Rory McIlroy's former coach gives much-needed hope to star golfer after poor few months

Rory McIlroy's former coach Pete Cowen has expressed confidence in his ex-pupil's ability to snap his 10-year major drought, despite recent setbacks , both on and off the course .

McIlroy was on the brink of victory at the US Open before a final-round collapse , marked by three bogeys in the last four holes, saw him concede the title to Bryson DeChambeau.

The Northern Irishman's struggle continued at The Open, where he finished 11-over after two rounds, meaning he'll have to wait until 2025 for another shot at a major win.

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Amidst growing skepticism about McIlroy's prospects of clinching a third major, Cowen has backed him, telling Bunkered: "If I had to put money on it, I'd say yes, but golf's a funny game. You get a good break and all of a sudden you could win two or three in a row like Xander (Schauffele), but it gets harder. He wins big tournaments in any case."

Cowen also noted the psychological challenges of high-stakes golf, saying, "It's a smaller stage. As the stage gets higher, the more difficult and the more stage fright you get. You've got to look at it and say when the stage gets that high, like on a major because that's the highest stage he can hit, sometimes you get a bit of stage fright. Everybody does."

"Some players can put the blinkers on all the way round for five hours but a lot of people can't put the blinkers on. You've got to win again, you've got to restart."

Cowen then revealed that McIlroy's biggest challenge is a persistent technical fault that creeps into his game under pressure.

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"He's got the same fault all the time. The good thing about it is it's the same fault, but that's also the bad thing about it. He knows exactly what he does."

"He drops (the club) under a bit and starts flipping it a bit and doesn't get under any pressure on it so struggles with the ball flight. But he knows he's had the same problem for a long time. He does address it and sometimes when he's addressed it he plays great and wins."

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