19th Hole

Should we applaud or condemn Rory McIlroy’s attitude?

Published

6 years ago

Jul 5, 2018

Ben Alberstadt

As mentioned briefly in the Morning 9, Rory McIlroy spoke candidly about his pursuit of major glory.

Now 29 years old, McIlroy won the most recent of his four majors at the 2014 PGA Championship.

However, he seems at peace with his place in the game (and the world).

“Nothing is going to change in my life whether I win a major or not,” said McIlroy ahead of the Irish Open. “I’d be disappointed if I didn’t but I don’t panic. It doesn’t keep me up at night.”

“Look, if I didn’t win another major for the rest of my career, nothing is going to change in my life whether I win one or not, but obviously I don’t feel like I’ll have fulfilled my potential.”

Clearly, this is a healthy orientation with respect to one’s career, isn’t it? Have goals. Work toward them. But don’t let your career define you or dictate your happiness. That said, it’s a surprising admission from a top-tier professional athlete.

He continued in the same vein.

“But at the same time, you know, there’s other things in my life that are more important than golf….I’d be disappointed but again, it’s not going to change things. I don’t panic. It doesn’t keep me up at night.”

We assume too, that how much a player wants to win, thinks about winning, cares about winning dictates how much he does win (to a degree). We assume that anything resembling a blase attitude means a player isn’t practicing, isn’t leaving it all on the court.

But is this true? McIlroy seems to think that winning majors is all about putting yourself in position, and that’s what he aims to do.

“I’ve got two more chances this year to hopefully play myself into contention. That was my goal… to give myself a chance and to put myself in positions to see how I fare.”

That’s an attitude that is somewhat different than Tiger Woods’ historic, “I’m here to win,” orientation.

That said, you certainly can’t the man in the video below doesn’t have a killer instinct.

McIlroy’s formula for winning another major is interesting.

“You take way more risks when you’re a teenager… I just need to get back to playing the game like I was a teenager. Not be careful, not try to be too perfect. Not try to control things that you can’t control. Just go out and play your game..That’s the one thing that I need to do better and it’s more a mental thing rather than anything physical or anything. I just have to approach it better mentally.”

The approach above is probably pretty similar to how Rory plays the Ryder Cup–an event that obviously fires him up, where pins are more accessible and, because of formats, players are encouraged to take dead aim, as the worst-case scenario is merely losing a hole.

Plenty will drag the Ulsterman for his admissions, but ultimately, should we? Do we want our golfing superstars to be miserable unless they’re winning major championships? Is there some nobility and that orientation? Is there any reason to assume McIlroy is putting in less practice work and preparation than he was earlier in his career now that he’s a happily married man with a foundation and business interests?

Let us know what you think, GolfWRX members.

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19th Hole

Man charged with stealing millions of dollars worth of memorabilia from Augusta National

Published

19 hours ago

Apr 18, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

According to a report from the Chicago Tribune, a man has been charged in Chicago with stealing millions of dollars’ worth of memorabilia from Augusta National.

The man, Robert Globensky, was charged with transporting the memorabilia across state lines.

The report states that between 2009 and 2022, Globensky allegedly transported “millions of dollars’ worth of Masters golf tournament merchandise and historical memorabilia” from Augusta National “and transported to Tampa, Florida, knowing the same had been stolen, converted and taken by fraud.”

The document was filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Per the court records there is no mention that Globensky worked for the golf club.

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Talor Gooch: 54 holes is more exciting for the fans

Published

19 hours ago

Apr 18, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

Over the past few weeks, two of LIV Golf’s biggest stars, Jon Rahm and Phil Mickelson, have both expressed that they believe LIV could go to 72 holes.

While speaking to BBC Sport, Rahm said he “wouldn’t mind” going to 72 holes.

“If there ever was a way where LIV could go to 72 holes I think it would help all of this argument a lot.”

“The closer I think we can get LIV Golf to some other things the better. I think it would be for some kind of unification to feed into a world tour or something like that.

“I don’t know if I’m alone in this, but I definitely wouldn’t mind going back to 72 holes.”

Phil Mickelson, while speaking after his final round at The Masters, also said he “wouldn’t be surprised” if LIV went to 72 holes.

“I don’t think it makes a difference either way. We’ve got mini-tours playing 54, Champions Tour playing 54. I wouldn’t be surprised if some or all of LIV events went to 72. I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter. I enjoy the competition.”

Another one of LIV’s top players, Talor Gooch, expressed on Wednesday that he feels quite differently.

“It’s just funny to me, this arbitrary number of 72.”

“Why is it not 90? “Why is it not 108? We just decided to make that number the number, for what reason?”

“Everyone’s talked about world ranking points and all this stuff, but no one’s talked about what do the fans enjoy more?”

“People want something that’s going to be more exciting. And I personally think that the 54 holes is more exciting for the fans.”

After Gooch’s comments, I decided to get some fan feedback for myself, making a poll on X. With about 4,500 votes in at the time of writing this, roughly 84% of voters in the poll indicated they’d prefer 72 holes to just 16% saying they’d prefer 54.

Rahm prefers 72 holes
Gooch prefers 54 holes

Where do the fans stand?

— Matt Vincenzi (@MattVincenziPGA) April 17, 2024

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Brandel Chamblee has ‘no doubt’ who started the McIlroy/LIV rumor and why

Published

2 days ago

Apr 17, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

Earlier this week, rumors began to fly that Rory McIlroy could be making a shock switch to LIV Golf which caused quite the stir on social media.

However, on Tuesday, McIlroy emphatically shut down those rumors, telling Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis at the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town:

“I honestly don’t know how these things get started. I’ve never been offered a number from LIV and I’ve never contemplated going to LIV. Again I think I’ve made it clear over the past two years that I don’t think it’s something for me.

It’s unfortunate that we have to deal with it and this is the state that our game’s in. I’m obviously here today and I’m playing this PGA Tour event next week and I will play the PGA Tour for the rest of my career.”

Golf Channel analyst and longtime LIV critic, Brandel Chamblee, took to social media before McIlroy’s statement to point the finger at “Saudis/LIV,” who he believes started the rumor:

I have no doubt that this rumor was started by Saudis/LIV… to benefit Saudis/LIV after such a poor showing, as a group, at The Masters.

I’d be very surprised if this turns out to be true. https://t.co/SWNgjHtWSM

— Brandel Chamblee (@chambleebrandel) April 16, 2024

When one user pushed back on Chamblee’s claim that LIV golfers had a poor showing at the Masters, Brandel went further into why he believes the opening major of the year was a failure for the breakaway tour.

You think they paid 3 billion for a few top tens and to be +82 as a group at major? A senior citizen beat some of their “stars” and almost all the game’s of LIV players have deteriorated since they sold their souls to the Saudis who only bought a moment in time… nothing else. https://t.co/xERkYsztIJ

— Brandel Chamblee (@chambleebrandel) April 16, 2024