Is McIlroy really a nice guy?

thelad95

MortGoldman wrote: »

Out of curiosity, why do competitors have to keep track of their own score (ie. filling out scorecard). Surely in modern sport, its all computerised and its capable of figuring out what each golfer has 'scored'.

In a sport where rules as trivial as not being aloud to pull a bit of grass out of the ground for fear of being disqualified, it's not surprising.

ardmhacha22

Aphex wrote: »

Have no interest in him whatsoever. He does pull off a killer American accent in interviews though.

no that is how the posh people spake around that part of the world

thelad95

Cienciano wrote: »

I like watching golf, but McIlroy is a typical pro golfer. Zero personality, basically a corporate entity rather than a personality.
It's very hard to warm to any pro golfer

A lot of them try to give off a 'nice guy' aura to win fans over but who knows what they're really like. Tiger Woods was the 'nice guy' for years and now look at him.

Tail Docker

poppyvally wrote: »

he dosent have much sex appeal, loadsa dosh though! Mmm

Rubbish, he spends all day trying to get his hole. The mans a machine.

ardmhacha22

nocoverart wrote: »

Comes across as a bit of a cold pr1ck TBH. He's actually overqualified to meet the criteria of being Northern Irish.

and this is why I wish he had chose GB, you rarely hear him being slagged over there as they are proud of him

whirlpool

It's not very nice to have a thread full of people calling you dull and uninteresting. That's a bit mean. It's much meaner than refusing to sign an autograph (a) for a 12 year old boy who almost definitely shouldn't have been there in the first place and (b) when it was imperative that he filled out his scorecard a.s.a.p. and wasn't distracted in the process.

Just because he's in the public eye doesn't mean he has to change his personality for the us. He doesn't owe us anything. It's not his fault half the world chooses to watch him play golf.

wretcheddomain

Pointless question, the discussion here will never know the real answer, you're only wasting time speculating. Moreover, even if he was a massive gob****e or an angelic golfer, it should make absolutely no difference to your life whatsoever. He didn't become a professional golfer because of either of the options I mentioned - it's irrelevant, move on, and find something genuinely interesting to talk about.

jimgoose

What is it with people and this hand-wringing over sports chimps and their private lives and "personalities"? I just need them to shut up and hit the damn ball. When I want their opinion on World peace I'll probably be too far gone to care.

ardmhacha22

mickydoomsux wrote: »

He's kind of Irish and did a good sports thing.

HE'S MY HERO!!!!!!!!1111111111!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No he is an Ulsterman, he probably has more ancestral links with Scotland than with the rest of Ireland anyway

Icemancometh

Lucas Castroman wrote: »

When men in their 40's/50's can excel at your chosen "sport" then an athlete you most certainly are not. Golf is a silly game like snooker or tiddlywinks. The average irish person on the street couldn't give a toss about his achievements.... he only represents himself. Our admiration should be reserved for people who excel at the top level in genuine international sports ... soccer, athletics etc. Sadly, these are few and far between.

Bernard Hopkins?

martingriff

YFlyer wrote: »

Score card before signing autographs

That mat be due to the fact you have to sign it within a certain time and if not you are disqualified. Has happened to him before

porsche959

What I can't get my head around is why so many Irish people demand of other Irish people that we must hero-worship this undoubtedly talented British golfer. He does not identify as an Irish nationalist - as, of course, is his perfect right. David Cameron did a "congratulations to Rory McIlroy" tweet yesterday, what does that tell you?

As for whether he is a nice guy or not - probably no more or less than any top level dedicated sportsman. Niceness doesn't win golf championships, Grand Prixs, or World Cups.

guitarzero

He plays golf.....I hope this answers your question.

Lucas Castroman

131spanner wrote: »

Why put sport in inverted commas? Golf is as much a sport as any other. A silly game? Absolute nonsense.



False. He's representing Ireland in the 2016 Olympics.



Give me one good reason why we wouldn't celebrate these so called "lesser" athletes? Why would we ignore the likes of McIlroy and Conor McGregor who excel in sports which are less popular in Ireland, relative to soccer, rugby etc? Success is still success, regardless of the popularity of the sport, and celebrated it should be.

