Rory McIlroy - 4 Time Major Winner

benny79 · 18-02-2019 11:03pm

Im no Rory fan trust me! but he won last year and out of the Top 10 who has the most majors??

rooney30 · 18-02-2019 11:31pm

Dav010 wrote: »

How may of those players were in the final group 5 times last year and once this year?

He certainly seemed to have a competitive edge and was at the peak of his game 5/6 years ago, that’s when he got to the “position in sport”, that seems a long time ago now. And you can hardly say his game has improved since he last won a major.

Nobody is disputing that by the very high standards he sets himself the last few years have not been as successful . What is irking people on this thread is the suggestion that a former world number one, with 23 professional wins, which include 4 majors , 2 wgcs and a fed ex cup is somehow a bottler!

idle · 19-02-2019 12:05am

In his post round interview last night he claimed that he didn’t know where he stood on the leaderboard til after holing the bunker shot on 16. If you’re in contention and everyone around you is dropping shots then surely it would be important to know this.

19-02-2019 8:17am

rooney30 wrote: »

Nobody is disputing that by the very high standards he sets himself the last few years have not been as successful . What is irking people on this thread is the suggestion that a former world number one, with 23 professional wins, which include 4 majors , 2 wgcs and a fed ex cup is somehow a bottler!

What seems to irk other posters is the constant referencing of majors won 5-8 years ago and that this somehow shows he is a great player today. No one disputes Tiger was once the best player on earth by a country mile, but that was some time ago, it happens even to the best/world number 1.

Young stars in many sports burn brightly early in their careers when they seem to improve rapidly, there isnt as much expectation and as a result, pressure to preform. With great success comes great expectations and pressure. Can you honestly say he is s better or worse player now than in 2014? Yes he wins occasionally, once in the past two seasons, but that is hardly the win rate of a great player, in his prime.

From that article linked earlier:

.” My problem’s been playing in the last group. I’ve just not played well in those situations. If I ever get that figured out, I could be dangerous.”

Mcilroy’s own words, he is playing well enough to get into the last group, but not only can he not seal the deal, his scores in the last rounds are so comparatively poor, he dropped lower in the leaderboard at the end of all 5 last year. An interesting point in that article is the fact that he won playing in the second last group last year, the inference being he performed better when there was less pressure on him. I wouldn’t go as far as to describe him as a “bottler”, but it is obvious he now has a problem when the chips are down and the pressure is on, something he didn’t seem to have earlier in his career, but he acknowledges it himself and hopes someday to figure it out.

Dr. Bre · 19-02-2019 10:59am

my Opionion of a bottler is blowing 3/4 shot lead. Rory doesn’t do this as he rarely puts himself in that position anymore. Don’t think he’s a bottler .

londonred · 19-02-2019 11:25am

slave1 wrote: »

Not sure it's been posted before as I know there was talk of it but Rory announced he is officially not a member of the European Tour this year...

Rumours he had a falling out with the European Tour / McGinley over appearance money and number of events he had to play in , Irish Open decision may be interesting of this is true , he is an honorary member but has to pay the €200 annual registration fee which he is refusing to pay.

Panrich · 19-02-2019 11:46am

londonred wrote: »

Rumours he had a falling out with the European Tour / McGinley over appearance money and number of events he had to play in , Irish Open decision may be interesting of this is true , he is an honorary member but has to pay the €200 annual registration fee which he is refusing to pay.

I reckon we should all chip in and pay it for him. It would be a laugh to see how that went.

Old diesel · 19-02-2019 11:58am

If he's getting into top 5/10s surely thats a basis for better things.

I mean he's only 3 shots off a win this time so if he gets in final groups regularly then the gap to a win may not be that great

neddynasty · 19-02-2019 12:00pm

galwayllm wrote: »

This is my honest opinion on him. I don't feel like he will win anything for a long time! I believed that was clear!

Cue Rory winning the WGC this weekend!

RoadRunner · 19-02-2019 1:59pm

idle wrote: »

If you’re in contention and everyone around you is dropping shots then surely it would be important to know this.

