Rory McIlroy blasted by Sir Nick Faldo for ‘having no Plan B’ after shocking final round collapse in Charles Schwab

SIR NICK FALDO accused Rory McIlroy of lacking a Plan B when things get tough.

McIlroy’s four-over-par 74 at the Charles Schwab Challenge on Sunday night was the latest in a series of final-round flops.

And six-time Major winner Faldo, now commentating for US broadcasters CBS, said his successor as Europe’s finest player cannot deal with the frustration of making a bad start.

That was the case again at Colonial, where McIlroy started day four in the hunt only to drop shots on three of the first five holes.

He then totally wrecked his hopes with a double-bogey six at the seventh and a bogey on No 9 to turn in six-over 41 — two shots worse than anyone else in the field.

And after seeing him finish tied-32nd, NINE shots behind play-off winner Daniel Berger, Faldo said: “I’m only guessing on this — he’s such a gutsy player but you have to ask yourself, ‘Why does this happen?’

“When it all goes wrong, it’s almost like he gets so frustrated. It’s like, ‘I can’t accept it’.

“It seems like, looking from the outside, that he doesn’t have a Plan B to switch to, just to find a way to get around it. Just maybe there is too much frustration going on.”

'TOO MUCH FRUSTRATION'

McIlroy - who recently slammed Donald Trump - has won five tournaments in the last two years to send himself back to the top of the world rankings.

And his run of seven successive top-five finishes prior to the PGA Tour’s first event since lockdown was impressive by any standards.

But there have also been far too many implosions from the four-time Major champ, otherwise he would have won a lot more big tournaments.

It started with his infamous meltdown at The Masters in 2011, when he blew a four-shot lead with a gory final-round 80.

There was another teeth-grinding final day at Augusta in 2018, when McIlroy missed a 4ft putt for eagle at the second hole that would have seen him wipe out Patrick Reed’s three-shot overnight lead.

Reed went on to claim the Green Jacket that McIlroy needed to complete the career Grand Slam, with his playing partner back in fifth after a 74. And there are plenty more recent examples of the Northern Irishman’s Sunday woes.

In the last tournament before the US tour’s 91-day enforced break, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, McIlroy was tied for the lead with eventual winner Tyrrell Hatton after four holes of their final rounds.

But then he threw in a bogey and two doubles before the end of the front nine, to slump to fifth.

He was also level with Genesis Invitational winner Adam Scott early in the final round in February — but triple-bogeyed the fifth and dropped another shot at the sixth as he ended in a share of third place.

Scott doubled-bogeyed the fifth but showed his grit to bounce straight back with a birdie on his way to victory.

McIlroy only has to look at the PGA Tour statistics to realise he is not finishing things off as well as he should.

The 31-year-old ranks third on the Saturday scoring averages at 67.67, a testament to how often he puts himself in contention with a moving-day surge.

But he was a dismal 79th on the Sunday scoring list before Colonial, averaging 70.17.

He will now slip a few more places after this latest effort, having propelled himself into the mix with a brilliant seven-under 63 on Friday that was the joint-lowest round of the week.

Things are much different for winner Berger, who is back to his best after a troublesome wrist injury.

It looks like all rounds come the same to the 27-year-old Florida golfer.

Berger’s closing 66 was his 28th successive round at par or better — easily the best run on the Tour — before being handed the title when Collin Morikawa’s three-footer for par lipped out at the first play-off hole.

England’s Justin Rose finished on 14 under, one shot outside the play-off.

He missed an 18-foot birdie putt on the 18th as he posted a 66.