US Open Golf 2012: Rory McIlroy's Struggles Show the PGA Is No Part-Time Job

There will be a new champion crowned at the 2012 U.S. Open, as for the fifth time in the past six tournaments defending champion Rory McIlroy missed the cut entirely after shooting a woeful 10-over par through the first two rounds.

For his part, it appears that the pressure of the 23-year-old's recent struggles are beginning wear on the young Irishman, as according to The San Francisco Chronicle McIlroy refused to speak to the media after Thursday's round and wasn't much more talkative Friday, offering only a few canned quotes to a tour official.

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It wasn't the way I wanted to play.  I left myself with a lot of work to do after yesterday's round, and to be honest, overall I don't feel like I played that badly for the last two days.

It's just such a demanding golf course and just punishes the slight test shot that's off line, or that's maybe not the right distance or whatever, and that's how I feel. I feel like you really have to be so precise out there or you're going to get punished.

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The course itself may well have been part of the problem, but if that's the case then in all honesty McIlroy has no one to blame but himself. After McIlroy laid waste to Congressional during his run to the U.S. Open title last year, you can rest assured that the USGA took steps to insure that no golfer would card a score anywhere near as low as McIlroy's 16-under par. The result of those steps is the unforgiving beast that is the Lake course at Olympic Golf Club in San Francisco.

However, it's not like McIlroy was playing well entering this week's action, which begs the question that's suddenly on everyone's mind.

What's "wrong" with Rory?

It may be that after McIlroy dominated the field last year in Maryland that both fans and the media were a bit premature in crowning McIlroy "the next big thing." Sure, McIlroy played the tournament of his life in last year's U.S. Open, but the fact remains that McIlroy is a very young man who is still growing both as a person and as a player.

Also, McIlroy's personal life has been rather tumultuous of late, as just under a year ago McIlroy split with his long-time girlfriend and began dating professional tennis player Caroline Wozniacki. Granted, McIlroy is a grown man entitled to see who he pleases when he pleases, but repeated long-distance trips to spend time with his new flame have undoubtedly disrupted McIlroy's practice routine, and those disruptions are going to show up on the golf course at some point.

There may be trouble for McIlroy on that front as well, and it's possible that those distractions crept into his game in California this week. The Chronicle reports that McIlroy recently removed Woznjacki's picture from his Twitter profile, which has led to speculation that the couple might be on the outs.

That sort of rumor may be better suited to TMZ than the sports page, but the cold, hard fact of the matter is a split between the two might actually be a good thing for McIlroy's golf game. This isn't to say that I would wish personal strife on anyone, but if McIlroy spent a little more time working on his game and a little less time on the beach then perhaps he'd find himself spending a few more weekends playing golf as opposed to watching his compatriots do so on TV.

If McIlroy is content hanging out with his gal pal and enjoying the spoils of being both young and wealthy while occasionally winning minor PGA events then more power to him, as that's a lifestyle 99 percent of people would gladly embrace.

However, if McIlroy is serious about becoming the next great professional golfer then he needs to go back to the drawing board with a vengeance. Dedicating yourself part-time to golf is fine if it's something you do to kill an afternoon on the weekend, but against the best players in the world if McIlroy's not 100 percent dedicated to the craft, he'll probably find many more early exits from tournaments in his near future.

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