McGinley: When McIlroy got a sniff, his body language changed
A week after he feared for Rory McIlroy’s confidence, Paul McGinley was so impressed with the 29-year-old’s body language during Sunday’s thrilling Players Championship win.
McGinley wrote in his Sky Sports column: “What I really liked about McIlroy, what was different today compared to when he hasn't won, was when he got a sniff — when he got that birdie on nine — the whole body language changed.
“He seemed to say, 'OK, I can now see the finishing line' and he seemed to go up a gear on the back nine. Yes, he made the one mistake but he came back really quickly with a birdie at the next hole and once he got that he stood up on the 16th tee and smashed it further than anyone else.”
He sealed the deal on Championship Sunday.
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 18, 2019
How @McIlroyRory won @THEPLAYERSChamp today ⬇ pic.twitter.com/7BrXutC747
Before Sunday’s win at Sawgrass, McIlroy had featured in nine final groups since the start of 2018 without winning an event. And McGinley had expressed the fear that had damaged his confidence.
“Is it a question of guile? No. He's won big tournaments in the past, but he's lost his confidence when it comes down to the last day.”
But McGinley now hopes this long-awaited win will banish any doubts that had been inhibiting McIlroy on the final day of tournaments.
This victory has been coming for Rory McIlroy. We've been saying it for a while now, this is probably as consistent and as good as he has ever played in his whole career.
“His putting looked as good as it has ever been, and his chipping, bunker play and driving are just spectacular. His iron play is solid and all facets of his game, week on week, are just so consistent.
“Winning is very important as it validates all the things that you are doing and tells you that you are on the right track. Top-sixes are important, but for a player of McIlroy's quality needs to be getting wins and needs to be adding big titles to his CV like he has just done.”
And the former Ryder Cup captain hopes McIlroy’s capture of the ‘fifth major’ is a positive omen for his chances of completing the career grand slam at this year’s Masters in Augusta.
“If you look back through the history of the Masters, they all won earlier in the season before going to have success, so winning early in the year seems to be having a bit of correlation going on with having a good Masters.”
