Rory McIlroy - 4 Time Major Winner

benny79

In the grand scheme of things the Majors are only 4 tournaments a year have all the best players in the world so aren't easy to win! He has been there or there abouts in nearly all them over the last few years! (summarising here) more so than anyone else! Be a different story if he wasn't in top 10 or hadn't chances imo

slave1

I said all fair points, I was agreeing with you.

But stats do not lie, whether he lost or someone else won the name on the trophy is all that counts.

Let's agree to disagree so

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121762105#Comment_121762105

Stats say he's great player and a major contender every tournament, every year.

His name might not be on a major trophy for many years but when it's all said and done he'll be remembered as one of the greatest of all time because he has multiple majors and multiple fed ex Cup wins.

bren2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121761901#Comment_121761901

I don't know how anyone justifies that Rory doesn't succumb to pressure by pointing to last years US Open. He put zero pressure on Clarke even though he started to crumble. You can very well look at the stats and say "he lost by one and shot the same as Clarke". In the closing stretch, he never even left himself a makeable chance after bogeying the par 5.

The pressure clearly gets to Rory in final rounds of majors when he's in contention.

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121762240#Comment_121762240

Like a drunk man leaning against a lamp post, you are using stats more for support than illumination.

He may have a lot of top 10 finishes, that is not to say he was in contention to win.

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121762490#Comment_121762490

An what have you to say about Scheffler?Or is he just like Rory in your opinion?

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121762521#Comment_121762521

I mentioned two majors where he was in contention and did nothing wrong. What have you to say about those two? He took the clubhouse lead in both and only one man beat him in both.

Last year Wyndham Clark holed a lot of tough putts to hang on. Rory couldn't do anything about that.

bren2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121762632#Comment_121762632

I didn't realise we were discussing Scottie here. This is a Rory McIlroy thread. I don't watch Scottie enough to have an opinion on whether he cracked under pressure or not.

The point remains, Clarke pulled 3 clear and Rory never closed the gap. Never made a birdie. Never gave himself a chance of a birdie. Clarke fell back to him and Rory did nothing. That US Open was there for him and the general consensus on the likes of NLU is that he choked. Its a crazy example to pick to back up your point.

70 is a fine score. One bogey on a par 5. One birdie all day. Simply not good enough.

Russman

While I woudn't completely dismiss the mental approach argument, I think the lack of majors in the last decade is largely down to him not putting quite as well as you need to. I don't think he's a "bad" putter by any stretch (you couldn't win all he has if you were), just that he seems to have rounds where he hits it to 15 feet all day long and holes nothing. Like at St Andrews, when it still took a once in a lifetime run of golf for Cam Smith to sneak in there. It might only be two putts in a tournament that slip by, but they add up. I also think, and I'm sure strokes gained would disagree with me, that he doesn't drive it as straight as he needs to at times, even though distance is king. I know thats almost like a heresy to say, but I really don't think he's driven the newer carbon drivers as well as he used to. I'd love to see him with an "old faithful" Titleist driver, just to see if its any different.

At the same time, golf is such a hard game, and so different to other sports where you're not reacting to something your opponent has done, like saving a shot or returning a serve. Its nothing like other sports where simply trying harder is enough, its almost impossible to decide to play well in golf and go ahead and do it. In the majors nowadays there's probably 80 guys who could conceivably win. Then you've got simple things like being on the wrong side of the draw, especially in The Open. Sometimes someone else just plays better. These guys are all superb and mostly a top guy who has a good week with the putter, wins.

Its a fascinating debate. I can't really think of too many majors where you'd definitely say it was his mentality that let him down. No doubt some of the slow starts were probably down to being too cautious or too aggressive, but again, golf is hard, and some of the Major course set-ups are so on the edge, like a US Open at a Shinnecock or the Masters some years, you don't have to be too far off it to look like a fool. I definitely think there's at least 3 he should have won with better putting, Reed's Masters, Smith's Open and last years US Open.

slave1

I think he lost the Smith Open as he left his approaches to far from the hole, relied on a par round and Smith went for it, took the chances and it paid off, I don't think attributable to Rors putting on the day

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121762843#Comment_121762843

It was the same score as both Clark and Scheffler. They finished first, second and third. Ricki Fowler shot +5 on the day.

Do you expect him to go and shoot the lights out on a Sunday when nobody else can do it?

Fact is he did nothing wrong and stayed in contention throughout. Clark hung on to beat the clubhouse leader, a certain Rory McIlroy.

He made no mistakes on the back nine, how is that bottling it?

bren2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121762963#Comment_121762963

I expect him to attack the pin with 4 holes to go. He didn't.

The fact is, he did do something wrong. He lost. If you gave him those holes back, he'd do something different.

Youre pointing at a score of 70 but ignoring how he played. You're the first person I've met that says Rory didn't crack under pressure at that major. It was there for him and he didn't take it.

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121762999#Comment_121762999

You are unbelievable, do you even play golf?

It was a very difficult course. You don't go out and attack on a course like that. You just try to play good shots, if one works out well then great but you don't take crazy chances.

Of course he'd go for it in hindsight knowing he needs two to win or one for a playoff and there's around a 70% chance he'd finish with a worse score.

And just so you know. I like Rory because he is Irish but I'm willing to criticise him and have done many times in this thread.

I was delighted he didn't win the US Open because I got my 50/1 bet up.

