Graeme McDowell weighs in on Rory McIlroy’s major drought

August 10 will mark exactly ten years since Rory McIlroy won the most recent of his four majors.

With no opportunity to break that duck between now and then, the Irishman drought in the game’s marquee events is guaranteed to extend into a second decade.

Shocked by this? You’re not the only one.

McIlroy’s fellow Northern Irishman and former Ryder Cup teammate Graeme McDowell shares your surprise.

However, the 2010 US Open champion believes that the barren run will soon end – and potentially at The Masters in April.

Speaking to bunkered.co.uk ahead of this week’s sold-out LIV UK event at JCB Golf & Country Club, McDowell said: “This has obviously been a difficult time for Rory in the majors and, obviously, with what happened at Pinehurst.

“But listen, he’s still one of the most talented players I’ve ever seen, to this day. The way he’s played over the last couple of years with what he’s been dealing with, on and off the golf course, has been incredible.

“I think, potentially, when he gets to the majors, the noise maybe loudens a little too much for him, the noise that he’s got himself involved with, you know, the PGA Tour and the work he’s done for them. It makes it more difficult.

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“But now that he’s taken a step back from all that, and as the dust settles this off-season and he moves into next year, I mean — look, he’s too good [not to win a major again].

“I fully believe that the drought will end pretty soon, and hopefully at Augusta. He deserves to win the career grand slam to put himself up there with the best-ever because I believe he is one of the best-ever.”

As for his own major ambitions, McDowell revealed that he has made it his “number one goal” to make it to next year’s Open Championship in his hometown Portrush.

Having not featured in a major since the Covid-delayed 2020 Masters, he knows time is running out for him as far as that stage goes – particularly considering the additional qualification challenges he faces having aligned with the LIV Golf League.

“I was gutted sitting at home watching the Open Championship last week,” he said. “And I’m not having a moan. I understand why I’m not involved, and you could argue I’m not playing good enough to be involved anyway.

“But I still believe that with the right schedule, and the right attitude, and the right approach, I can get there.

“Portrush is massively on my radar and I will try and play any Asian Tour event or DP World Tour event that has spots for The Open and that I’m allowed to play in. I’ll try and play those events next year on top of my LIV schedule.”

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McDowell added that he would love to see a LIV event in Ireland in the near future but hinted that the current success of McIlroy and Shane Lowry could make that difficult.

“I think it would be challenging to go to Ireland right now with Ireland’s two best players both you know playing on the PGA Tour and the European Tour,” he said. “That definitely creates hurdles for us.

“I’m not saying we couldn’t go to Ireland, but I think, obviously, if Rory and Shane played on LIV, it would be a different story.

“But it goes without saying that I’d love to play in Ireland or Scotland. We’ve obviously been in England the last few years, at Centurion and now JCB, but they’re not Portrush, they’re not Troon, and they’re not St Andrews. They’re not the courses that I really, really miss, you know?

“But, like I say, the way my schedule has been the last few years, I haven’t had a chance to nip in and see my mum and dad in the summertime in Portrush. I miss them, I miss playing in front of the home fans, and I miss a decent pint of Guinness.”

Michael McEwan is bunkered's Head of Content and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Head of Content