Smylie Kaufman has shared his thoughts on Rory McIlroy’s showing at Riviera, where the Northern Irishman finished tied for second place at the Genesis Invitational.
McIlroy started the final round in the last group, but Jacob Bridgeman was already six shots ahead. That gap made it difficult for him to apply any real pressure throughout the day.
He did not seem close to breaking through for a win at Riviera, still searching for his first victory there. The 36-year-old had a tough time on the greens, with several putts grazing the edge without dropping.
Despite that, McIlroy could draw many positives from his performance.
Smylie Kaufman shares his thoughts on Rory McIlroy’s showing at Riviera
The Northern Irishman, much like Scottie Scheffler, still appears to be searching for his best form. Still, he has managed a 14th and a second-place finish in the first two signature events of the year.
Speaking on The Smylie Show, Kaufman admitted that McIlroy’s iron play has looked better than he expected so far this season.
“There’s some encouraging signs, and Rory McIlroy, it appears that he’s playing with a ton of confidence, not having to worry about a whole lot. He still has that driver that’s so good. What he was able to show off with that club this week, nobody else is able to do. He can hit driver into a different world that nobody can, but he also can bring it down and play shots down on the ground and get the ball chasing down the fairway. His versatility with that club, he’s still going to be, in our generation, the best driver of the golf ball that we’ll ever witness probably, that’s how good this guy is with this club,” he stated.
“This week, I really was impressed at times with his iron game. At times, heading into the season, that was the one aspect I thought he could improve on. He had inconsistent weeks with the irons, he’d have good weeks, bad weeks. It’s kind of been the trend over the last three or four years with him. He’ll just get a little underneath it, struggle to hit fades. And then sometimes the wedge game becomes a bit of an issue.
“But coming off of Pebble where he had too many big numbers, couple of drives that maybe didn’t go his way, putting was a bit of a struggle inside six feet, but remember this is poa annua, bumpy greens, sometimes you’ve just got to chalk it up as you hit good putts that just didn’t go in the hole. I think most players can probably accept that problem that you might have on poa annua greens. With Rory, I thought he was very close.
“He probably wishes he just didn’t start quite as many back to feel like he can put a bit more pressure on them but just go to that bunker shot on the 12th hole. 40-yard bunker shot, most likely going to be making bogey from there, somehow makes birdie. He kept himself in the golf tournament, birdies the last couple of holes, one short, and you’re like, man, just one shot, felt like it was a lot more than that, but just hung in there tough.”
Where Rory McIlroy sits in strokes gained approach on the PGA Tour
It is early days, but McIlroy’s iron play is already turning heads at the start of the season.
He currently sits atop the PGA Tour rankings for strokes gained approach, a category Scottie Scheffler has owned over the past three years.
While much has been said about Scheffler still searching for top form this season – despite his win at The American Express – McIlroy seems to be following a similar track.
If both players continue on this trajectory, we might get a few head-to-head battles between them before the year is out.
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