Ahead of the 2025 Masters, Brandel Chamblee had a few things to discuss about Rory McIlroy’s relationship with Augusta National. One of them was, “It’s his if he takes care of business,” hinting towards the Irishman’s relationship with the Masters prior to the win (seven top-ten finishes out of 16 appearances). Thankfully for Rory McIlroy, he did take care of it. A lot has happened since McIlroy won his Grand Slam, including him missing events and giving poor performances on the greens. The reason? Brandel Chamblee claims Rory McIlroy has “lost his focus” since the Masters win.
Has he? If you’re considering Rory McIlroy’s performance after his 2025 Masters win, the answer may be “yes.” Since then, the Northern Irishman has participated in four events, securing just one top-10 finish at the Truist Championship (T7). He chose not to compete in the Memorial Tournament, adding to his list of missed signature events, including the Sentry and the RBC Heritage. Most recently, he played at the 2025 RBC Canadian Open and surprisingly missed the cut. Brandel Chamblee feels it is all due to a lack of focus.
During a recent interview on the Dan Patrick Show, Chamblee shares, “I don’t think that Rory’s necessarily lost his form; he’s lost his focus.” To elaborate on his point, Chamblee uses the example of Ben Hogan. After Hogan achieved his 1953 The Open Championship win and achieved his Grand Slam, everyone believed he would go on and dominate every other event. However, that did not happen. Hogan managed to win only one event, and that came six years later at the 1959 Colonial National Invitation.
Chamblee continued, “And it’s a very small sample size thus far. It’s just three or four tournaments for Rory, but I’ve never seen him play this poorly. I’ve never seen him look this disorganized. He’s never had a tournament where he played as bad as he did at the Canadian Open, his last outing.” Chamblee isn’t the only concerned person, however. Nick Faldo said of Rory McIlroy’s performance following the Masters win: “You climb Everest you don’t exactly turn around and go back again.” Unfortunately, for Rory McIlroy, Brandel Chamblee and Nick Faldo aren’t wrong.
Take the 2025 RBC Canadian Open, for instance. After shooting a one-over-par 71 on Thursday, McIlroy recorded an eight-over-par 78 on Friday. Considered one of his worst performances, McIlroy lost 8.471 strokes to the field. His struggles stemmed largely from his driving, however. McIlroy hit only 46.43% of his fairways and lost an unusual 2.2 shots off the tee. Aside from these numbers, part of the concern comes from Rory McIlroy’s statements.
Ahead of the 2025 U.S. Open, McIlroy said of his 5-year plan: “I don’t have one. I have no idea. I’m sort of just taking it tournament by tournament at this point. Yeah, I have no idea.” Despite that statement, there are a few events Rory McIlroy is looking forward to, even though he hasn’t performed very promisingly at one of them.
Rory McIlroy played poorly at one of “the three big things” he’s looking forward to in 2025
Ahead of the 2025 U.S. Open, Rory McIlroy said, “At some point, you have to realize that there’s a little bit more golf left to play this season, here [U.S. Open], Portrush [the British Open], Ryder Cup, so those are obviously the three big things that I’m sort of looking at for the rest of the year.” Unfortunately, for Rory McIlroy, it is not going well.
Rory McIlroy’s outing at the U.S. Open was characterized by a disappointing back nine that ultimately undermined his chances for a strong performance. After a solid start to the tournament, where he reached a commendable score of -2 on the front nine, McIlroy’s game unraveled on the second half of the course. He encountered a series of setbacks, including four bogeys and a double-bogey, resulting in a final score of +4 for the day. This lackluster performance followed his candid admission of struggles during practice rounds, where he mentioned the challenging pin placements that contributed to his difficulties on the course.
A tale of two nines for Rory.
33-41 from our 2011 champion as he sits 8 off the pace. pic.twitter.com/xQtIdHa1Vd
— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 12, 2025
Although he began the round with a powerful drive and a couple of early birdies, McIlroy’s momentum quickly faded. He demonstrated his potential with a 27-yard birdie putt on the 11th hole, but missed chances on the 17th and 18th hinted at the challenges ahead. The back nine proved particularly tough, with bogeys on the first, fourth, sixth, and seventh holes, culminating in a double-bogey on the eighth, the longest par three in major championship history. He eventually finished outside the top 50 after the opening round at Oakmont. Has he really lost his focus, as Chamblee claims?
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