On Sunday June 16th at Pinehurst Golf Course in North Carolina, Rory McIlroy had a great opportunity to win the US Open and break his 10 year major trophy drought.  Sadly, it didn’t happen for him and two missed short putts on holes 16 and 18 in the final round cost him the win. Bryson DeChambeau went on to be the victor.

In today’s episode I offer my thoughts as a sport psychologist on Rory’s misfortunate and share some ideas on how I would help him win the British Open at Royal Troon in one month’s time.

Key Learning Points:

• When we’re under pressure it’s normal to feel uncomfortable.
• Feeling uncomfortable can mean different things to different people, for some it means butterflies in the stomach and for others it means an overactive imagination.
• Trying to get to the point of feeling confident is over-rated and unrealistic in some situations.
• Helping Rory get comfortable being uncomfortable would be something that I would train.
• Mindfulness is a skill that can be developed that can help athletes manage their arousal levels.
• Pro-active visualisation, pre-empting difficult situations, shots and emotions at Royal Troon would be something that I would advise.

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