Rory says Tiger and Phil are on the "last few holes" of their careers. Thoughts???

[mmoan2]

Yeah, he should have said that their careers are in the ascendancy and that they are younger now than they were fifteen years ago.

It was very sneaky of him to give a respectful, reasonable and honest answer when asked a question.

Congratulations on earning the token snarkiness badge for the day... Also, not sure when "sneaky" became a synonym for gamesmanship. Some boxers spit in the eyes of their opponents during staredowns. Not really classified as sneaky.

As for respect, I think saying that Tiger Woods, after another story on ESPN that same day saying that Tiger and Rory are friends (I think the headline was "Rory is friends with WHO?), is on one of the last holes in his career is not only disrespectful, but not necessarily true, unless they've discussed something that isn't in the normal media circulation. I don't think it's on the same level as beating him over the head with a club calling him a piece of garbage, but I wouldn't say it's respectful.

[iacas]

I don't think there's anything at all wrong with what he said, nor do I think he should have to clarify or feel at all bad about it (I hope he doesn't feel bad about it, and it's stupid he's had to clarify).

[Pretzel]

I don't think there's anything at all wrong with what he said, nor do I think he should have to clarify or feel at all bad about it (I hope he doesn't feel bad about it, and it's stupid he's had to clarify).

I tend to agree. They have some holes left, but not as many as Rory and the other younger players. This is like if someone were to say Payton Manning was in the 4th quarter of his career. It's just true when you look at ages of others who retired or faded before them.

[newtogolf]

I don't think there's anything at all wrong with what he said, nor do I think he should have to clarify or feel at all bad about it (I hope he doesn't feel bad about it, and it's stupid he's had to clarify).

I agree, if it came from someone like Patrick Reed you might wonder what his intentions are but I think Rory was just being honest in answering the question.

[tristanhilton85]

I agree, if it came from someone like Patrick Reed you might wonder what his intentions are but I think Rory was just being honest in answering the question.

No. I don't care who it came from. It's true. I don't see why people are trying to see something that's not there. He was asked a question and answered it honestly. It still would have been an honest answer had Reed been the one answering the question.

[misty_mountainhop]

...Just think it's a stick in the eye of Tiger, who could potentially whoop his butt during much of the "last few holes" of his career that include 30 more wins and 4 majors.

Seriously?? I think you're being somewhat deluded. Sure, TW could beat Rory but all the current evidence says what you wrote above is way off base.

[newtogolf]

No. I don't care who it came from. It's true. I don't see why people are trying to see something that's not there. He was asked a question and answered it honestly. It still would have been an honest answer had Reed been the one answering the question.

One can respond with facts and still have bad intent.  Obviously Tiger and Phil are older and on the "back 9" of their career but the purpose of pointing that out could be to simply state the obvious, or to create hype or gain media attention or to get inside their heads.  Granted, golfers today don't seem to play the head games that the guys in the past did but it happens all the time in other sports.

[mvmac]

One can respond with facts and still have bad intent.  Obviously Tiger and Phil are older and on the "back 9" of their career but the purpose of pointing that out could be to simply state the obvious, or to create hype or gain media attention or to get inside their heads.  Granted, golfers today don't seem to play the head games that the guys in the past did but it happens all the time in other sports.

I think Rory was just asked a question and answered honestly, no gamesmanship intended.

[tristanhilton85]

One can respond with facts and still have bad intent.  Obviously Tiger and Phil are older and on the "back 9" of their career but the purpose of pointing that out could be to simply state the obvious, or to create hype or gain media attention or to get inside their heads.  Granted, golfers today don't seem to play the head games that the guys in the past did but it happens all the time in other sports.

He was asked a question... It might be one thing if he just kind of said it out of nowhere, but he didn't. And, like I said, if the answer had come from Reed instead, I still have no problem with it.

[Zeph]

Not a lot of interesting topics in the pro scene this week when this little "thing" is what is talked about.

[Shorty]

Also, not sure when "sneaky" became a synonym for gamesmanship.

Turn your irony detector on.

It is ridiculous that McIlroy is criticised for no reason at all.

Next people will be saying that Jim Furyk is in his 40s. It's outrageous. Or That Vijay's best years are behind him.

[Golfingdad]

As for respect, I think saying that Tiger Woods, after another story on ESPN that same day saying that Tiger and Rory are friends (I think the headline was "Rory is friends with WHO?), is on one of the last holes in his career is not only disrespectful, but not necessarily true, unless they've discussed something that isn't in the normal media circulation.

