Imperious McIlroy on course for record high
BY the time Rory McIlroy has finished you do wonder if there will be any meaningful record left in Europe that doesn’t have his name attached.
The bar appeared to have been set forbiddingly high with Sir Nick Faldo’s six majors and Colin Montgomerie’s remarkable tally of eight Orders of Merit, but the Northern Irishman is now so far ahead of the game even these storied records will surely not survive the passage of time.
Faldo and Monty were both 30 years old when they first started on their twin pillars of achievement.
At just 25, McIlroy is two-thirds of the way to Faldo’s total and on Sunday was formally declared the winner of the Race to Dubai for the second time in three years. The latter is the modern-day equivalent of the Order of Merit but might also have to be renamed if McIlroy keeps winning it before the race ever gets within view of the Emirate.
With more than twice as many points as the man in second place, McIlroy actually lapped the field despite not playing for the past six weeks and there’s no reason to think this will not happen again and again over the next decade, just as it did in America with Tiger Woods.
One smidgeon of hope for the rest might be if he concentrates on the PGA Tour but his schedule this year suggests the opposite will be the case.
Look at what happened. After a year’s absence, McIlroy played i n the Dubai Desert Classic in February and admitted it had been a mistake leaving it off his list. In May, his previous ambivalence towards the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth was dismissed with a series of statements where he declared it i s the event all Europeans should compete in.
The Irish Open is now run by his own charitable trust, while the Scottish Open can surely l ook forward to McIlroy’s support for the foreseeable future after this year’s event proved such a valuable dry run for his victory at The Open the following week.
He also turned up at the Alfred Dunhill Links i n Scotland in October.
One criticism of the Race to Dubai is that you can win it almost without setting f oot i n Europe, given winnings from the American majors and World Golf Championship events all count. Well, McIlroy not only won more money than anyone else on the European Tour’s international schedule, he also won more than anyone else if you just counted events in Europe.
I’m told it might be nine months before we know the name of George O’Grady’s successor as the tour’s chief executive.
Whoever it proves to be, what a stroke of fortune to have a world No 1 on board who is both fully committed to playing his part and set to dominate for years to come.