ROCHESTER, N.Y. — How long should a hangover last?
Rory McIlroy appears to be in the midst of a prolonged one, still belittled and bummed about his missed cut at the Masters last month — a ninth chance at completing the career Grand Slam having passed without having a green jacket slipped over his shoulders.
This is merely a gut-feeling observation from his pre-tournament meeting with reporters Tuesday in advance of this week’s PGA Championship at Oak Hill, but something seems to be missing for McIlroy.
He sounded like a player in need of a spark.
McIlroy was not his usual engaging, deep-thinking conversationalist self. In what was a rarity, his meeting with the media felt like an obligation to him, with shorter, clipped answers than he’s accustomed to delivering.
For example, since the LIV Golf movement began, McIlroy has been front and center as a de facto spokesperson for the PGA Tour, publicly taking on the Saudi-backed rival tour. On Tuesday, he wanted no part of any LIV questions, deflecting all of them.
McIlroy has always an uncanny way about him in his press conferences, captivating you with his well-thought-out observations, educated opinions and his transparency. Those things were missing in part on Tuesday.
Whether or not that has anything to do with whether he’s able to end his nine-year, 31-major drought without a victory dating back to his 2014 PGA Championship triumph is anyone’s guess.
Last month at Augusta National, McIlroy spoke like a player who believed he was about to break through and finally win a green jacket.
“I’m feeling as sort of relaxed as I ever have coming in here just in terms of I feel like my game is in a pretty good place,’’ he said before the Masters.
McIlroy then proceeded to shoot a 5-over 77 in the second round and left Augusta early, stung and stunned by the unexpected outcome of the missed cut.
The following week, he skipped the PGA Tour’s “elevated’’ tournament at Hilton Head, voluntarily incurring a $3 million fine for doing that, citing personal reasons.
Two weeks ago, he finished in a pedestrian tie for 47th at the Wells Fargo at Quail Hollow, a place where he’s had great success, winning his first career PGA Tour title. And after his final round, he dodged reporters, slipping out of the clubhouse through a back exit.
This all leads us to this week, with McIlroy perhaps feeling a different kind of pressure than he felt at Augusta, because his wife, Erica Stoll, is from the area and he’s spent enough time playing Oak Hill that it can be characterized as a home game of sorts for him.
“It wasn’t really the performance of Augusta that’s hard to get over,’’ McIlroy said Tuesday of his latest run of off form. “It’s just more the mental aspect and the deflation of it and sort of trying to get your mind in the right place to start going forward again, I guess.’’
Trevor Immelman, the lead golf analyst for CBS and a former Masters winner, believes the Masters malaise is still haunting McIlroy.
“It makes no sense to us that he hasn’t won that tournament yet, because you feel like it’s a perfect match,’’ Immelman told The Post, referring to McIlroy and the Masters. “It’s almost too obvious. Rory knows that and we know that, and every time that it hasn’t happened it’s a massive letdown for him, and that’s completely understandable.
“Do any of us actually know how he feels? No, because we have not been in that position. But I have a pretty solid idea of just how big of a letdown it must be at the end of the Masters when he walks away and hasn’t won. Whether he finishes second in 2022 or he misses the cut in 2023, it’s the same feeling of, ‘Oh man, I didn’t complete the career Grand Slam.’
“The analogy I’m thinking of now is like when you see these heavyweight fights and one of the boxers get a punch through and the other guy is a little punch drunk, stumbling around for a few seconds, just trying to buy time to where he can get back into the fight. To me, that’s how the last month has been for Rory.’’