Rory McIlroy and What He Must Do to Salvage Disappointing 2012 PGA Campaign

This weekend at the 2012 US Open, an opportunity came for former world No. 1 Rory McIlroy to turn the tide on a disappointing season. In the end however, the Olympic Club in San Francisco had other ideas.

After starting out with a first round 77, seven shots over par, McIlroy put himself in a tough position to make any ground on the rest of the field come day two.

Needing to show all the guts he possessed to turn it around and save the tournament, McIlroy just could not get it done.

He talks of how hard the course at Olympia actually played for him, as reported by the BBC:

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"It's just such a demanding golf course and punishes the slightest shot that's off-line or that's maybe not the right distance," said McIlroy. "You really have to be so precise out there and if you're not, you're going to get punished. We're just not used to playing this sort of golf course week-in, week-out."

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He was able however, to come out in the second round and post an improved score of 73. It still was not enough for him to make the cut.

The defending champion of the US Open would not be playing on the weekend.

McIlroy further mentions, as told by the BBC, the exact struggles he faced while on the course;

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"We're not used to having to land balls before the edge of the greens to let them run on. It's just something that you have to adjust to in this tournament. I wasn't able to do that very well this week."

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That sounds like more of an excuse than anything.

He had too have come into the US Open expecting a tough course, like always. It seems like he knew that shots would have to to play up to the pin, instead of right at them.

He had a plan, but just could not put his game together for this weekend. That seems to be the case for McIlroy so far this season.

Including the US Open, McIlroy has played in eight PGA Tour events, with a win and some other top finishes to his name. It's his inconsistent play that stands out a lot more.

McIlroy has been able to put together some great rounds and a couple of good finishes at tournaments, especially early in the season, but he has not been able to grow off any of those.

McIlroy started strongly with top-three results in the first three events of the year, including the Honda Classic, but he has not looked good ever since. 

There just seems to be something missing from McIlroy to be able put together consistent rounds throughout the year.

With the first two rounds of the Master's showing the same performance McIlroy displayed early in the year, he then threw up two rounds of 77 and 76 to finish the tournament.

Other then his second place showing at the Wells Fargo Championship, those four rounds at the Master's was just a sign of things to come.

Some good rounds out of Rory, and then some even worse rounds out of Rory.

Just like a player that is struggling to find his complete game, McIlroy then went on to miss the cut in the next three of four tournaments, with the FedEx St. Jude Classic being the only exception where he finished in a tie for seventh .

Should McIlroy want to return to that top form he is more than capable of being, or that dominating figure in the world of golf that he could become, there are some things he needs to strive to achieve.

He realizes this and is not afraid to admit that he may have to put in a little effort early in his career to make sure that he sets himself up with a winning routine, as Kirk Penton of QMI Agency (via ifpress.com) reports McIlroy of saying;

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"I just realized you (have) to keep working hard," McIlroy said. "It doesn't come easy to you all the time, yeah. It hasn't been the greatest run over the last sort of six weeks or whatever it is, but I still see enough good stuff in the rounds that it does give me hope that it's not very far away."

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With McIlroy breaking onto the world golf scene with his inclusion in the 2007 British Open, where he was able to hang around and finish the tournament on Sunday with a finishing position of 42nd, we sometimes forget how young he still is.

With age comes experience, as the saying goes, and McIlroy is still in the stage of his career that the foundation of his experience is being developed.

He is coming off a year where he was able to set records and become the youngest player to win a US Open championship since Bobby Jones in 1923. Yes, he was not able to back that up with his performance over this last week, but McIlroy realizes that when there's work to be done, it has to be looked at.

Jim Litke, an Associated Press Sports Columnist, mentions some interesting ideas that McIlroy will continue to develop into a real, consistent, top-notch player.

Litke talks about the rough stretch McIlroy has been on this past month or so, and the fact that it has been noted that he has not practiced as much as he should. This allows people to question his motivation.

But let's remember he is young and has a lot of time to grow. Everything right now is about the maturation process of becoming a top player.

It is early on in his career and there is plenty of time to turn things around. McIlroy just needs to understand his role as a professional and that there comes a time when practice needs to come before anything else.

After all, as Litke also points out, his parents put in that extra effort when they were working two or three jobs just so McIlroy could pursue the opportunity to play golf. He realizes the efforts that were put in by his parents for him, and he will return the favor.

He has a tough attitude and loves to win at all costs.

This stretch may make him realize what exactly needs to be done for him to become the top player he knows he can be.

He has worked hard himself to get to the position that he is in now, and I would not expect that to change. He has touched the top of the golfing world and will want to be back there. He has that drive in him, and he has the determination to be in that top position.

There is no doubt this is just a learning stage for McIlroy, as the youngster is one of golf's future superstars. Calling him the next Tiger Woods may be too much, but in a few years time there will be a solid foundation of young golfers who will be dominating the tops of many leaderboards on the PGA Tour.

You can bet McIlroy will be a part of that.

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"It hasn't been the greatest run over the last six weeks, or whatever it is, but I still see enough good stuff in the rounds that gives me hope that it's not very far away," McIlroy tells the BBC.

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That should be enough when one of the most talented players in the game still has hope. No need to worry, McIlroy's game will be back on track in no time.