Golf
McIlroy will 'figure out' return to winning ways
Rory McIlroy is confident that he will win more major tournaments in his career when he figures out "how to get the job done".
The Northern Irishman is preparing for this week's Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines as he goes into 2019 looking to end his five-year wait for a fifth major title stretching back to his Open and PGA Championship successes in 2014.
There have been question marks raised as to whether McIlroy reached his peak between 2011 and 2014 when he won his titles and he is now on the downward slope in his career.
However, McIlroy has insisted that time is still very much on his side given that he will not be 30 until May.
And he used the examples of Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, the latter having won all of his five majors in his thirties, to prove that players go through barren spells and age is no barrier.
He said: "You look at Phil (Mickelson) as Phil has won more Majors than me and he didn't win his first one till he was in his 30s.
"I've had success early but sometimes it just takes a little time to figure it out.
"Once Phil got his first Major in ’04 he won five pretty … from ’04 to ’13 it was a still a nine-year period.
"I am not trying to compare myself to someone like Jack (Nicklaus) as Jack also had a couple of three-year spells when he didn’t win a Major.
"I know Tiger has had his difficulties with injury and it’s a 11-years since Tiger won the U.S. Open here at Torrey in ’08, so I don’t feel like … Yes, four years is four years and that is 16 opportunities that has passed me by.
"At the same time, I am giving myself chances. I have chances at Augusta last year. I had a chance at Carnoustie and that is all I can ask of myself to keep giving myself those chances and sooner or later I will figure out how to get the job done."
Craig Smithson is a journalist with over two decades of experience at the keyboard. A life-long Middlesbrough fan, Craig has an in-depth knowledge of all football and is also a keen fan of boxing amongst other sports.