Irish Open: Rory McIlroy says Bryson DeChambeau will be great at Doonbeg

McIlroy, who confirmed he will not play again before the PGA Tour playoffs in mid-August, added that it was “fair to say” he was no longer enthusiastic about the prospect of playing on the PGA Tour and the FedEx Cup after completing a career Grand Slam of four majors.

When asked why this happened, the 37-year-old said that “it just kind of ebbs and flows”.

He explained: “There have been years where I’ve given it more of my attention and years where I haven’t.

“Again, the PGA Tour is very fluid at the moment with a lot of their schedules and structures and everything like that.

“So I think the change is where it doesn’t matter if you’re in the top 30 going into the Tour Championship, it’s like I just have to be in the top 30 to have a chance to win a FedEx Cup. So why should I worry about the first two?

“I came to this conclusion last year and I’m doing exactly the same thing.”

The world number two had a week of reflection left at The Open where he said he was “stuck in neutrality”.

He added: “Definitely had a good shoot on Friday to get myself through the weekend and get back into it. It’s not even going to get done over the weekend.

“I felt like any time I got some momentum out there, I seemed to make a bogey. One of those weeks I just couldn’t get it going.”