Smart money is on Rory McIlroy snapping out of Sliding Sundays


Four-times major winner has failed to win from the final pairing on the last nine occasions. What would Jordan Spieth give for this supposedly woeful situation?

Rory McIlroy has encountered this statistical storm before. Only the day – and the year – have changed. In 2014 freaky Fridays were to disrupt the Northern Irishman’s quest for greatness. A series of curiously bad second rounds stood out – until McIlroy corrected the fault sufficiently to win both the Open and US PGA Championships.

Sundays – sliding Sundays? – are now cited by McIlroy’s detractors. Of those he has many, to the point where he would be entitled to wonder if the peaceful life as a non-major winner and the world’s 255th ranked player might have been more worthwhile. When it was recently confirmed – as expected – that McIlroy would not appear at this year’s Irish Open, the vitriolic outbursts ignored the fact he had single-handedly reinvigorated the event.

Related: Francesco Molinari continues success at Bay Hill as Rory McIlroy falters

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