What annoys me most about Rory is driving the ball as far as he can on holes he doesn't need to. But here you are saying he should be going even more mental than he normally does.

bren2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121763028#Comment_121763028

I play golf alright not that it is in any way relevant.

How do you explain the closing stretch other then pressure? Yes, you can't always attack but when you're 2nd place and 3 shots off the lead, attacking is your only option. He didn't. Scottie managed to birdie 15 and 16. Rory didn't even leave himself a makeable putt. They were all 30-40 footers. Thats pressure.

You're just looking at stats. Stats don't show pressure.

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121763028#Comment_121763028

I’m sure there are times when focusing on not making mistakes is the right way to win a major, but that is rarely the case when you don’t actually win.

Russman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121762999#Comment_121762999

Do any of us know for sure whether he attacked or not though ? (he may well have said something after the round, I don't know). I mean, he could have tried to hit a shot close and simply not achieved it. Bad shots happen, doesn't necessarily have to be pressure.

bren2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121763301#Comment_121763301

Bad shots happen and you'd assume he did attacked. To not get close in any of the final 3 holes was disappointing. Pressure is the obvious reason.

IrishOwl...

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121762999#Comment_121762999

How do you know he didn't attack the pins? On a course like the LACC, the difference from been 15ft to the hole to 5ft, is fractions of millimetres!

You could hit the best 8 iron of your life, be all over the flag and still end up outside 20ft...

I often think us hopeless amateurs forget how unbelievably hard these courses are. The fact that Rory puts himself in contention more than anyone else on a Sunday is down to the fact he can hit great shots at the right moment, more frequently that any of his peers. But sometimes you something more than hitting a great shot, you need luck on your side, and Rory has had F all of that the last few years.

bren2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121763530#Comment_121763530

If he did attack the pins and missed by that much....well it's pressure isnt it?

Luck didn't cost him The Open to Cam Smith. He's had enough chances that luck doesn't come into it.

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121763571#Comment_121763571

You are acting so clueless here.

Anybody can hit a world class shot but it's extremely difficult for even the best to do it.

The difference between them and us is their bad shots, putting and short game.

If he missed the green by a large margin then you could maybe call that pressure but he hit the greens. He didn't bogey any hole, again if you are suffering from nerves you'll bogey.

bren2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121763748#Comment_121763748

How exactly am I clueless?

The pressure didn’t get to him, he just hit 4 poor approaches in a row….

He missed the green with a wedge but I’m “clueless”.

If he wants to win majors, maybe start by hitting more birdies on a Sunday.

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121763748#Comment_121763748

Sorry, no, I’ve been lucky enough to play in pro ams with tour players as I have a friend who used to play on the European tour. The way they hit the ball, the sound it makes when the club connects, the way they shape their shots is completely different to how any, even scratch amateurs hits the ball.

IrishOwl...

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121763571#Comment_121763571

Did you read what i said? The difference between 5 and 15 foot on some if those US greens is millimeters...you could hit what you think is the perfect shot and be 20 foot from the hole. Pressure has nothing to do with it.

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121764836#Comment_121764836

Isn’t that usually the way with a lot of top sports though? The ones who ultimately win are those that make those millimetre adjustments when under pressure to win the top prizes. All the top sports people are immensely talented, what separates them is those millimetres at crucial times.

Rikand

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121764863#Comment_121764863

Millimeter adjustments

Millimeter adjustments over shots that are 150-250 metres in length. Do you even read the **** you're typing ?

eagle eye

I give up. So many clueless people or just ones that love to hate successful Irish people. The suggestion that he is a choker is ridiculous. I suspect that there's trolls among those making these suggestions that he struggle with his game in majors. Either way I'm finished responding to them.

Rory McIlroy is already an all time great, if he wins any more majors it'll only enhance that.

You guys can quite and respond to this post, just understand you won't be getting a response back.

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121765046#Comment_121765046

Millimetre adjustments, or more accurately, degrees of adjustment when hitting the shot. If I’m not mistaken, he is one of the best in the range you just quoted, it’s the wedge shots and putter he seems to struggle with when the chips are down in the majors.

I’ll make this as simple as possible for you, a couple of millimetres off his preferred target line at impact pushes the ball wider of the target the further it travels. Most secondary school students, most golfers understand that.

Or, maybe it isn’t Mcillroy, it could just be the course designer or greenkeeper’s fault that the ball ends up further from the hole than intended, or putts are missed.

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121765070#Comment_121765070

I’m glad of the opportunity to post without you responding.

Your post is wholly inaccurate.

I haven’t seen one post from anyone based on “love to hate” anyone just because they are Irish. I’d ask you to give examples, but you won’t be responding.

Of course he has struggled with his game at times in majors over the last 10 years, an obvious example of that was there for everyone to see in Portrush, and had been evident during various rounds over the last 10 years when in particular shots around/on the green have cost him dearly. It can’t be coincidence that he performs so well in so many tour competitions, and at times so poorly in the biggest stages, the 40 odd majors since his last victory.

bren2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121764836#Comment_121764836

Did you watch the shots back? It wasn’t mm he was off by

bren2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121765070#Comment_121765070

Ah yes, anyone who disagrees is clueless.

You picked the US Open to back up your point. Bizarre one to pick. You then look at the end result and don’t look at the context.

Hopefully 2024 is the year he gets #5.