British Open 2011 Results: Rory McIlroy Complains About the Weather

Reigning U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy was one of the favorites heading into the 2011 British Open Championship at Royal St. George's. And while he didn't play his best golf for the first two days of the tournament, he kept his name near the top of the leaderboard with rounds of 71 and 69.

Closing efforts of 74 and 73, however, pushed him well back of eventual champion Darren Clarke and into a T25 finish.

Fair enough. McIlroy is human. He's not going to win every tournament he enters, especially the majors. But his comments afterward showed signs of immaturity.

"Yeah, I'm not a fan of golf tournaments that the outcome is predicted so much by the weather," McIlroy complained in his post-tournament presser. "It's not my sort of golf...My game is suited for basically every golf course and most conditions, but these conditions I just don't enjoy playing in really. That's the bottom line. I'd rather play when it's 80 degrees and sunny and not much wind."

Me too, Rory. But you get paid to play. This is the British Open. Deal with it.

Again, fair enough. He's 22 years old. You have to expect a certain level of immaturity from him. And hey, he was just being honest.

But I thought McIlroy was beyond this type of response. It was the wrong thing to say. He seemed whiny—like he was making excuses for his less-than-stellar finish.

The best solution—amidst the frustration and disappointment of not living up to the enormous expectations placed on him prior to this tournament—was to simply admit to poor play and vow to make a better effort next time. That's all.

McIlroy is an outstanding golfer. We already know that. And I think he's a good kid. He just got caught in a moment of annoyance.

But he'll need to better deal with the many obstacles he'll face along the way in his career, including bad weather conditions, if he's going to be one of the great ones.