McGinley: Defeat to Tiger could be a blessing for McIlroy

Former Europe Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley feels Rory McIlroy’s defeat against Tiger Woods at the WGC Dell Technologies Championship could spark the Northern Irishman back into action ahead of next week’s Masters.

McIlroy was in top form heading into the heavyweight clash with Woods but his brilliance deserted him as he went down 2&1 to the 14-time major winner.

McGinley believes the alarming drop in McIlroy’s performance levels should be a worry but could also spur him on to improve ahead of the first major of the year at Augusta that starts on 11 April.

In quotes published in the Belfast Telegraph, McGinley said : “It was a worry no doubt. Not so much losing to Tiger Woods, but the fact that his performance dropped so much.

“His putting performance fell off a cliff. Of the 16 players playing that morning, he was last in putting for that one day.

“But the important thing is that he would have learned from it, and maybe it’s a really good thing that he came off the boil a little bit going into Augusta because it will make him go away and analyse what happened in that round.”

Paul McGinley Rory McIlroy The Masters

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