An experienced Caddy on the bag may have spotted this

slave1 · 19-02-2019 2:34pm

Deleted User wrote: »

Exactly, he's a mainstay in world's top ten by virtue of his consistency. A little tweak here and there, the wins will follow.

But his consistency is in his placing, not in his winning and that's just not cutting it for someone like Rory, his dry spell is just way too long

slave1 · 19-02-2019 2:36pm

rooney30 wrote: »

Nobody is disputing that by the very high standards he sets himself the last few years have not been as successful . What is irking people on this thread is the suggestion that a former world number one, with 23 professional wins, which include 4 majors , 2 wgcs and a fed ex cup is somehow a bottler!

I think the train of thought is that he has somehow moved into the bottler world from where he was years ago, so old Rory a winner, last few years Rory an inconsistent bottler, hopefully future Rory a consistent year on year winner

GreeBo · 19-02-2019 5:15pm

slave1 wrote: »

But his consistency is in his placing, not in his winning and that's just not cutting it for someone like Rory, his dry spell is just way too long

His consistency is in making a bit of a run into the top 5/10 on a Sunday after a poor earlier round has left him too much to do.

Its like United making it into the Champions League this year, they still had a sh1te year.

19-02-2019 7:17pm

GreeBo wrote: »

His consistency is in making a bit of a run into the top 5/10 on a Sunday after a poor earlier round has left him too much to do.

Its like United making it into the Champions League this year, they still had a sh1te year.

Thats not what happened the tournament just gone though

Rikand · 19-02-2019 7:35pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Thats not what happened the tournament just gone though

Well it kinda is. He shot +1 in the first round while the leaders were on -9. He was playing catch up from then on

Raisins · 19-02-2019 8:37pm

londonred wrote: »

slave1 wrote: »

Not sure it's been posted before as I know there was talk of it but Rory announced he is officially not a member of the European Tour this year...

Rumours he had a falling out with the European Tour / McGinley over appearance money and number of events he had to play in , Irish Open decision may be interesting of this is true , he is an honorary member but has to pay the €200 annual registration fee which he is refusing to pay.

Dunno if I buy that kinda rumour it’s too much of a nordi cliche that he’s refusing to stump up €200. It might be true. Then again it might just be the case that he feels he’s done enough for the Irish open and he’s not giving three weeks of his summer this year to Ireland, Scotland, Northern Ireland.

I suspect if the Irish open was in the north this year he wouldn’t skip it but I won’t open that can of worms.

Eoinyh · 19-02-2019 9:02pm

Maybe he is sick of mcginley hanging onto his coat tails, speaking about him during commentary as if he has the inside track on and some sort of influence over him. Mcilroy strikes me as the sort that if you push him into a cornor to do something he does not particularly want to do,he will stick his two fingers up and take the attitude,I owe you nothing now don't be annoying me

Remind me · 19-02-2019 9:18pm

Eoinyh wrote: »

Maybe he is sick of mcginley hanging onto his coat tails, speaking about him during commentary as if he has the inside track on and some sort of influence over him. Mcilroy strikes me as the sort that if you push him into a cornor to do something he does not particularly want to do,he will stick his two fingers up and take the attitude,I owe you nothing now don't be annoying me

McGinley only goes into the 'inside track' with Rory on stuff he knows, he quite clearly distances himself on many things to do with him and in fairness he would have much an inside track as anyone else in the golfing media.

If there has been any row with Rory I would expect it is with Keith Pelley.

Eoinyh · 19-02-2019 9:30pm

Remind me wrote: »

McGinley only goes into the 'inside track' with Rory on stuff he knows, he quite clearly distances himself on many things to do with him and in fairness he would have much an inside track as anyone else in the golfing media.

If there has been any row with Rory I would expect it is with Keith Pelley.

