Rory McIlroy said what after missing cut at British Open?

There are many things that separate professional golfers from us average folk. The obvious is that they are just so much better at everything there is to do with golf. But another is that they are generally more competitive than we are as well.

These guys just want to win, and they’ll do anything they can do to accomplish that. That’s why Tiger Woods was so dominant back in the day even though he had already accomplished so much, all he wanted to do was win.

That’s why what Rory McIlroy said after his second round 75 (4-over) and missed cut was extremely shocking to me.

Rory McIlroy gave up at British Open with 14 holes still to play

"I think once I made the 8 on the 4th hole, that was it. 22 holes into the event and I’m thinking about where I’m going to go on vacation next week."

- Rory McIlroy

This is just flat out disappointing.

Would it have been extremely difficult for McIlroy to make the cut after his blowup 4th hole on Friday? Absolutely. But he’s Rory McIlroy for crying out loud, one of the best golfers of this generation. Sure in his head he had to fire a 4- or 5-under par from there which would be tough to do at Royal Troon, but McIlroy would be one of the likely candidates who could actually do it.

But instead of trying as hard as possible to make the cut, he threw in the towel and accepted defeat. McIlroy’s scorecard even shows that as he bogeyed the following two holes after his snowman on the fourth.

Rory McIlroy’s failure to win another major

I’ve never been able to wrap my head around why McIlroy hasn’t been able to win another major in the last decade. I always thought it was just a series of simple mistakes and bad luck. But this mindset might shed some light on why.

If he can check out of a tournament this quickly, then I imagine he’s done so countless other times as well. Sure McIlroy wasn’t going to win this weekend even if he did comeback and make the cut, but that’s not the point. The point is these professional golfers are supposed to be hard-wired to try and beat everyone in their path, to shoot the lowest score possible. And it appears Rory McIlroy doesn’t have that killer instinct in him, or at the very least didn’t this week.

Maybe he’s still struggling after the two short putts he missed to lose the US Open last month. But a top-five finish at last week’s Scottish Open made me think he was past that.

I thought McIlroy was one of the favorites to win at Royal Troon, but if I had known how mentally weak he was heading into this week I never would’ve picked him to win.

I don’t know where McIlroy goes from here, but he has some serious soul-searching to do if he ever wants to win another major championship.