Rory McIlroy Topic (Was "Overrated")

[Yukari]

Not everyone is a charging Arnold Palmer, or a fist-pumping Tiger Woods. You say Rory won't be a Jack, but Jack Nicklaus was more of an iceman when he played, not fiery.

I believe his reference to "fire" is the motivation and the drive not the manner in which he conducts himself on the course.

[mjtoal]

By no means am I saying that he isn't good, cause he's great. He's just not that great. I think Rory will be the next Lee Westwood, albeit with a prettier swing. I know a lot of you think/wish/hope he'll be the second coming, but I'm not buying that product. He hasn't shown me that fire you need to be a multiple major winner. I say he finishes his career with 2, maybe 3 majors and 10-15 tournament wins. I reckon he'll be a hall of famer, but never classed with the likes of tiger, jack, palmer, player, etc. thoughts...?

2 or 3 majors is a pretty good haul these days.

He probably won't beat Tiger or Jack, but I reckon he will beat Ryan Palmer with ease.

[mcfc_nick]

he could easily have won the open and the pga this year and he's only 21, im thinking he'll be around for some time - besides, have you seen his golf swing?

[Chas]

Interesting post Clambake. Perhaps it's understandable to be texting about the Ferrari at his age and stage. He has shown that he has the nerve and talent to earn that reward in spades. As to his future, he will discover that if he wishes to dominate in the game, or even win fairly consistently, he will need to have tremendous focus and determination - as did TW in reaching #1. Texting when he should be narrowing his mental focus will not be an option. Rory seems to have the talent, we shall see if he has the true ambition and willingness to do what is necessary. If he can keep some of that youthful enthusiasm as he ages, that will help him as well.

[sean_miller]

Interesting post Clambake. Perhaps it's understandable to be texting about the Ferrari at his age and stage. He has shown that he has the nerve and talent to earn that reward in spades. As to his future, he will discover that if he wishes to dominate in the game, or even win fairly consistently, he will need to have tremendous focus and determination - as did TW in reaching #1. Texting when he should be narrowing his mental focus will not be an option. Rory seems to have the talent, we shall see if he has the true ambition and willingness to do what is necessary. If he can keep some of that youthful enthusiasm as he ages, that will help him as well.

Tiger's done his fair share of texting.

[ET-Taylor]

By no means am I saying that he isn't good, cause he's great. He's just not that great. I think Rory will be the next Lee Westwood, albeit with a prettier swing. I know a lot of you think/wish/hope he'll be the second coming, but I'm not buying that product.

Quail Hollow Back 9 on sunday wasnt he back in 29

[Chas]

Tiger's done his fair share of texting.

lol

Not going there - I'm in big enough trouble as it is. Rory, like DJ, seems a resilient sort of fellow. That bodes well IMO.

[RichF]

McIlroy isn't overrated....but the guy everyone was comparing him to 12-18 months ago, Danny Lee, is .

[Thrash13]

Overhyped? Maybe. Overrated? Not at all. McIlroy has the type of game that's going to put him in contention in a lot of majors, and he is going to win his fair share of them when all is said and done. If you think of all he has done by age 21, it's pretty impressive to say the least. The media hypes him up a ton which is out of his control, but the kid can play. He will eventually be the top golfer in the world, and I won't be surprised if it happens in the next couple years.

[Tiger Spuds]

Lets look at it this way. Ben Hogan won his first Major at the age of 34. He then went on to win 8 more over the next 7 years.

Rory is 21.

As Hogan proved, if you have the talent, an awful lot can happen for you in the game of Golf over a relatively short period of time. Rory has a long, long time to make things happen. Of course the competition today is probably tougher than it was in Hogan's era, so I'm not going to say he'll have as successful a career, but who's to say. Given his talent the lenght of career he should have, he's likely to win a few.

[James_Black]

Rory dominated European amateur golf since he was a teenager. It's not as if he just appeared on tour, there's a reason there's so much hype about him.

He's not Tiger but he's a great golfer.

[senorchipotle]

he could easily have won the open and the pga this year and he's only 21, im thinking he'll be around for some time - besides, have you seen his golf swing?

well, if it was that easy, why didn't he do it? like i said, he's got a beautiful swing, but then again so does ernie els who has arguably the soundest swing of all time. and he's only got 3 majors. but i'm not talking about that. the ''fire'' i referenced earlier is the drive to beat everyone and anyone. that starts on the putting green. take tiger and jack for instance. they've hit putts nobody had any business making, when it counted, when their iron game was slipping and they weren't top form, everybody always knew that there was a chance they'd sink that 20 footer. i don't see that with rory.

Quail Hollow Back 9 on sunday wasnt he back in 29

yeah, and stuart appleby shot a 59. what's your point?

Lets look at it this way. Ben Hogan won his first Major at the age of 34. He then went on to win 8 more over the next 7 years.

touche......

[golf nut]

I say we don't have a "click" and there are a hundred "clicks" to a clue.

[Danattherock]

He's just not that great. I think Rory will be the next Lee Westwood, albeit with a prettier swing. I reckon he'll be a hall of famer

Funny post. I almost thought you were serious at first. You said all this in the same paragraph??? He sucks. He will be the next #1 golfer in the world. He will be in the golf hall of fame. Funny guy :D -Dan

[tasker]

A common theme with the young'uns coming through is to see prodigious length and good/great ball striking ability and to assume greatness. But with Rory, and some of his newly charging peers. they need to learn to score "consistently". Rory is at best, a mediocre putter in PGA terms, like others in his peer group. They can bomb it miles but cannot make the critical putts when they count - consistently. The key to greatness is a strong ability to score - and this requires a highly developed short game. But as mentioned in another response, putting gets no attention.

Saw another thread today on the (apparent) impact that long game focus had on Tiger and Phil. They used to be exemplary short game wizards, but now look kinda normal and the pattern seems to follow from working on long game at the expense of short game.

I would love to see Rory be the next great thing, but he needs to be a great putter to be a great golfer. I just don't see how it can be otherwise.....

[senorchipotle]

Funny post. I almost thought you were serious at first.

no, actually i didn't say any of that. i said precisely what i said. you decided that it would be amusing to misquote me and take my points out of context. and truth be told, you weren't even that clever about it.

[sean_miller]

no, actually i didn't say any of that. i said precisely what i said. you decided that it would be amusing to misquote me and take my points out of context. and truth be told, you weren't even that clever about it.

You didn't use the S word, or a novelty font size.

[Zach Attack]

no, actually i didn't say any of that. i said precisely what i said. you decided that it would be amusing to misquote me and take my points out of context. and truth be told, you weren't even that clever about it.

I thought it was funny