Red-hot McIlroy wants his golf to do the talking

Rory McIlroy is in the land of The Beatles, but it is Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘Sounds of Silence’ that appears to be top of the pops for him right now. The 2014 champion when the Open was held here at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, the Northern Irishman is the overwhelming favourite for the 151st edition of the oldest golf championship in the world following his sensational win at the Genesis Scottish Open last week.

On a wild and windy Sunday at Renaissance Club, McIlroy looked like he was heading for yet another final-round disappointment but played the last two holes in stunning fashion to move ahead of Robert MacIntyre.

On the par-3 17th hole and under immense pressure as he fell one behind the Scotsman, the world No.2 lasered a five-iron tee shot to four feet for a birdie to draw level with MacIntyre. Then, on the 18th, after pulling his tee shot into the left rough and left with a difficult 205-yard approach shot, he smashed a two-iron into fierce headwind to about 10 feet for the winning birdie.

That’s the thing. McIlroy’s clubs are doing a lot of talking. The man himself has taken a vow of silence in his quest for a fifth major title. Scheduled to speak to the media ahead of the championship on Tuesday, McIlroy declined to be a part of the press conferences.

It’s his way of circumnavigating the cesspool that has plagued golf over the past couple of years. McIlroy has been the most vocal supporter of PGA Tour in its long-drawn battle against the Saudi Arabia-funded LIV Golf. The sudden and completely unexpected development of the Tour’s proposed agreement with the country’s sovereign fund, Public Investment Fund, made everything that McIlroy was fighting for seem so hollow.

He accepted at the start of the year that speaking on LIV Golf took a lot out of him mentally and was a constant diversion that he did not need. Not sure if McIlroy has watched ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’, but he has now adopted Tuco’s (Eli Wallach) famous line from the legendary Western… ‘When you have to shoot, shoot. Don’t talk'.

It’s not as if McIlroy is having trouble on the golf course. He has had seven finishes inside the top-eight in his last eight majors. The only blip in that stretch is the Masters this year, where he missed the cut. A record like that would say he was thriving in all that he has been doing and saying, but a player of his calibre is never going to be happy with top-eight finishes.

A major championship has eluded him for the past nine years, and McIlroy is looking at ways he stops it from stretching into a decade-long drought. In 2014, he was in imperious form with his driver and brought the golf course to its knees by playing the par-5s to 12-under par for the four days, making nine birdies and two eagles en route to a 17-under par total. The course will play more difficult this year with the 10th hole being reduced to a par-4, bringing the par down to 71.

His exceptional driving is still going to give him an edge over others in the field. The frightening fairway bunkers of Royal Liverpool – so deep you can hide a cavalry in most of them – are taken out of play by McIlroy in many of the holes. That will be his biggest competitive advantage this week. As it is often said, silence is sometimes more powerful than having the last word. McIlroy is hoping that is the case with him this week.

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