Rory McIlroy: British Open Woes Send Former No. 1 Player Back to Drawing Board

After a 2012 PGA season that has been something of a nightmare, Rory McIlroy entered this week's British Open hoping that a little home cooking might help him right the proverbial ship.

However, after a third-round 73, McIlroy is once again mired near the bottom of the leaderboard, and the 23-year-old has again been left wondering what he needs to do to wake up.

The 141st Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club started fairly well for the winner of the 2011 U.S. Open, as McIlroy seemed primed to contend for his second career major victory after firing an opening-round 67.

However, things went downhill fast from there. Friday was an absolute disaster for the Irishman, as McIlroy shot a horrendous second-round 75 that included clonking a 16-year-old spectator on the head with an errant tee shot on the 15th hole.

To McIlroy's credit he rushed to the young man's aid, and as The Vancouver Sun reported, McIlroy made sure that the fan would be recuperating comfortably that evening.

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“I didn’t want him sleeping the night in a tent when he’s got a massive gash in the side of his head. So I put him and his mate up for the night [in a hotel] and gave them a bit of cash to go out and get something to eat. It was the least I could do,” he said. “If someone gave me a big hole in my head, I wouldn’t be too happy.”

Asked how much cash he gave the fans, he said: “Not much. A hundred something quid.”

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That good deed didn't appear to result in any good karma for McIlroy, however, as Saturday's third round didn't go much better than Friday's second. McIlroy once again struggled on "moving day," carding a 3-over 73 that leaves at him at 5-over for the tournament and all but out of the running for the Claret Jug.

Other than a victory in the Honda Classic in March, 2012 has been an incredibly disappointing year for McIlroy, who many pundits were ready to label "the next big thing" after his successes a year ago.

As Reuters reported on Saturday, frustration is beginning to mount with the young Irishman, who is apparently at a loss as to why his game has seemingly abandoned him.

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"I'm frustrated, I'm frustrated but that's the way it is. That's golf," he told reporters after failing to make the most of good scoring conditions on a warm day at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. "You just have to get on with it and keep trying and keep practicing and stay patient until it turns around. It's just about a lack of consistency with my swing and from there, it's tough," he explained. "Whenever you're not confident in the shots that you're trying to hit, it is tough to sort of trust it."

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Those comments by McIlroy are telling, and within them lie the two things that McIlroy needs to focus on if he's going to return to the form that elevated him to the top of the world golf rankings for a time.

First, as much as McIlroy talks about practicing and working hard, he's received a fair amount of criticism this year for not doing enough of either. McIlroy is involved in a very high-profile romantic relationship with tennis player Caroline Wozniacki.

McIlroy has every right to live his life any way he sees fit, but jetting off to spend time with his sweetie is a disruption to the routine that so many golfers swear by and takes time away from other things that McIlroy could be doing...like working on his golf game.

Also, as Charles Barkley (who is quite possibly the worst golfer in the history of the game) puts it, McIlroy may have developed a case of the mental "yips," a hitch in his game as the result of recent failures.

When a golfer of McIlroy's talent level says he's "not confident in the shots that he's trying to hit," then odds are very good that he's going to get exactly the result he thinks he will...lousy ones.

Granted, Rory McIlroy is still very young, and given the skills on the golf course that he's exhibited in the past, there's no reason to think that he can't return to the top of his sport.

However, to do so he's going to have to re-dedicate himself to golf, and that's going to mean a lot more time spent on the driving range and playing practice rounds and a lot less spent canoodling on the bench with his sweetie.

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