Maybe Mcilroy likes it to stay on the inside track.Not mcginley spouting it out. Iv heard mcginley say stuff over the last two years or so, iv thought to myself,mm I wouldn't be too happy about that if I was mcilroy,

ligerdub · 19-02-2019 10:07pm

There seems to be a lot of murmurs online about McIlroy and McGinley having a bit of a falling out. While it wouldn't be a huge surprise if it's true (both of them seem to have a habit of falling out with people), is there any real evidence of it?

I felt it was a bit risky of McGinley to openly criticise part of Rory's game, particularly to describe some of it as "average" all the same.

As for Rory not being aware he was in contention on Sunday, he wasn't really in contention until literally the point at which he holed that bunker shot. He started the day at -9, whereas the leader started the round at -17, and there were 2 starting from -13. He was at -11 when he hit that bunker shot, he could hardly be expecting to be furiously looking at leaderboards sitting on -2 for the day when he started miles behind the leaders.

Russman · 20-02-2019 9:49am

ligerdub wrote: »

As for Rory not being aware he was in contention on Sunday, he wasn't really in contention until literally the point at which he holed that bunker shot. He started the day at -9, whereas the leader started the round at -17, and there were 2 starting from -13. He was at -11 when he hit that bunker shot, he could hardly be expecting to be furiously looking at leaderboards sitting on -2 for the day when he started miles behind the leaders.

I’d agree with this, he was never really in contention at all on Sunday. Yes he needed birdie, birdie finish to get to -14, but that was a bit of an ask, more so as 18th was playing hard with that back pin. That said, his second shot with a short iron was shocking for a tour player.

Plus there’s a big school of thought that says the ideal way to play is not to know how you’re doing, that you try to shoot the best score you can for that round and it doesn’t matter what anyone else does because you can’t effect that.

Telecaster58 · 20-02-2019 10:38am

Russman wrote: »

I’d agree with this, he was never really in contention at all on Sunday. Yes he needed birdie, birdie finish to get to -14, but that was a bit of an ask, more so as 18th was playing hard with that back pin. That said, his second shot with a short iron was shocking for a tour player.

Plus there’s a big school of thought that says the ideal way to play is not to know how you’re doing, that you try to shoot the best score you can for that round and it doesn’t matter what anyone else does because you can’t effect that.

I think Jesper Parnevik's experience of that suggests otherwise

GreeBo · 20-02-2019 10:42am

Russman wrote: »

I’d agree with this, he was never really in contention at all on Sunday. Yes he needed birdie, birdie finish to get to -14, but that was a bit of an ask, more so as 18th was playing hard with that back pin. That said, his second shot with a short iron was shocking for a tour player.

Plus there’s a big school of thought that says the ideal way to play is not to know how you’re doing, that you try to shoot the best score you can for that round and it doesn’t matter what anyone else does because you can’t effect that.

I think at that stage of a tournament its basically a multi-way matchplay situation where your actions have to be governed by what everyone else is doing and equally what you are doing is impacting and influencing everyone else.

Laying up on the Par 5 18th might be your best bet for your 4 and no worse than a 5, but if you are two back with 1 to play then it would be a silly decision to take, you need to try for the eagle.
(Obviously this only holds true if your target is the win rather than ranking points/money etc)

TCM · 20-02-2019 10:43am

McIlroy's short iron play has deteriorated badly since he started bulking up in the gym.

rooney30 · 20-02-2019 11:21am

TCM wrote: »

McIlroy's short iron play has deteriorated badly since he started bulking up in the gym.

Yeah , as well as this, since he has starting cutting his hair tighter iv noticed he is a bit more wayward off the tee

20-02-2019 12:36pm

rooney30 wrote: »

Yeah , as well as this, since he has starting cutting his hair tighter iv noticed he is a bit more wayward off the tee

Doubt his hair makes a difference. But if you think it does, then go for it.

Adding muscle may well take away flexibility and “feel”. It would certainly explain why his distance has increased, but the part of his game that requires subtle movements/finesse like chipping and putting has not improved and may well have regressed as he has gotten bigger.

