“Thought that he might win more”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Just two days after picking up his 26^th career PGA Tour title at the Wells Fargo Championship, Rory McIlroy made headlines on Tuesday for the wrong reason – filing for divorce from his wife of seven years citing the marriage as “irretrievably broken,” requesting “shared parental responsibility” of their daughter, Poppy, and “establishing a parental plan, including a timesharing schedule.”

McIlroy released a statement through his manager saying he would not be making any comments about his private life and the closest he came to answering a question on the subject during his pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday ahead of the 106^th PGA Championship asked him about his energy levels and, on a personal level, how he was doing?

“I’m ready to play this week,” he said before moving on.

McIlroy, who turned 35 last week, has made plenty of headlines between being embroiled in PGA Tour policy board politics and serving as a de facto spokesman for the PGA Tour in its fight with LIV Golf, but the one headline he hasn’t made for a nearly a decade is as a major champion. It was at the 2014 PGA Championship here at Valhalla Golf Club in August that McIlroy captured his second Wanamaker Trophy and fourth major title. He was 25, the third-youngest to win four major titles since 1900 (Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus), the No. 1 player in the world, and his future seemed boundless.

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“I thought at that point in time that we might see Rory win 10 major championships. He had limitless ability, unbelievable length, could do everything, and was making it look really easy,” said ESPN’s Andy North. “Life changes. You get married. You have kids. You have other business obligations. Your focus becomes not as singular on golf as it should be, and every single good player has gone through that. Rory has had an amazing career. I personally thought that he might win more than he has, which that’s scary because he’s won plenty.”

During the 35 major starts since his last win, McIlroy has recorded 20 top-10 finishes including 10 appearances in the top five, the most of any player in the last decade.

“To not at the very least fall into one is unfathomable,” said CBS Sports lead analyst Trevor Immelman.

When McIlroy left the PGA Championship a year ago after finishing seventh, his confidence was shot. The cameras for the Netflix documentary “Full Swing” captured McIlroy in…