And you'd be dead wrong.  It's very simple.  They've been playing 15 or 20 years and both of them have considerably less than that left.  "Last few holes," "INTO the back nine," whatever, he's clearly only saying they have less years ahead of them than they do behind them.  What is disrespectful about that?

He never said anything about them sucking for the final few years, so who cares?  Just because they're on the back nine doesn't mean they can't finish with a string of birdies.

I agree, if it came from someone like Patrick Reed you might wonder what his intentions are but I think Rory was just being honest in answering the question.

Umm, no.  YOU might wonder what his intentions were, but not everybody, and not me.  Anybody who said anything different would either be lying or patronizing.

[iacas]

And you'd be dead wrong.  It's very simple.  They've been playing 15 or 20 years and both of them have considerably less than that left.  "Last few holes," "INTO the back nine," whatever, he's clearly only saying they have less years ahead of them than they do behind them.  What is disrespectful about that?

He never said anything about them sucking for the final few years, so who cares?  Just because they're on the back nine doesn't mean they can't finish with a string of birdies.

Umm, no.  YOU might wonder what his intentions were, but not everybody, and not me.  Anybody who said anything different would either be lying or patronizing.

QFT.

[mmoan2]

I was going to leave this one alone because on the "who gives a #$%$# @" scale of 1 to 10 its a minus 6, but I wanted to clear something up so my favorite golf forum buddies don't think I'm a shallow prick who's picking on a good young man and exceptional golfer. If word gets around, my evolvr coach might start giving me misleading tips to get back at me!

I'm really not criticizing Rory in that what he said was "wrong," (though I still do believe that TW could have a lot more good golf ahead of him). I just would never speak about a fellow athlete's best days being behind them as a matter of principle. I don't think what Rory said was categorically disrespectful, but I just don't like it, I guess. Guys like Phil and Tiger are rare breed in this world. Natural athletic ability, tireless work ethic, luck, and circumstance allowed them to excel at the highest level to play a game for a living and make oodles of money doing it. They've lived an existence that most people only dream about. Talking about the great one's best days being behind them is just one of those things I don't like to hear, and would never say. It evokes a kind of sadness that people don't want to be reminded of, IMO. Everyone knows athletes get old, but who wants to hear about it? If they asked me a question like that and I was Rory, I'd say something like "I don't know how much longer Tiger and Phil will excel. It's up to them," or some vapid response like that. It's almost like talking to a woman about her age. Is it disrespectful to say "Now that my wife is 60, she can't really do the things she used to do."? Not empirically. But I would never say that. It just doesn't need to be said.

Anyway, I think Rory is a breath of fresh air for the golfing world and a nice young guy who seems really genuine, and he's an extraordinary talent to boot. I wouldn't be surprised to see us talking about the GOAT being a three-way race in 15 years, honestly.

Ok, let me go wretch now that I realized I've spent 30 minutes of my life analyzing an off-hand quote from some guy I'll probably never meet.

[iacas]

I just would never speak about a fellow athlete's best days being behind them as a matter of principle.

It doesn't necessarily mean that. You're putting a meaning in there that he didn't say.

He said they're 70% of the way through their careers. They are. He didn't say they're going to be playing worse from here on out. Yes, it's implied perhaps, but then again they could always be kinda like Vijay Singh, too. So the implication partly lies on the "ears" of the listener.

[mmoan2]

It doesn't necessarily mean that. You're putting a meaning in there that he didn't say.

He said they're 70% of the way through their careers. They are. He didn't say they're going to be playing worse from here on out. Yes, it's implied perhaps, but then again they could always be kinda like Vijay Singh, too. So the implication partly lies on the "ears" of the listener.

I agree that the ears of the listener are a big factor, but I think most people would agree that being on the last "stage" of a career in athletics implies that you're not going to perform at the same level any longer. A strict literalist could say it's not in the words directly, but that's why I would never say it.

[mmoan2]

Turn your irony detector on.

It is ridiculous that McIlroy is criticised for no reason at all.

Next people will be saying that Jim Furyk is in his 40s. It's outrageous. Or That Vijay's best years are behind him.

Damn, David Spade much?

[Zeph]

Quote:

Last week, much was made about comments Rory McIlroy made about Woods and Phil Mickelson getting older and being in the last few holes of their careers.

It hardly bothered Woods.

“I thought it was funny,” he said. “Phil has less holes to play than I do, though.

“It's a reality, you know? We're all older. I'm nearing my 20th season on TOUR here coming up pretty soon. I've been out here for a while, and Phil has been out here for a while.”

http://www.pgatour.com/news/2014/09/15/woods-focusing-on-getting-more-explosive.html