Rory McIlroy missed out on US Open glory last month (Image: GETTY)
Rory McIlroy will return to action next week as he looks to defend his Scottish Open crown. And he can heed the advice of a sports psychologist to scoop a £1.2million payday ahead of The Open at Royal Troon a week later.
McIlroy has won four majors throughout his career and appeared to be on course for a fifth after finding himself two strokes ahead of Bryson DeChambeau with five holes of the US Open remaining last month.
But he was unable to keep his cool as he missed short putts on the 16th and 18th greens to hand the title to his American rival.
After the meltdown, sports psychologist and golf performance coach Jon Adler told The Sports Agents podcast: “Rory would have thought ‘I can’t miss this, you better not miss this’.
“That little voice in your head, that’s not the problem, when you think you shouldn’t be having those thoughts. ‘Now I’m anxious because I’m anxious, I’ve got double the anxiety’.
“It’s about accepting that I’m going to be anxious, accepting the thoughts when they come in but you deciding actually I’m not going to react to my worrying mind, I’m going to do something I’ve practised over and over [again].”
Rory McIlroy won the Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club last year (Image: GETTY)
If McIlroy can reflect on those words and train his brain to accept his emotions at critical times, he could get over the line once again at the Scottish Open.
Last year he won the tournament after launching a 202 yard shot into the wind with a 2-iron and landing the ball 11 feet from the hole. He then putted at the first attempt to net himself a cool £1.2m and will be in line for a similar financial prize if he tastes glory once again at The Renaissance Club.
Following his epic shot last year, McIlroy exclaimed: “When I turn 80, it will be one of the five best shots I hit in my entire career.”
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And the 37-year-old has now been honoured by The Renaissance Club, who have installed a plaque on the patch of grass from which he struck the ball.
After the plaque was laid down, the club’s founder Jerry Sarvadi said: “We just did it today. We’re going to tell him when he gets here.”
Meanwhile, discussing his break from action a few weeks ago, McIlroy explained: “I’ve shown my resilience over and over again in the last 17 years and I will again. I’m going to take a few weeks away from the game to process everything and build myself back up for my defence of the Genesis Scottish Open and The Open at Royal Troon. See you in Scotland.”
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