Consistency and patience is the key to string consecutive results in golf. On Thursday, Rory McIlroy readily admitted he finished with zero, shooting an erratic one-under 71 at the BMW PGA Championship.
Playing his fourth tournament in the last five, the current world No. 1 spoke out on the mental fatigue that hampered a four-birdie, three-bogey performance.
"Physically, I am all right. I got back to my hotel at 4:30 p.m. [local time] yesterday and did not leave it until 6:30 a.m. this morning," he said following the opening round (via Sky Sports). "But mentally, I could feel myself getting a little angry out there."
"Acceptance of bad shots is the thing I have been doing so well and I feel like my patience was wearing a bit thin today. I felt I was standing still at one under, but looking at the leaderboard it was not so bad," he added. "I felt myself getting a bit angry out there, which I haven't been doing the last few weeks. I just need to stay in control of my emotions because I feel like if I'm a little tired or a little fatigued mentally, I'll start to be hard on myself."
Despite starting the tournament with a bogey, McIlroy quickly rebounded to pick up birdies on the second and fourth hole. He would par six consecutive holes after the fifth.
"I didn't feel like any aspect of my game was really off today, but at the same time I didn't do anything that good, either. There's definitely room for improvement over the next few days," he said. "I could feel myself getting a bit down on myself out there. I need to be aware of that and be conscious that I just need to try to keep everything on an even keel."
"I will try not to do that over the next few days. Just try and get as much rest as I've been getting and I should be okay."
McIlroy opens Round 2 at 1 p.m. local time, partnered with Jamie Donaldson and Martin Kaymer.
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