Arriving at Caves Valley for the BMW Championship, Rory McIlroy was looking to sharpen his game ahead of the TOUR Championship. But instead of contending, he spent the week battling inconsistency and searching for form and momentum. By Sunday, his candid post-round verdict said it all — the struggle was real.

Rory McIlroy opened his week with a level-par round on Thursday, one he didn’t hesitate to label “awful,” as a reporter reminded him on Sunday in a post-round press conference. He ultimately finished tied 12th at 3-under par, but his performance across four rounds reflected a battle between rust and rhythm. The Northern Irishman opened with an even-par 71, then flashed brilliance with a 4-under 67 on Friday — highlighted by a thrilling eagle at the 16th. However, a sloppy 72 on Saturday and a flat 71 on Sunday left him out of contention and searching for answers.

And when asked if he would call his level-par final round on Sunday a similar disappointment to his opening round, McIlroy offered a more nuanced response. He told the media,“The game was awful for the first six holes and then actually felt like I found something, especially on the back nine there. So definitely something to build off going into next week,” he said. Entering Sunday, McIlroy was 3-under par. He started the round with a birdie on the 3rd hole, but two back-to-back double bogeys on the 5th & 6th holes pushed him to 3-over par in just 6 holes.

McIlroy attributed the slow start to the rust in form from a three-week break in his schedule, during which he admitted he didn’t do much. “Yeah, it was — this week was my three weeks off. I really didn’t do anything in those three weeks. I was probably expecting too much to get in contention, but there was glimmers of really good stuff in there this week,” he admitted. This was his first event after the Open 2025, where he finished tied 7th. He skipped out on the FedEx Cup’s first playoff event, the $20 million St. Jude Championship in Memphis.

The lack of preparation, he believes, set unrealistic expectations for a quick return to contention. While he didn’t find himself in contention, he found his groove in the back nine on Sunday, where he fired 4 birdies. “As I said, I felt like I found a bit of a groove over the last nine holes, so certainly something to build off going into the TOUR Championship next week,” McIlroy expressed. But one of the more persistent issues for McIlroy has been off the tee, something he has struggled with since the PGA Championship in May, normally a strength of his game. Earlier in the week, he mentioned he found it easier to shape the ball left-to-right, but by Sunday, even that wasn’t providing much comfort.

“No, not really. It was very neutral. It’s funny. Like I feel like the last few days off the tee I got into a bad groove at times, and then I would hit one good one and get a feel and then I would get into a groove of hitting some good ones. That’s what I did from the 8th hole onwards today. So it’s just trying to remember those feelings of the good ones and try to get rid of the feelings for the bad ones,” McIlroy explained. While he missed five fairways off the tee during Sunday’s start, after a bogey at the 8th, he settled in and missed just three fairways the rest of the way. But the inconsistency led to his driving accuracy hovering around 42%.

With the Tour Championship looming, McIlroy’s focus now shifts to rediscovering the feel he found late on Sunday. However, he will need to address issues with his driver if he is to be in contention at East Lake.

Rory McIlroy’s ongoing battle off the tee

Rory McIlroy’s driver has been at the center of one of the more persistent storylines in his disappointing 2025 season. The issues began to spiral after his TaylorMade Qi10 failed a random conformity test ahead of the PGA Championship, forcing a last-minute switch that clearly rattled the four-time major winner. Since then, McIlroy’s driving accuracy has plummeted — currently hovering at just 50%, placing him a lowly 164th on Tour. He missed the cut at the RBC Canadian Open and finished a distant T-47 at Quail Hollow, where he admitted the sudden change in equipment threw him off.

Even ahead of the U.S. Open, McIlroy confirmed he had moved on from the Qi35 model he briefly used, suggesting he’s finally starting to settle into the new setup. “Every driver sort of has its own character and you’re trying to manage the misses,” he said. Still, the numbers haven’t improved much, and his struggles off the tee remain a glaring weakness as we witnessed this week at Caves Valley. “Yeah, it was a bit of a struggle this week. For the amount of big numbers and bad spots I put myself in, it ended up not being a bad finish, you know, in spite of that. Certainly some work to do before next Thursday,” he admitted, knowing that he has to put in some extra hours before the Tour Championship next week. Now, the question isn’t just whether his driver is dialed in, but whether he can trust it when the pressure is at its highest.