It seems controversies and golf go hand in hand. This time it's golf Titan Rory McIlroy who has stirred the hornet's nest. The European Tour needs to make courses harder if they want to "reward" good golf, insists Rory McIlroy.

 

 

 

 

 

The Northern Irishman carded a final round of 67 at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship to add to previous rounds of 70, 66 and 70.

 

 

But that was only enough to finish a joint-26th, with winner Victor Perez scoring 22 under par. "I'm sick of coming back over to the European Tour and shooting 15 under par and finishing 30th," said McIlroy.

 

 

"I don't think the courses are set up hard enough. There are no penalties for bad shots. It's tough when you come back when it's like that, I don't think good golf is rewarded as well as it could be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

"It happened at the Scottish Open as well. I finished 13, 14 under for the week and finished 30th again. It's not a good test. "I think if the European Tour wants to put forward a really good product, the golf course and the setups need to be tougher."

 

 

McIlroy had an extremely successful PGA Tour season this year. The 30-year-old won three times on Tour — at The Players Championship, the RBC Canadian Open and the Tour Championship — and had 14 top-10 finishes, including seven straight early in the year.

 

 

He won the FedExCup for the second time — joining only Tiger Woods in winning multiple FedExCup titles — and was awarded the PGA Tour’s Player of the Year award, too.