Friday 16 June 2017 21:04, UK
Paul McGinley reflects on a disappointing week for Rory McIlroy at the US Open and looks at some of the factors behind his missed cut at Erin Hills.
It's obviously disappointing for McIlroy. The US Open is probably the toughest test of the four majors, so coming into it having not played a lot of competitive golf was always going to be difficult - and so it proved.
His season has been ravaged by injury so far, so he hasn't been able get any momentum, but hopefully this is the start now of him getting a run and working his way back into competitive form.
I think he was struggling with his game and his driving on Thursday. You have a different feeling in practice rounds than you do with a scorecard in your hand, and he was adjusting to that competitive feeling again.
People also forget that you need time to bed in new equipment, which Rory has with the 14 new clubs and new golf ball.
He had actually played quite well in the five events he had played in this year before this week, but he just hasn't been able to play enough events.
Rory plays best when his competitive confidence is there. He thrives on his confidence being up and he gets that from competitive play and performances in competitive situations.
This was always going to be a tough week to start up again, so I don't think there's anything we can read into his game and he will take encouragement from the way he finished his second round.
He has added some extra events into his schedule, so hopefully he can stay injury-free and get a good run of tournaments under his belt.
That's all he needs, as everything else is in place. He can then get some confidence and give himself the best opportunity to win the other two major championships this year.
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