19th Hole
Bitter feud between McIlroy and Greg Norman continues as Rory reveals new goal
Rory McIlroy is once again using Greg Norman’s achievements as fuel to achieve some more of his own.
Back in June, McIlroy won the Canadian Open which was his 21st PGA Tour victory. The win significant to Rory because he passed Greg Norman, who has 20 Tour wins, on the all-time PGA Tour wins list.
“I had extra motivation of what’s going on across the pond,” Rory said alluding to the inaugural LIV Golf event at Centurion Club near London.
“The guy that’s spearheading that tour has 20 wins on the PGA Tour and I was tied with him, and I wanted to get one ahead of him. And I did.”
“So that was really cool for me – just a little sense of pride on that one. This is a day I’ll remember for a long, long time.”
Greg Norman, who’s not one to shy away from confrontation, shot back.
“I take it as a compliment that Rory wanted to beat my 20 PGA Tour wins. His next goal should be to win more than 91 tournaments globally or to maintain No 1 in the world for more than 331 weeks.”
Now, the 33-year-old has his sights set on the latter landmark referenced by Norman.
Speaking at this week’s CJ CUP in South Carolina, McIlroy expressed his desire to once again become the world’s number one player. A victory at Congaree would most likely allow him to reclaim the spot, and build off of his total time spent as the number one player of 107 weeks.
It’s been more than two years since McIlroy sat atop the Official World Golf Rankings, and there are currently three players ahead of him on the all-time rankings list. Dustin Johnson has 135 weeks on top, Greg Norman has 331 and Tiger Woods has a jaw-dropping 683.
When Rory was asked what his ultimate goal in regard to world ranking is, he took aim at “The Shark” once more, saying:
“332. I don’t know if I can, but that’s a number in my head.”
In order to catch his newfound rival, McIlroy would need to sit atop the OWGR for a cumulative 4.32 years.
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- Harry Styles has a smoother golf swing than you could ever imagine
- ‘WTF is a FIGJAM?’ – Greg Norman left confused by golf fan’s jibe involving infamous Mickelson nickname
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19th Hole
3-time PGA Tour winner calls for LIV to buy Champions Tour to fix ‘joke’ purses
While speaking on the Subpar podcast, former PGA Tour winner and current PGA Tour Champions player Chris DiMarco said he hopes LIV buys the Champions Tour.
“We’re kind of hoping that LIV buys the Champions Tour,” he said.
“Let’s play for a little real money out here. I mean this is kind of a joke when we’re getting $2 million. There were like seven guys last week from TPC (Sawgrass, at the $25 million PLAYERS Championship) that made more money than our purses.”
In 2024, the Champions Tour had a total of $67 million in prize money over the course of 24 events.
DiMarco also defended LIV players for taking the money and said he would take it also.
“They wanted to play for a lot of money, and they deserve it. They have had some great careers, why not go and get some money?”
DiMarco also offered insight on Graeme McDowell’s move to LIV.
“I saw Graeme McDowell at the Old Memorial Pro Member, and he goes, ‘Listen, I went up to Jay Monahan and said I love the tour but I am struggling to keep my card and these guys are offering me all this money and less golf. I’m sorry, I’m going.’ And I do not blame him one bit, and I said I would have too.”
DiMarco was ranked as high as 6th in the world in 2006.
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- The wild reason why Mark Wahlberg was initially denied entry to an Australian golf club
- 2-time major champ announces shock retirement from the sport at age of 33
- Edoardo Molinari reveals the latest PGA Tour golfer to turn down ‘good offer’ from LIV Golf
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19th Hole
‘It won’t win you golf tournaments’ – Golf analyst rips Charley Hull’s course management
Charley Hull came just short of her third LPGA Tour victory over the weekend at the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship when she played her last two holes at 3 over to slip all the way to 10th on the leaderboard.
After the round, Hull was blasted by Sky Sports commentator and former LPGA Tour player Trish Johnson for her lack of golf course management.
While speaking on the Sky Sports Golf podcast, Johnson spoke harshly of Hull.
“I’m probably her harshest critic, because I know how good she is. She doesn’t win anywhere near enough for her talent, and she doesn’t get involved enough, in all honestly.
“The thing with Charley is that you’re never going to change her. I read something the other day that said how much she loves the game and it’s her love of the game [that costs her]. She’s never going to change and she’s just going to go for every pin.
“In theory that’s great, but it won’t win you golf tournaments, it just won’t because she’s not that much better than anybody else. If you put Charley against Nelly Korda, then I’m picking Nelly every single day of the week.”
Johnson also made a fascinating comparison between Hull and a famous male golfer, John Daly.
“Golf-wise that’s the way she plays the game and it’s a little bit like watching John Daly I suppose.”
“There’s something that John Daly had that made him a major winner and a winner, but Charley is kind of lacking that. Her talent is not in question, but maybe her application is. Maybe it’s just the case of her never changing and that will cost her golf tournaments, there’s no two ways about it. You cannot go for every pin because that’s the way you play and it being fun, as other players are better than that and you have to have course management.”
Hull is still only 27, and therefore has plenty of time to work on her flaws to achieve the success her talent should allow.
More from the 19th Hole
- The wild reason why Mark Wahlberg was initially denied entry to an Australian golf club
- 2-time major champ announces shock retirement from the sport at age of 33
- Edoardo Molinari reveals the latest PGA Tour golfer to turn down ‘good offer’ from LIV Golf
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19th Hole
Former agent lifts lid on being fired by ‘zombie’ Tiger Woods
Discussing his new book “Rainmaker” with the Daily Mail, Tiger Woods’ former agent, Hughes Norton, recounted the events leading up to and after his split with the 15-time major champion.
Norton was abruptly fired by Woods in 1998 after his 1997 Masters win and monster deal with Nike.
In the book, Norton talks about the way Tiger views his relationships, calling him a “zombie.”
“The solace I can take, which doesn’t provide much, is this: He was an equal opportunity zombie with relationships, his swing coaches, his lawyer, the guy negotiated the IMG representation deal, with caddies, When it’s over, it’s over.”
Norton added:
“It is the way he terminates relationships with everyone. Whether it’s girlfriends, whether it’s his former golf coaches. It’s ironic, really. In a way he’s so good at confrontation on the golf course. If he’s playing you, he will beat your brains out every single time.
“But when it comes to confronting things like me and other people that are in his life, he has no social skills whatsoever. It’s maddening, actually.”
After he was fired by Woods, Norton was let go by IMG, which he believes was due to Woods’ influence.
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- Report: Former World Number 1 not joining LIV despite speculation
- Brooks Koepka’s Smash GC side and prominent golf journalist trade insults over latest LIV trade
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