Rory McIlroy’s wait for a fifth major title will head into an 11th year in 2025, and his former Ryder Cup teammate Ian Poulter has had his say on the Northern Irishman’s flagship form
Ian Poulter had his say on Rory McIlroy (
Image: Al Arabiya English)
Ian Poulter is confident that his former Ryder Cup teammate Rory McIlroy will one day end his wait for a fifth major championship victory, with his drought about to enter an 11th year.
McIlroy has four major championship titles to his name, all coming in a three-year period between 2011 and 2014. Since then though, the 35-year-old has continuously fallen short, with his latest major near-miss coming at this summer’s US Open where McIlroy finished a single shot behind champion, Bryson DeChambeau.
Heading into the final five holes at Pinehurst No. 2, McIlroy was two-clear of the chasing pack, putting him closer than ever to becoming a major champion for the fifth time in his career.
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A nightmare finish followed though, as he made three bogeys in his last four holes to allow DeChambeau to swoop in and nick the title. It was a bitter pill to swallow for McIlroy, who is now without a major win in over a decade. Despite the wait, his former Team Europe teammate, Poulter has plenty of confidence in the PGA Tour star.
“Rory is working tirelessly hard to get another major and I’m sure he will,” the LIV Golf star toldAl Arabiya. “He missed out unfortunately this year to Bryson, but he is a great watch. People tune in to watch Rory play golf and that is the exciting thing about golf right now.”
The relationship between the two has been left fractured in recent years, having found themselves on opposite sides of the PGA Tour-LIV fallout. Poulter however only had kind words for McIlroy. “Rory is one of the best players in the world,” the Majesticks captain continued.
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Rory McIlroy’s season of pain continued at the Irish Open on Sunday ( Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
“He has been now for a very long time. One of the most consistent golfers within the game over a long period of time. He hasn’t won that major for a long time, I am sure it hurts him as it is hurting all of his fans that want him to win another one.”
McIlroy again agonisingly missed out last weekend, losing out at the Irish Open on the 72nd hole at Royal County Down. It was another tough finish for the Northern Irishman, but these near-misses are something the former world No. 1 is becoming used to.
“I’m getting used to it unfortunately this year,” McIlroy claimed on home soil. “I felt like I was in control of the tournament for most of the day. Felt like I was playing really solid, doing what I needed to do, making a lot of pars, making the odd birdie. Then obviously the two bogeys on 15 and 17 opened the door for someone to have a good finish like what Rasmus did there on the last few holes.
“I played well this week, [but] missing the green right on 15 was the place that you can’t go. And just misjudged the speed with the first putt on 17. Overall, yeah, obviously really disappointed that I didn’t win but I’ll try to take the positives and move on next week to Wentworth.”