Joe_ Public · 20-02-2019 12:46pm

Anyone know the distance he faced with that wedge on 18? It’s amazing to me he’s hitting a full shot yet he’s 20 yards short with the execution. Looked a clean strike so it was either a momentous miscalculation or something else. If he’d overshot you could point to the adrenaline factor, but 20 yards short? That’s 2 clubs out, i can’t really fathom that one at all.

martinkop · 20-02-2019 12:54pm

Joe_ Public wrote: »

Anyone know the distance he faced with that wedge on 18? It’s amazing to me he’s hitting a full shot yet he’s 20 yards short with the execution. Looked a clean strike so it was either a momentous miscalculation or something else. If he’d overshot you could point to the adrenaline factor, but 20 yards short? That’s 2 clubs out, i can’t really fathom that one at all.

165 yds on shot tracker. Finished 27 yds short.

Joe_ Public · 20-02-2019 1:08pm

martinkop wrote: »

165 yds on shot tracker. Finished 27 yds short.

Cheers. Sounds to me like it’s right on his limit for a wedge but there was breeze behind him so maybe it was ok choice. Pitched probably 20 yards short of intended though, just a real shocker however it happened.

rooney30 · 20-02-2019 2:30pm

Dav010 wrote: »

Doubt his hair makes a difference. But if you think it does, then go for it.

Adding muscle may well take away flexibility and “feel”. It would certainly explain why his distance has increased, but the part of his game that requires subtle movements like chipping and putting has not improved and may well have regressed as he has gotten bigger.

Where is the evidence for this ? Any sports science / golf swing biomechanics paper you can reference to support this ?
All the tops guys are a bit buff. I’m sure there is good reason for this from a sports science point of view . You can be sure they will be taking advice from guys with a phd level of study in their field They all have some definition but it’s not as if they walking around like hulk hogan( Rory included)
It’s a wonder that Tiger won anything at all, maybe if he went the Shane Lowry route he would have beaten Jacks record

20-02-2019 3:01pm

rooney30 wrote: »

Where is the evidence for this ? Any sports science / golf swing biomechanics paper you can reference to support this ?
All the tops guys are a bit buff. I’m sure there is good reason for this from a sports science point of view . You can be sure they will be taking advice from guys with a phd level of study in their field They all have some definition but it’s not as if they walking around like hulk hogan( Rory included)
It’s a wonder that Tiger won anything at all, maybe if he went the Shane Lowry route he would have beaten Jacks record

I can’t quote evidence, just a fable, when Samson cut his hair he lost his strength. Not sure either if Tiger had a beard he would have beaten Jack, but you could be right about that as well.

The buff bit I can’t comment on, you might want to look at other threads for an opinion on that.

rooney30 · 20-02-2019 3:30pm

Dav010 wrote: »

I can’t quote evidence, just a fable, when Samson cut his hair he lost his strength. Not sure either if Tiger had a beard he would have beaten Jack, but you could be right about that as well.

The buff bit I can’t comment on, you might want to look at other threads for an opinion on that.

Your obviously immune to sarcasm . The hair comment was made with tongue firmly in cheek . I’m sure most in here would have picked up on that .

It was made mainly in response to a few wild statements made in here based on false intuition and pseudo science

Rikand · 20-02-2019 6:54pm

martinkop wrote: »

165 yds on shot tracker. Finished 27 yds short.

I thought Radar called it as 144 in commentary, but maybe that was 164..... It was radar after all

20-02-2019 7:01pm

Its 165 according to shot tracker anyways JT was 2 yards behind that and he hit a 9 iron if I remember correctly which landed pin high but ended up at the back of the green

20-02-2019 7:02pm

rooney30 wrote: »

Your obviously immune to sarcasm . The hair comment was made with tongue firmly in cheek . I’m sure most in here would have picked up on that .

I bet the irony of that is lost on you, fore!

Joe_ Public · 20-02-2019 9:57pm

Rikand wrote: »

I thought Radar called it as 144 in commentary, but maybe that was 164..... It was radar after all

144 to front edge perhaps? That would sound about right anyway given pin was a back placement.

idle · 21-02-2019 12:54am

ligerdub wrote: »

There seems to be a lot of murmurs online about McIlroy and McGinley having a bit of a falling out. While it wouldn't be a huge surprise if it's true (both of them seem to have a habit of falling out with people), is there any real evidence of it?

