After a disappointing missed cut in his title defense at The Players Championship, Rory McIlroy says the biggest frustration comes from his recent pursuit of more distance.
"Probably the swing issues and where it all stems from, probably like October last year, doing a little bit of speed training, started getting sucked into that stuff, swing got flat, long, and too rotational," McIlroy said regarding his frustrations, according to ASAP Sports.
McIlroy added he did gain "some speed" and is hitting the ball harder, but the rest of his game is suffering as a result.
And who spurred McIlroy - one of the world's best and longest drivers of the ball - to chase more distance? Bryson DeChambeau, of course.
"I'd be lying if I said it wasn't anything to do with what Bryson did at the U.S. Open," he said. "I think a lot of people saw that and were like, whoa, if this is the way they're going to set golf courses up in the future, it helps. It really helps."
However, McIlroy quickly learned that DeChambeau's approach and swinging faster may only work because the American's irons are all the same length.
"The one thing that people don't appreciate is how good Bryson is out of the rough," McIlroy continued. "Not only because of how upright he is but because his short irons are longer than standard, so he can get a little more speed through the rough than us, than other guys.
"And I thought being able to get some more speed is a good thing, and I maybe just - to the detriment a little bit of my swing, I got there, but I just need to maybe rein it back in a little bit."
McIlroy finished his short week at 10-over par and well back of the cutline, but he isn't taking the weekend off.
"... I want to get on the range right away and try to get through this," he added. "Yeah, I'm pretty determined to get back to where I know I can be."
