Should Rory McIlroy Continue To Be A Two-Tour Golfer?

[mvmac]

http://www.geoffshackelford.com/homepage/2015/6/1/should-rory-mcilroy-continue-to-be-a-two-tour-golfer.html

Derek Lawrenson, taking issue with the "Americans" in "full cry" over suggestions that McIlroy is not superhuman, makes a case that McIlroy's ability to reach World No. 1 status and win four majors has happened while retaining a worldwide schedule, something Tiger has not done to the same extent as McIlroy.

Woods played 23 or so tournaments every year and 20 or 21 of them would be in America. Between February and October the only time he would travel abroad would be for The Open, and he would never dream of putting himself out to play four tournaments in a row, let alone five.

Contrast that to McIlroy, who has just played two in Europe on top of three in America. Now it’s back to the States, then back to Europe for The Open, then back to America for six events, then off to China and the Middle East before the year is done. Travel the world to play all sorts of courses in all sorts of weather, with the added factor of mental fatigue, and inevitably it’s going to affect consistency.

Now who would have thought the Americans wouldn’t consider something as obvious as that? Not an insular lot by any chance, are they?

[boogielicious]

Sure. It helps grow the game with the number one player travels a lot.

[saevel25]

I voted yes because it is great exposure for the game of golf to have him be that global icon.

In terms of his quality of play, I do think it might cause him to have a few missed cuts like at the Irish Open. Though he's never really played well there anyways.

[Gunther]

Hell yes.

[newtogolf]

I voted yes, the future of golf requires success on an international level.  What better way to achieve that than to have the #1 commit to the two largest international Tours.

[imsys0042]

I voted yes.   Tiger was world number 1 and the most popular player for years (still is very popular) and played a limited schedule to peak for the majors.   I believe that Rory can play over the course of a calendar year enough events to play both tours, be successful and win a lot.   With the longer seasons, it's easier now to meet the minimum tournament requirements.

I would hate to see him largely abandon the Euro tour.   However his primary sponsor is Nike, a US based company that probably is more concerned with wide coverage in the US.   Although Nike probably sells more outside the US now, I suspect that Euro tournament coverage is not a lucrative as the PGA Tour.

I think he should continue until it begins to tire him out.

[DutchGolf]

I also voted yes, it is good for the game to have the best players play in as much places at the world as possible, as this can help to make people interested in the game because they have a chance to see their stars.

[ChrisP]

I don't see how it hurts. Yeah, you can say all the traveling may have caused his game to slump a little bit the last two weeks. But last I checked, he has four majors and there's a good chance he'll have more by the end of the summer. So it's not like his schedule his hurting his ability to win major championships, and in the end, that's what matters most.

[natureboy]

Agree it's good for the game. He may want to start picking and choosing a little more conservatively in how full a schedule he commits to in advance of each season with maybe an alternating year 'Rory rota' for some events he wants to do, but which may impede chances to rest & regroup (if he thinks fatigue is a potential issue for his game - as a relative laddie he may just want to go all out expecting his endurance to improve over time).