Rory McIlroy compares time at Arnold Palmer Invitational to crazy golf

Things did not end well for Rory McIlroy this weekend at the 2022 Arnold Palmer Invitational and what once started out as a promising week ended with the 2018 winner at Bay Hill comparing this year’s course to ‘crazy golf’.

McIlroy had a terrible weekend that resulted in back-to-back rounds of 76, a combination that left him eight over par over the two days. Thursday had promised so much for the former winner after he had begun his tournament with an opening 65 that resulted in him taking the lead into Friday.

This wasn’t the first time that McIlroy had led at the Arnold Palmer Invitational after the opening day, he was the leader here just last year before fading away over the weekend in 2021. 2022 was more of the same for Rory, and he clearly feels that he had played well enough to deserve more than his final finish would indicate.

“I feel punch drunk, to be honest. The weekend, it’s like crazy golf. You just don’t get rewarded for good shots,” McIlroy said following the conclusion of his round on Sunday. “three years in a row it’s sort of been start off, lead the golf tournament, then you just sort of regress and come back to the field each and every day. Yeah, it’s frustrating. It’s hard to keep your patience out there.”

Mcllroy trailed entering the final round by four shots and following another 76 he finished outside of the top ten, come the end of the day. Truth be told, he finished six shots back of winner Scottie Scheffler’s final tally at five-under-par. The results from his round will have left him feeling like he was much further back than that, however.

Bay Hill played more and more difficult each round as the week went along, and it wasn’t just McIlroy that will be left feeling the effects of a tough Sunday. The fourth round at the 2022 Arnold Palmer Invitational played almost 1.5 strokes tougher on average than on Saturday. The best round of the day went to Australia’s Lucas Herbert who recorded an impressive final round tally of 68. A mere four players finished under par on Sunday under what must have seemed like major championship elements.

"The way the conditions are, it makes you feel as if you’re not playing as good as you are. Like I’m playing good. I’m hitting good shots. I’m swinging the club well. I’m chipping well. I’m putting well.  – Rory McIlroy"

McIlroy played well during Thursday’s opening round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational when he gained over 5.5 strokes tee to green and over 1.8 with his irons. He carried this into Friday but was abandoned by his putter during the second round. Saturday he struggled with his approach shots losing over 1.40 strokes, and Sunday he battled his short game losing strokes both on and around the greens.

Rory battled this week to maintain the consistency throughout his game that he had shown on Thursday. Another difficult round that led to a disappointing result for McIlroy meant that his frustrations had reached their peak by Sunday night.

The Arnold Palmer Invitational proved to be an extremely challenging test for the PGA professionals this week, but the question is was it too hard?.  “Yeah, they need to do something about it. There’s a lot of guys that sort of stay away this week to get ready for next week. Next week’s become such a big event, $20 million purse. The four majors are sacred in this game, but it’s very close to being among them with the way it’s going,” Rory added.

More guys may choose to bypass the king’s event in the near future if they don’t change how the tournament plays moving forward according to McIlroy. Especially if it also maintains its spot on the PGA schedule as being played the week before the Players Championship.

“As I said, I just need a day off tomorrow to forget about what’s happened this week and then just sort of focus on next week,” McIlroy said.

That is probably for the best after an extremely frustrating and difficult week for the 2018 champion at Bay Hill.