your hand and have a good chance for birdie,” Rory McIlroy explained about the short par four.
“This year I’m going to go with the 2-iron, the 2-iron that I played in Austin, and I think that’ll be a beneficial club for me this week. I can get it down there 260, 270 off the tee and be a little bit more aggressive on some of those holes, especially like on 4, 6, even 12, for example,” he added. “I think that 2-iron can be beneficial for me, just to put it in play, but get it far enough down there that you still have a realistic chance for birdie.”
Rory McIlroy even gave an example of where he should have played more conservatively at the Wells Fargo, saying it was just one of several times when he tried to take on too much.
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“Third round, on the ninth hole, I’m trying to get it up over a tree with an 8-iron that, if I hit a wedge, maybe leave it 20 yards short of the green, I have a good opportunity to get up-and-down and make par, but I’m trying to hit 8-iron and hit it up over the tree and get it on the green,” he explained. “Just taking on too much sometimes, because I believe that I can, I believe that I have the ability to pull off these shots, and sometimes you need to just pull the reins a little bit and say, okay, just get it back into play, try to get it up-and-down and limit the mistakes.”
He described it as more of a mental error. He said his tendency is to try to push to make birdies. Then if he’s too aggressive, it’s a bogey and it can lead to more than one.
At TPC Sawgrass, Rory McIlroy feels the back nine is more birdie rich than the front.
“I’ve played well the back nine, and the front nine hasn’t been too good,” he said. “I think the back nine gives you some opportunities to make birdies, with 11, you’ve got 12, the short par-4. There’s a couple tough holes in the middle, but 16, 17, 18 – 16 is obviously a good chance, and 17, it’s a 130, 140-yard hole. If that green is not surrounded by water, it’s quite a simple golf hole.”
He said it was about being smarter in his decisions.
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While Rory McIlroy hasn’t met his typical expectations in terms of results so far this year, he has finished in the top ten six times.
“It’s been frustrating, and especially since I feel like I’ve played some really good golf in this stretch, but at the same time, there’s just been too many mistakes” McIlroy admitted. “I mean, again last week I led the field in birdies at Quail Hollow. I was up there at Augusta in terms of leading the field in birdies. You know, that’s sort of been the – there’s just been too many mistakes in there, too many lost shots, too many soft bogeys.”
One hole he has played well at TPC Sawgrass is typically one of the most difficult on the course, the 18th.
“I think I birdied it every day last year or every day in ’14 or whatever,” he recalled. “So there’s just some holes that set up well for me and I feel comfortable on them.”
If he shoots a 34 or 35 on the front side every day, Rory McIlroy believes he will be in contention.
Would he like to win THE PLAYERS? Definitely.
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“It’s a huge tournament. It’s one of the best fields in the year,” Rory McIlroy added. “And I think, as well, to be able to win on a golf course that you’re not that comfortable with is quite a big achievement. As Phil (Mickelson) said, I think that’s one of the things that he’s never really been a huge fan of this place, but to be able to win around here, and then obviously for him to win around Muirfield, as well, places that he hasn’t historically been that good at, to be able to figure out a way to win around those golf courses is obviously very — it gives you a lot of satisfaction.”