Exhilarating McIlroy is still a Major threat
Says PAUL McGINLEY
RORY McIlroy is at his best when his back is against the wall and feels that he has something to prove, according to Paul McGinley, and that is why the former Ryder Cup captain is intrigued as to how his good friend deals with the hectic schedule ahead of the Masters.
Following a disappointing 2017 which has seen him fall to 11 in the world rankings, McIlroy plans to play eight events ahead of Augusta, the one major that he is yet to win.
‘It will be very interesting, to see if this stacked schedule ahead of the Masters works for or against him. It is a busy schedule, normally one a young rookie would undertake. But Rory has this view that this is the way to gear up for the Masters,’ McGinley said in Croke Park on Saturday, where he was the keynote speaker at the GAA Games Development Conference.
‘Rory has drifted out to 11 in the world which, in terms of his talent is way off where he should be. It would be great to see him just go for it. He is at his best when he is going for something. That is when he is at his most exhilarating.
‘When Rory feels that he’s backed into a corner, that is when he is at his best. When he feels threatened, that is when you see him at his strongest. I don’t know where we are going to go with Rory over the next three months, or where he is going to go, but it will be interesting to watch.’
If McIlroy finally wins at Augusta, a course thought to be tailor-made for his game, he will enter an elite bracket of players who have managed the career Grand Slam.
Although McGinley says that he has difficulty with this idea that success in golf is associated with Majors, he says that it is exciting that McIlroy is on the cusp of something special.
‘It must be so exciting for Rory to be on the verge of winning the Grand Slam. He will be in that small group of players that have won all four majors. That is sitting all four of golf’s examination papers and getting an A plus in each one.
‘But I don’t buy into this idea that Rory’s game is perfect for Augusta. People said the same thing about Ernie Els and Greg Norman, that their games were perfectly suited to winning there and they never did. I don’t like to pigeon-hole him and say that this is the Major he should win.’
Given it’s a Ryder Cup year, the form displayed by Shane Lowry and Paul Dunne towards the end of last season raised hope that there might be a healthy Irish representation in Thomas Bjorn’s team this September. However, the qualification system has been altered with the captain now given four picks — with four players qualifying through the Order of Merit and four more through the world rankings.
McGinley says the new system will make it difficult for both Lowry and Dunne.
‘It’s going to be more difficult for them than it was in my day. Picking a rookie is a very difficult thing to do. If they don’t make one of the eight positions, it will be tough for Thomas to pick them, as rookies.
‘One of the lessons that Thomas learnt from Darren’s captaincy was that our qualification system was outdated. Form is so important and Thomas has doubled the points for the last three months. It is not how you start, it is how you finish, so those three months when there is extra points available are going to be critical.’
Bjorn’s adjustment means that in July alone, there will be seven million points on offer in the French Open, Irish Open and Scottish Open, followed by the Open Championship, which has more than 10 million points. A good month could catapult Lowry or Dunne into the team.
McGinley reckons that Graeme McDowell may be in the mix for a captain’s pick, given that he has won the French Open on the course. If McDowell shows any form during the summer, he may be hard for Bjorn to ignore.
‘If Graeme shows any form at all, you’d expect him to be a pick. He has won on that course and it’s a golf course suits him. It is not for big-hitters. You have to have a lot of guile to play there. You have to have great iron play, great putting.
‘All boxes that Graeme McDowell ticks. If Graeme shows any sort of form in the past two or three months, he would be oddson for a pick, as opposed to Shane or Paul — who are going to be odds-against for a pick because they are rookies.’
“When Rory feels backed into a corner he is at his best”