He's only representing Ireland in a cold calculated decision to appeal to the American market.
Will he capture the imagination of the nation come the next olympics? -- certainly not.
To say Golf is comparable to Ireland producing a world class sprinter, soccer player, tennis player etc. is laughable.
Sure he's reached the top of his game in his chosen discipline... but who cares, it's GOLF. I'd compare his success to Ken Doherty winning the world snooker championship. Granted he was a world champion but were you dancing in the streets? Why not - because it does not conjure any particular national pride.
The word "sport" implies a degree of athleticism which cannot be justified when overweight old men can partake.
He's a business man who pursues his own self interest. He's making tons of money out of a trivial skill/talent but he belongs in the same category as darts/snooker/poker/archery/clay-pigeon shooting/shooting rings/hungry hippos. Genuine sport is a step above these games - let's please save the national jubilation until we produce another Roy Keane, Sonia O'Sullivan.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

YFlyer

Tail Docker wrote: »

Rubbish, he spends all day trying to get his hole. The mans a machine.

Like Tiger

kneemos

Lucas Castroman wrote: »

He's only representing Ireland in a cold calculated decision to appeal to the American market.
Will he capture the imagination of the nation come the next olympics? -- certainly not.
To say Golf is comparable to Ireland producing a world class sprinter, soccer player, tennis player etc. is laughable.
Sure he's reached the top of his game in his chosen discipline... but who cares, it's GOLF. I'd compare his success to Ken Doherty winning the world snooker championship. Granted he was a world champion but were you dancing in the streets? Why not - because it does not conjure any particular national pride.
The word "sport" implies a degree of athleticism which cannot be justified when overweight old men can partake.
He's a business man who pursues his own self interest. He's making tons of money out of a trivial skill/talent but he belongs in the same category as darts/snooker/poker/archery/clay-pigeon shooting/shooting rings/hungry hippos. Genuine sport is a step above these games - let's please save the national jubilation until we produce another Roy Keane, Sonia O'Sullivan.

The top players are looking much fitter than they used to,definitely time spent in the gym at least.
Seems to be more of a power game these days if you want to compete at the top,so there is some degree of athleticism required.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

muddypaws

thelad95 wrote: »

A lot of them try to give off a 'nice guy' aura to win fans over but who knows what they're really like. Tiger Woods was the 'nice guy' for years and now look at him.

Really, when was that, he's always been arrogant, although I did warm to him a bit in the Ryder Cup with Darren Clarke in 2006? About 10 years ago we were in a car coming back from a kids football match, the driver had a Woods hat on, one of the kids asked what the TW meant, his son said, quick as a flash 'total wanker'.

131spanner

Lucas Castroman wrote: »

let's please save the national jubilation until we produce another Roy Keane, Sonia O'Sullivan.

Can we not celebrate the little wins while waiting for a big one so..?

Da Shins Kelly

I couldn't tell you if he's a genuinely nice guy or not. To me he just seems like your run-of-the-mill drip of a golfer, like most of them (I suppose we were all saying that about Tiger Woods once upon a time! ). The lad seems to take a lot of flak, particularly from Irish people who seem a little offended that he doesn't consider himself Irish, or whatever it was he said.

Lucas Castroman

Patww79 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

If Rory McIlroy were to win gold for Ireland in Golf it would be akin to Cian O'Connor winning gold on his drugged up horse. The general public consensus was that's nice but there was certainly no outpouring of emotion.
We don't know how the public would react to an athletics champion as there hasn't been a recent one. The closest example might be Michelle Smith in swimming when there was genuine public excitement as we had a world champion in an international sport.
Whether you like it or not, there is a pecking order in the national psyche for international sport and Golf is near the bottom.

