Rory McIlroy has been branded a 'pain in the a***' by former Ryder Cup captain Tony Jacklin, as the Northern Irishman was issued a warning ahead of next month's Open Championship.
McIlroy came within a single shot of ending his nine-year wait for a major title at last week's US Open, but was pipped by American Wyndham Clark. The 34-year-old from Holywood was only able to shoot a level-par 70 in Sunday's final round, as he once again fell short in one of golf's four flagship events.
It has been quite the rollercoaster for McIlroy both on and off the course over the past 12 months, amid the saga surrounding the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.
In competition, McIlroy found some of his best form at the end of 2022 after winning both the DP World Tour rankings and the FedEx Cup, as well as becoming the No. 1 golfer in the world. Since then though his form has lacked consistency after missing the cut at both the Players Championship and the Masters.
In recent weeks the Northern Irishman appears to be slowly getting back to his best, but he is yet to secure a PGA Tour win in 2023. And this inconsistent - and unpredictable - form has left two-time major champion Jacklin frustrated.
He told Sporting Post: "Rory is a precocious talent, I wouldn’t say he is out on his own as Scheffler is becoming a real player, but Rory? There’s no better ball striker. But you just don’t know what type of personality is going to turn up. I watched him at the Canadian Open and was surprised that none of the commentators noticed his body language wasn’t the same on the last day.
"These things dribble away. I won’t tell you what I say to my wife about him as I like Rory, I consider him a friend, but he is also a pain in the a*** when he doesn’t fulfil his potential. He just makes it look so easy, that’s the thing - fans like me lose the reality of how difficult it is.
"But his wedge play was awful in Canada, it’s one of the key clubs and his proximity to the hole for the number of short shots he hits isn’t good enough a lot of the time." Following his disappointment in Los Angeles McIlroy will be hoping to bounce back and finally win major No. 5 at next month's Open though.
Jacklin however warned the Northern Irishman of the threat of some of his fellow stars. "I wouldn’t make [McIlroy] him my stand-out favourite [for the Open], no," he added. I certainly think he is one of them - he has far more experience than most on Links courses. But looking at [Jon] Rahm, [Dustin] Johnson and Scheffler, I wouldn’t put Rory at the top of my list but he would be close."
