Memorial Tournament: Will Rory McIlroy's Struggles Continue Through Weekend?

Rory McIlroy’s 2013 PGA Tour season went from bad to worse yesterday during the first round of the Memorial Tournament.

The problem is, I don’t expect for that to change anytime soon.

Players have only a couple weeks until the U.S. Open starts, and they usually use the Memorial as a tune-up for the second major on schedule.

Rory just continues to play up-and-down golf. He has been all over the scorecard this year, and Round 1 of the Memorial was no different.

His first round, a six-over 78, was the second-worst round he shot this year, next to a 79 during the third round of the Masters.

The biggest problem with Rory’s game right now isn’t a concern with his swing or ball striking. His biggest issue is in his head.

After missing the cut last week at the BMW PGA Championship and his horrendous round yesterday that included six bogeys and a double-bogey, McIlroy told The Sun in Great Britain that he’s “frustrated” and that “I don’t have any explanations for this.”

As a golfer, I know I can take lessons or go practice if there is something wrong with my swing. Those types of troubles can be fixed overnight, a few days at most.

But when a golfer starts thinking too much, he starts to question himself. No other golfer has shown that other than Rory McIlroy himself.

The last time Rory has been in this bad of a slump was in 2011, when he had his Masters meltdown. He was at the top of the leaderboard when he shot 80 in the final round on national television.

It took two months after that for him to get back to the dominant golfer he was. After missing a cut, he finished top-five in the next two events, including taking over the 2011 U.S. Open.

It’s not like the world’s No. 2-ranked golfer hasn’t gone through this before. But after the hole he dug himself at the Memorial, don’t expect to see him on your television screens this weekend.