Rory McIlroy Fails to Make a Run at the BMW PGA, But Is Finding Ryder Cup Form

The Ulsterman said his swing issues are getting ironed out with two weeks remaining before Rome.

SURREY, England — Rory McIlroy leaves Wentworth Club buoyed but also disappointed he didn’t make a more substantial run at the end of his final round in the BMW PGA Championship.

Shooting a 7-under 65 on Sunday, the world (and SIWGR) no. 2 opened with two birdies and an eagle in the first four holes, making his presence felt early in the round. But he lacked the firepower later in his round to track down the leaders, which changed over the day from Ludvig Aberg to Tyrrell Hatton to eventual winner Ryan Fox.

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“When you look at the weekend as a whole, to shoot 12 under and go from making the cut on the number to finishing in the top 10, it's a very solid 2 days of golf,” McIlroy said. “I said on Friday night that at least making it to the weekend gave me the opportunity to go out and shoot a couple of good scores and feel a bit better about where my game is and that's what I've done.”

McIlroy continued to find the good in Sunday, which meant finding the fairway more, but while he found the fairway on the two par-5s at the end, McIlroy couldn’t capitalize. He made pars on both and finished at 13 under, five shots behind Fox.

“It's not disappointed that I haven't won, I'm more disappointed that I couldn't take advantage of the positions I put myself in on 17 and 18,” McIlroy said. “And even if I had birdied those two holes and not won, at least I'd have given myself every chance."

After a poor showing at the Irish Open where the Ulsterman put up a 2-over 74 after briefly taking the lead on the front nine at the K Club, McIlroy went to Rome with the Ryder Cup team for a bonding session and also to introduce everyone to Marco Simone.

Between that time in Italy and his two days at Wentworth before the tournament on Thursday, McIlroy believes he is getting a handle on his swing issues and once he returns from his short trip to a bachelor party in Greece, McIlroy’s plan is continue to do exactly that.

“There's a couple of things to work on and to try and iron a couple of the misses out of my game,” McIlroy said. “I'm getting a little quick in transition with some iron shots and leaving some out to the right, but apart from that I feel like everything is in pretty good shape.”