I felt it was a bit risky of McGinley to openly criticise part of Rory's game, particularly to describe some of it as "average" all the same.

As for Rory not being aware he was in contention on Sunday, he wasn't really in contention until literally the point at which he holed that bunker shot. He started the day at -9, whereas the leader started the round at -17, and there were 2 starting from -13. He was at -11 when he hit that bunker shot, he could hardly be expecting to be furiously looking at leaderboards sitting on -2 for the day when he started miles behind the leaders.

Rory turned 3 under. JT who lead by 4 teeing of bogeyed 3 of the first 5 holes.

I’m not saying Rorys back nine would have been any different but it’s surely better knowing that the leaders are coming back to you and that a solid back 9, in conditions where guys are dropping shots, could get it done.

Trampas · 21-02-2019 9:02am

Confirms he’s not playing Irish open.

He hasn’t rejoined the euro tour yet so any points collected this week won’t count to race to Dubai.

Maybe he did have a fallen out with Paul but we don’t know.

Not a good sign for Irish open this year for attracting some more big names

Remind me · 21-02-2019 9:11am

Article says he will retain card but not play Irish open.

His reasoning for not playing is understandable as a lot of players do the same but very disappointing that he won’t be in Lahinch

Donald Trumped · 21-02-2019 9:23am

As a Clare man myself, he has basically given the two fingers to Lahinch GC, Keith Pelley, the European Tour, Irish golf fans and Irish golf in general. Rory showing enormous ego here I feel. There must be a serious wedge between McGinley and Rory, but that should not be an excuse for Rory to skip his national Open.

With his huge standing in the game, whether justified or not, this crazy decision by the four time major winner to skip the Irish Open, will inevitably lead to this fine event being completely overshadowed by Rory's absence.

Lahinch GC will showcase what is best about the county of Clare. That should be the focus now I hope. No player is bigger than the European Tour or golf in general. The Irish Open will do just fine in my opinion. But obviously this no Rory in Lahinch distraction, will not help the reputation of this great championship.

On a side note, ticket sales and much needed revenue for the local economy, could be negatively impacted by Rory's absence. He has done a huge disservice to Irish golf with this provocative decision, that will lead whether we like it or not, to further questions about Rory's nationality and all that.

Mantis Toboggan · 21-02-2019 9:26am

Real pity about the Irish open, good job I booked tickets for the open.

Whiplash85 · 21-02-2019 9:34am

Donald Trumped wrote: »

As a Clare man myself, he has basically given the two fingers to Lahinch GC, Keith Pelley, the European Tour, Irish golf fans and Irish golf in general. Rory showing enormous ego here I feel. There must be a serious wedge between McGinley and Rory, but that should not be an excuse for Rory to skip his national Open.

With his huge standing in the game, whether justified or not, this crazy decision by the four time major winner to skip the Irish Open, will inevitably lead to this fine event being completely overshadowed by Rory's absence.

Lahinch GC will showcase what is best about the county of Clare. That should be the focus now I hope. No player is bigger than the European Tour or golf in general. The Irish Open will do just fine in my opinion. But obviously this no Rory in Lahinch distraction, will not help the reputation of this great championship.

On a side note, ticket sales and much needed revenue for the local economy, could be negatively impacted by Rory's absence. He has done a huge disservice to Irish golf with this provocative decision, that will lead whether we like it or not, to further questions about Rory's nationality and all that.

