Paul McGinley admits he has been impressed with Rory McIlroy's level of consistency this season and says that a lack of tour wins may paint the Holywood man's campaign in a different light.
Speaking to Off The Ball's Joe Molloy and Nathan Murphy at Le Golf National shortly after Europe's Ryder Cup victory in Paris, McGinley highlighted elements of McIlroy's game that have seen him produce another solid season.
"His putting stats have actually been pretty good," he explained. "I've trawled through all of these stats and his putting stats are actually really good compared to where he's been in previous years.
"He's holed some good putts, there's not a whole lot wrong with it. What he's lost in comparison to what he's had before is something I call 'pointy elbows'.
"It's that competitive edge that he's had earlier in his career.
"It's not quite the same. The other guys have raised the bar and put it up to him. Rory used to dominate guys and intimidate them with his driving.
"Other guys have raised the bar and that's made it difficult for Rory. He hasn't got his head around that yet.
"He has that instinct in him but it's lying dormant at the moment. It's actually hard to say it's lying dormant because look at the year he's had.
"There's only two or three guys in the whole of golf that have amassed more world ranking points than McIlroy.
"His level of consistency is better than it's ever been. He's just not winning as often as he did."
As for his mixed performance in this year's Ryder Cup, McGinley said the volume of golf under his belt may have contributed to defeats on the opening and closing day's of the tournament.
"I thought he was tired. A bit like the American team I thought he was jaded. He didn't have the same vibrancy.
"I thought there was a little bit of a hangover from his performance at the FedEx last week, when he played with Tiger in the last round and it went badly for him.
"He came in on a bit of a low after that. He nearly got going, Sergio dragged him up on the second day so he was almost there and then he flat lined again.
"I thought he played decent [on Sunday]."
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