McIlroy always says that when he's playing well, it's hard to remember ever playing poorly. And when he's playing poorly, it's hard to remember what it was like to play well. But he has a history of going through spurts of mediocrity, and coming out of it strong without notice. Most memorable was in 2012 when he missed the cut four times in five tournaments. Two months later, he won the PGA Championship and consecutive FedEx Cup playoff events.
Three times in his career, McIlroy has won in his next start after missing the cut. Five other times, he won after finishing out of the top 30.
That's why he wasn't the least bit concerned after missing the cut at the Valspar Championship.
"It's such a fine line out here, and I might have sounded crazy the last few weeks when I was telling everyone it actually feels pretty close and I'm not that far away, and I'm putting up 72s and 73s," he said. "And all of a sudden, it all clicks into place and I end up winning a golf tournament by three shots and shooting 8 under on the last day. So it's fine lines out here. I think you have to play the game to really appreciate that. It's not as black and white as some people make it out to be."
He could think of only one time he was genuinely worried about his game.
McIlroy was 19 and in his first full year as a pro in 2008. He had only two top 10s all year on the European Tour. He wasn't eligible for any of the majors. He had missed three straight cuts in Sweden, Holland and Scotland. He was concerned he might lose his card. And then he lost in a playoff in Switzerland, lost in another playoff in Hong Kong and won his first pro event early in the next year.
"And I was off and running," he said.
McIlroy reached No. 50 with that playoff loss in Hong Kong, and he hasn't fallen out since then. He's had a few dips, sure, "but it's not as if I've had to panic."
Palmer and McIlroy share one other connection, at least for now. They are one leg short of the Grand Slam. Palmer never won the PGA Championship. McIlroy needs the Masters. When they had dinner at Bay Hill in 2015 — right before McIlroy's first crack at the fourth leg of the slam — the topic never came up.
"It's amazing to think, all that Arnold did in the game, he never won that Grand Slam," McIlroy said.
McIlroy at the Masters, Phil Mickelson at the U.S. Open and Jordan Spieth at the PGA Championship each have a chance at the career slam this year.
"I'm glad to be part of that conversation, get the first shot at it in a few weeks," McIlroy said. "So we'll see how we go."
His game is never far away, even if it doesn't look like it at times.