PhlegmyMoses

Lucas Castroman wrote: »

He's only representing Ireland in a cold calculated decision to appeal to the American market.
Will he capture the imagination of the nation come the next olympics? -- certainly not.
To say Golf is comparable to Ireland producing a world class sprinter, soccer player, tennis player etc. is laughable.
Sure he's reached the top of his game in his chosen discipline... but who cares, it's GOLF. I'd compare his success to Ken Doherty winning the world snooker championship. Granted he was a world champion but were you dancing in the streets? Why not - because it does not conjure any particular national pride.
The word "sport" implies a degree of athleticism which cannot be justified when overweight old men can partake.
He's a business man who pursues his own self interest. He's making tons of money out of a trivial skill/talent but he belongs in the same category as darts/snooker/poker/archery/clay-pigeon shooting/shooting rings/hungry hippos. Genuine sport is a step above these games - let's please save the national jubilation until we produce another Roy Keane, Sonia O'Sullivan.

I often go into threads about topics that I know nothing about and have a sneaking suspicion that the people posting with the most fervour and conviction know **** all about the topic at hand. Posts like this and your previous one, on a topic I'd know a decent amount about, make me believe this even more.

To debunk one of your theories; Golfers rarely excel in their 40s. The majors are predominantly won by people in their mid 20s to mid 30s. Even Tiger, arguably the greatest of all time, last won a major when he was 34. It is a very rare occurence that people win them into their late 30s, let alone 40s. Sure they can still compete on some levels in their 40s, but not at the very top, in the vast majority of cases. But then Dino Zoff played in a World Cup final at 41, Mondragon and Yepes played for Columbia this year at 43 and 39 respectively, Roger Milla lit up the world at 46, Ryan Giggs, Teddy Sheringham, David James, Lothar Matthaus, Paolo Maldini, Javier Zanetti etc etc all played to a grand old age. Golf has changed massively in the last 20 years.

TL;DR: You're talking out of your hoop about a subject you have no clue about.

FourFourRED

Turtyturd wrote: »

It's quite the mix, it's impossible to listen to him talk without focusing on it.

G Mac is the same as well.

PhlegmyMoses

Lucas Castroman wrote: »

If Rory McIlroy were to win gold for Ireland in Golf it would be akin to Cian O'Connor winning gold on his drugged up horse. The general public consensus was that's nice but there was certainly no outpouring of emotion.
We don't know how the public would react to an athletics champion as there hasn't been a recent one. The closest example might be Michelle Smith in swimming when there was genuine public excitement as we had a world champion in an international sport.
Whether you like it or not, there is a pecking order in the national psyche for international sport and Golf is near the bottom.

The same national psyche that saw a load of mentals **** the bed over a country and western singer not being allowed to play two gigs?

A fair and balanced barometer.

MayoSalmon

Chap is a little prick, from his previous obnoxious comments and treatment of fine Danish women, he can go suck an Orangeman's flute with his buddies McDowell and Clarke.

Goodnight

Joe prim

MortGoldman wrote: »

Out of curiosity, why do competitors have to keep track of their own score (ie. filling out scorecard). Surely in modern sport, its all computerised and its capable of figuring out what each golfer has 'scored'.

No, it's all based on trust, dontchaknow, absolute gentlemen the whole lot of them,you just go in and say "I shot twenty under par just now", chaps in blazers say "Jolly good show, old chap, have a claret jug/Green Jacket/Whatever on us" Anybody can do it, it's only golf, after all.

ardmhacha22

MayoSalmon wrote: »

Chap is a little prick, from his previous obnoxious comments and treatment of fine Danish women, he can go suck an Orangeman's flute with his buddies McDowell and Clarke.

Goodnight

Since when were the McIlroy Roman Catholic family of the orange tradition? as I already said If it was me I would have represented GB, at least they show us common respect there even if we are 'fenians'

Lucas Castroman

PhlegmyMoses wrote: »

The same national psyche that saw a load of mentals **** the bed over a country and western singer not being allowed to play two gigs?

A fair and balanced barometer.

Why are you talking about Garth Brooks? Try reading your posts back to yourself .

Sulla Felix

I don't see what difference it makes if he's a nice guy or a dick. I'm not likely to have to put up with him personally either way.