Very well put. It is a slight to Irish golf and particularly co Clare. Not even his most ardent supporter could defend it. Disgraceful

martingriff · 21-02-2019 9:40am

It is understandable why he is not playing to me. He wants to prepare in what he thinks is the best possible way to win a Major in his own place. Who would not do that. Is it disappointing for the Irish Open yes. Will the media mostly Irish try to play the it's an Irish Open with no Rory yes as it will sell papers and air time. But that is not on Rory that is on the nedia

Remind me · 21-02-2019 9:41am

Donald Trumped wrote: »

As a Clare man myself, he has basically given the two fingers to Lahinch GC, Keith Pelley, the European Tour, Irish golf fans and Irish golf in general. Rory showing enormous ego here I feel. There must be a serious wedge between McGinley and Rory, but that should not be an excuse for Rory to skip his national Open.

With his huge standing in the game, whether justified or not, this crazy decision by the four time major winner to skip the Irish Open, will inevitably lead to this fine event being completely overshadowed by Rory's absence.

Lahinch GC will showcase what is best about the county of Clare. That should be the focus now I hope. No player is bigger than the European Tour or golf in general. The Irish Open will do just fine in my opinion. But obviously this no Rory in Lahinch distraction, will not help the reputation of this great championship.

On a side note, ticket sales and much needed revenue for the local economy, could be negatively impacted by Rory's absence. He has done a huge disservice to Irish golf with this provocative decision, that will lead whether we like it or not, to further questions about Rory's nationality and all that.

Extremely OTT reaction in my opinion.

How often does he play 3 weeks in a row? How many times has he won a major by playing the week before?

martinkop · 21-02-2019 9:44am

I'm not a big Rory fan bot but would ye all calm down lads. It was clear as day he wasn't going to play this tournament ages ago, about the time when he asked the ET to swap it with the Scottish open and that didn't happen.

The lad single handily put the Irish Open back on the map, got it into the Rolex Series, so at this stage he has well paid back his dues to Irish golf.
He's welcome to take a year away from it if it wants, if he thinks that what he needs to do to win a major.

backspin. · 21-02-2019 9:47am

It would be useful for him to promise to play the Irish open in 2020 to show he still has commitment to the event.

21-02-2019 9:47am

https://www.golfchannel.com/video/mcilroy-i-will-always-come-back-and-play-irish-open

21-02-2019 9:48am

From a fan’s point of view it’s a little disappointing, but not too much. He is right, he will be playing in front of mostly Irish fans 2 weeks later.

From his point of view, I don’t know why he thinks it will effect his preparation, am I right in thinking he is usually free by Saturday to spend the day on the practice range.

Trampas · 21-02-2019 9:50am

The European tour has made numerous changes to suit the big boys. To move events to suit Rory or any player is wrong in my opinion

slave1 · 21-02-2019 10:58am

Donald Trumped wrote: »

As a Clare man myself, he has basically given the two fingers to Lahinch GC, Keith Pelley, the European Tour, Irish golf fans and Irish golf in general. Rory showing enormous ego here I feel. There must be a serious wedge between McGinley and Rory, but that should not be an excuse for Rory to skip his national Open.

With his huge standing in the game, whether justified or not, this crazy decision by the four time major winner to skip the Irish Open, will inevitably lead to this fine event being completely overshadowed by Rory's absence.

Lahinch GC will showcase what is best about the county of Clare. That should be the focus now I hope. No player is bigger than the European Tour or golf in general. The Irish Open will do just fine in my opinion. But obviously this no Rory in Lahinch distraction, will not help the reputation of this great championship.

On a side note, ticket sales and much needed revenue for the local economy, could be negatively impacted by Rory's absence. He has done a huge disservice to Irish golf with this provocative decision, that will lead whether we like it or not, to further questions about Rory's nationality and all that.

Bit of an emotive response but I can see where you're coming from.
I think there needs be some perspective shown, the Irish Open was on it's last knees and could very easily had fallen away like many English tournaments except for Rory's direct involvement and Rolex association so we need to take that into account to balance his 2019 choice.

Rory has a brutal record on Irish Links Opens so I personally doubt he will miss it.

Paul has made some quite remarkable comments on Rory in recent times so I agree there's an element of that.

Lahinch numbers will be hit by the Open in Portrush a lot more than by Rory's absence, I doubt his absence will have any material impact on numbers...

Rory McIlroy - 4 Time Major Winner

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