RORY McILROY admitted this was a year to forget after a final round 70 left him way down the field at the US PGA Championship.
That level par effort pretty much summed up McIlroy’s season in the Majors – one or two good moments, but nothing to show for it for the third year running.
He did manage to finish joint runner-up at the Open and was in the final group at the Masters, without ever mounting a meaningful challenge to eventual champion Patrick Reed.
McIlroy, 29, commented: “How will I remember this year in the Majors? I probably won’t. I don’t think there was anything that memorable about it!
“Look, I wanted to give myself chances to win them which I didn’t do in 2016 or 2017, and I had a chance at Carnoustie and maybe half a chance at Augusta.
“So that is a step forward, and there have been a few glimpses of the way I can play at my best. But I haven’t done that often enough. It’s all been a bit inconsistent and I have to change that.
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“The stats show I’ve clearly got a lot to work on. My swing felt really good at at start of the year, but it’s regressed, and my approach play hasn’t been up to scratch recently.
“There’s still a lot of golf left in the year – I could end up playing another eight events with the FedEx events and the Ryder Cup, but I need to take a few days off first and reflect on things.
“It may be that I won’t play the first of the FedEx Cup tournaments. Historically it hasn’t been my best event so it may be I’ll take some time away to work on my game and then start again in Boston. We’ll see.”
McIlroy described the third round 71 that saw him fall pout of contention at Bellerive as “uneventful”.
But there was nothing dull about his final round. In the first nine holes alone he put three balls in the water, hit only two fairways – and still played it in one under par!
He was helped by holing a fifty footer for birdie on the fourth, and chipping in from the same distance at the ninth after he had airmailed the green with a wedge in his hand – yet again.
The back nine was slightly less erratic, although he was forced to take a penalty drop from the shrubbery alongside the eleventh after trying to drive the green asfter the tee had been pushed up to 294 yards.
And he was back in the crowd on the 15th, where he wound up missing a four footer for par. He then finished birdie-bogey to end on two under par overall – inconsistent is definitely the right word.
Current European No 1 Tommy Fleetwood was a lot more upbeat his year in the Majors, after a closing 68 lifted him to four under, and into the top forty. His previous best finish in three attempts at the USPGA was 61st last year.
He finished runner-up at the US Open after a brilliant final round 63, was tied 12th at Carnoustie, and also made the top twenty in the Masters.
He said: “Those are my best finishes in all four Majors so far, so even though I haven’t won one I think I’m entitled to look at it in a pretty positive light.
“I have definitely improved but I’m 11th in the world rankings and I’d like to be a lot higher than that, so there’s still a lot of improvement needed.
“I had a poor week on the greens here so it was nice to finish with a decent round. We’re staying over here for the FedeX Cup but first we’re going to have a family holiday in the Bahamas.
“If I can get my first win over here before the Ryder Cup it would be a big plus. And my first Ryder Cup is going to be a huge week, so I’m excited about the rest of the year.”
Fellow Englishman Tyrrell Hatton was also buzzing after a stunning final round 64 lifted him onto the leaderboard at nine under par, with Spain’s Rafa Cabrera-Bello matching those scores to boost his Ryder Cup hopes.