What's next for Rory?

[doctork]

Astounding performance at Quail Hollow, no doubt. My question is, will this be the start of a monster career, or the beginning of a disappointing few years for Rory McIlroy?

I'm thinking of the supposed "breathroughs" we've seen from young guns in recent years that (so far) didn't lead to bigger and better things. Adam Scott and Sergio at the Players, Charles Howell at Kingsmill, Justin Rose... well, we're still waiting for him.

RM certainly has world-class talent and, it appears, the mindset to match.

So which direction do you think he'll go?

Cheers,
DoctorK

[Tiger Spuds]

I'd imagine he'll have a Phil Mickelson - like career.He's definitely talented and cool enough to win Majors.I don't think he'll be chasing 18 Majors or anything like that, but a very very good career hopefully and maybe someday he'll be known as one of the best.

[Leftygolfer]

The next number one IMO. Unless Phil can take that from Tiger until he is ready. What a performance. He's won two huge events against big time fields.

A phil career doesn't seem too bad.

[golfro]

I've gotta give it to Rory McIlroy. I watched closely as he played the back 9 to see how the pressure effects him. I was almost sure he was goign to crumble under the pressure by the last two holes but boy was I wrong. McIlroy stood strong and seemed to thrive on the pressure making one birdie after another. Great final round imo.

[BonoVox]

Direction....UP!

He is pretty awesome. Probably only thing getting in the way is there is a great group of young golfers hitting the scene at the same time. It will be interesting to see if any of them trullily pull away or if they just beat each other up over the next decade or so.

[ozzy12345]

I think Rory will be a top top player........ just look at his golf swing for starters.... it has everything. plus is mentality is amazing.
he seen really down to earth too,
hear what he said to lee westwood when he was coming down the last????
he say " thats how to finish in the final round"(referring to lee's masters performance)

[billysandy]

If he can control that back injury, he will perform well on a consistent basis. If he can keep swinging it SO pure like that 5 iron on the 15th, he will dominate. If i could set that shot as my wallpaper, i would!!!

[uttexas]

Lots of endorsements--The way he won at Quail Hollow was magical--making the cut on the line, winning from behind, finishing strong with the last five holes in five under, sinking that 40+footer for birdie on 18, setting the course record. He is likeable and popular amongst his peers.

If I were to guess, he'll have a career somewhere between Hale Irwin and Tom Watson---30 PGA wins and 4 majors.

[Titleist_ProV1x]

If Rory can stay healthy (his back) I can easily see more wins + a major in the very near future for him , But this just makes me cringe to think a 20 year old has back problems already, and no doubt it's from his modern swing with the planted left foot and long follow through



DTL

[DavidFehertysBike]

Who is to say? He might never win ever again for all we know. I think he has a chance to be one of the better players of his generation, but besides that ill just wait and see.

[Zeph]

Source: Guardian
Stretched ligaments have been diagnosed and it has been linked to a hip movement McIlroy makes, but it is just something he is going to have to manage.

"I can't change. I've done this since I was two years old," said the Northern Irishman, who opens his first event as a US Tour member against the American Kevin Na. "I only do it with my driver and longer clubs. It doesn't happen with, say, five-iron onwards.

[mcfc_nick]

His swing is completely perfect and i mean perfect in my opinion so he is only gonna go on to bigger and better things

[Quinn07]

I would like to see McIlroy go on to do great things. It seems as though he has a good head on his shoulders and has the game. Will it pan out who knows. We have seen a number of top prospects in the game show lots of promise and some what fizzle out early. Two names that come to mind are Garcia and Scott. Don't get me wrong they both have plenty of time to get back on track, however it doesn't seem like it's going to happen in the near future. But then, who knows...sometimes it only takes a little thing to click and they can be off to the races.

I like Rory and I hope he is very successful.

[doctork]

My big concern has nothing to do with Rory, in particular, just the too much, too soon syndrome we've seen time and again (not just in golf). If he can stay focused, not get spread too thin with endorsements/commitments, and stay humble, the sky's the limit.

Oh, and the back and knee things are a little troubling.

DoctorK

[Tiger Spuds]

With regards to his back issues.. If he's 'managing' his back right now, and can still hit 350 yard drives into the middle of fairway, I wouldn't be too worried.Even down the stretch, under pressure he was still swinging perfectly , hitting it long and accurate.He's still young so it shouldn't get much worse in the next few years.But if and when it does, he can make a slight alteration to his swing to compensate.Tiger's changed his swing twice now, and still wins.Granted, it's not as good a swing as it was, but he makes it work.And that's the point.When you have the kind of golfing talent that Rory has, you can change things and still be succesful.I can see Rickie Fowler having to change things in another decade or so too.That swing is so fast with so many moving parts it has to be hard on the body, won't be doing that when he's 40

[msd3075]

I would like to see McIlroy go on to do great things. It seems as though he has a good head on his shoulders and has the game. Will it pan out who knows. We have seen a number of top prospects in the game show lots of promise and some what fizzle out early. Two names that come to mind are Garcia and Scott. Don't get me wrong they both have plenty of time to get back on track, however it doesn't seem like it's going to happen in the near future. But then, who knows...sometimes it only takes a little thing to click and they can be off to the races.

I had the honor to play with Rory McIlroy during the pro-am of the Shell Houston Open last year (do a search on here where I talked about it before). Granted I was only around him for one round, I talked to him for quite a bit about topics ranging from the new grooves rule to when he'll be coming to play on the US tour. I remember him (and his manager) saying that he'll come over to the US Tour when and only when they feel he is ready. IMO, he's one of the few youngsters out there that gets that you have to progress through the ranks and that you'll almost certainly burn out if you try to rise too quickly. He's also extremely humble and very grounded in his thinking whereas other who have burned out had more of the "superstar" way of thinking. If it weren't for the fact that he had an unbelievable swing to see in person or the fact that I knew who he was, if I ran into him out on the course I'd never have guessed he was an international star that people have slated to be an eventual #1. When I left the course that day, I felt like I had just played a round with one of my good friends, not with a golf phenom.

[doctork]

Awesome story, MSD, thanks for sharing. I'll have to go back and read your original post.

You beat him, right?

Cheers,
DoctorK

[topspin4hand]

I'll be watching for Rory a lot this summer. I'm more impressed by his humble demeanor than his game to be honest. The lights were turned bright on him this week and he didn't have his best. For some phenoms I'd guess that would be a setback but I'm thinking this kid will pull a couple lessons from the experience.