'I Didn't Feel Like I Had a Chance:' Rory McIlroy Still Searching for Elusive Fifth Major

Rory McIlroy gave an honest assessment of his game following a T7 finish at Oak Hill.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — On a Sunday in August 2014 in Louisville, Ky., Rory McIlroy won his fourth major title, coming from behind to win the second PGA Championship of his career.

It was a one-shot win over Phil Mickelson that week at Valhalla Golf Club, and no one believed that numerous more majors weren't coming in McIlroy's future.

“I thought winning the Open Championship a few weeks ago had sort of put me on a higher level in this game,” McIlroy said then. “But then to win a fourth major here, to be one behind Phil, one behind Seve, level with Ernie, level with Raymond Floyd; I mean, I never thought I'd get this far at 25 years of age.”

Then, smiling, McIlroy concluded his answer with this: “It's just been an incredible run of golf, and I just couldn't be more proud of myself or happier with where my game's at.”

Nine years and 32 majors later, a 34-year-old McIlroy can’t find what it requires to win his fifth major and "proud" is not what he said about his game this week.

At Oak Hill, the 105th PGA Championship was another chance for McIlroy. It was another disappointment.

Never in contention, the Ulsterman made three bogeys on his first nine holes on Sunday and never dug himself out.

“I'll look back on this week as proud of how I hung in there, and I guess my attitude and sticking to it, not having my best stuff,” McIlroy said after a third consecutive 69 in the final round, which left him seven shots behind winner Brooks Koepka. “Probably not a ton of memorable golf shots hit.”

McIlroy talked about feeling sort of close and still so far away.

How is that possible? How can a player with 23 PGA Tour wins and nine DP World Tour titles sit on a razor's edge while finding it hard to explain why his game ebbs and flows at an alarming rate?

“I feel like sometimes it was the worst I could have played,
but then at the same time, it's like the best I could have
done,” McIlroy said of his T7 alongside Austrian Sepp Straka. "It just doesn't feel quite where it needs to be, and again, just need to go back home and work on some stuff.”

What that stuff is, McIlroy didn’t say, but he seems to have demons and hasn’t found what’s required to quell those anxieties.

“I guess I just came in here trying to play a golf tournament, not thinking about—honestly, not thinking about getting myself in contention,” McIlroy said. “Not thinking about winning. I honestly didn't feel like I had a chance of winning this week.”