TommyRude

Very respectfully, I disagree. I still believe there’s a small kernel of truth to my theory. Hey, you, iacas and many others here are extremely knowledgeable, know the game inside out, know the tour inside out. I’m just a schmuck who posted a take, admittedly unsupported and not up to reasonable high standards. There’s a background to my take - I’ll attempt to briefly describe it. Back when Rory first came on tour, I thought he was great - most folks did, his talent was undeniable, and his youthful happy go lucky looking demeanor made him even more likable. And he won early, fast - at the highest levels. And then the physical workouts started. That was cool, man he’s looking good. And as it went along, was even a bit shocking. But all was still good in the Rory fan club. But as a few years rolled along and the majors stopped, folks like me started to question the effect of the physical build up. (raising my hand here - - folks like me were probably concentrating 95% on the majors record, and failing to acknowledge his stellar play overall) The matches with Patrick Reed... Somewhere around that time, Patrick became “the most hated man on tour”. Raising my hand again, not sure if that timing is accurate, or even if that moniker was deserved. But when Rory got into the screaming flex-off, it definitely detracted from the earlier Rory likability. It’s kinda like he was lowering himself to Patrick’s level. Not so great, for me at least. As the mid 2010s rolled along, and the majors drought continued, and the near misses at the Masters happened, the dreaded ‘choke’ perception inevitably raised its head and persisted. I joined in with the chorus, not disliking Rory, but certainly questioning his ability to close the Masters or any other major. Rightfully or wrongly, it was there. Then LIV came along. As that developed, I saw the anti-LIV sentiment develop along with it, and I took offense to it. My thought - these guys are being offered life changing $$, and the anti-LIV folks are trying to stop them from getting it. And then when Rory rose to ‘lead’ the anti-LIV sector, that really rubbed me the wrong way. The press conferences, the parking lot shouting match - it just all seemed really distasteful to me. And it seemed far far away from the early Rory, who I really liked. So all that (in my own mind) led me down the “Rory will never win.. yada yada”. Not based on any real statistical analysis. Not taking into account the incredible stats and winning record he had amassed. Purely based on perception and cultural silliness. AND - the physical thing, which as I mentioned, I think there’s a tiny kernel of merit there. So - fast forward to Rory’s post win press conference. THAT was the old Rory I remembered! The totally cool guy, humble, forthright, honest, self deprecating. He’s probably been like that all along. And he’s certainly backed off the hard core anti-LIV persona, at least in public. That’s it. Just a stupid unsupported take from a dumbsh*t golf fan. For me, this was the most exciting major since the Tiger era. I really thought it would be a gladiator death match between Rory and Bryson. I’m surprised that Bryson fell off - - I thought he was well-set-up to handle the pressure. I’m sure he’ll be there many times in the future, along with Rory.

I posted this earlier - includes some reasonable analysis and stats, yes? Does this help? ******************** Appreciate your responses—seriously. Agreed - Rory's overall play from 2015–2024 has been elite. Twenty wins, constant top-10s, and staying in the top tier of strokes gained stats year after year is no joke. That only makes the major drought more puzzling, not less. And yes, he’s come close—Carnoustie, St. Andrews, LACC—but that almost makes the argument more interesting. When you’ve got a guy that good, who keeps putting himself in position, why hasn’t he sealed the deal in the biggest moments? I do think his transformation post-2014—adding noticeable muscle, changing his physical profile—might’ve altered his swing tempo, feel, or ability to stay loose under extreme pressure. Not during Thursday or even Saturday—but on the back nine on Sunday, when the mental and physical margins get razor thin, especially at Augusta. Is this stat meaningful? From 2016–2024, Rory lost strokes to the field on Sundays in nearly half of his major appearances, despite being dominant Thursday through Saturday. That pattern suggests it’s not just bad luck or getting beat—it’s a recurring issue with closing, under pressure. It’s tough to measure pressure in a spreadsheet. And Augusta especially punishes any uptick in tension or loss of touch. I’m not saying “getting jacked” is the sole reason for the drought—but looking for subtle shifts that could explain why a generational talent keeps coming up just short in majors, I think it’s worth considering. And OF COURSE - he finally got to the mountaintop, in extreme, dramatic fashion. Maybe, as others have said, this will equate to cracking the code and going on a major run for the next 5-10 yrs?

Yes sir. I will drop that word. Can I say “excellent physical shape”?

here’s another jacked photo - I think this is around 2016, not sure. He looks JACKED here, amazingly ripped physique. Forget about the effect on his game, you guys have debunked that theory soundly. FYI - I saw him at the Masters in 2018, he was JACKED! https://www.independent.ie/sport/golf/gallery-rory-mcilroy-is-seriously-ripped-in-latest-photoshoot/31115764.html

I’m not sure when these beach pics were taken? Looks fairly recent Below - this is an example of approx when it started. By the way, he looks JACKED in a good way here in 2014 https://www.businessinsider.com/rory-mcilroy-jacked-masters-2014-4

haha… I heard that question. What a question to ask, kinda off the wall? Do they always ask the Masters winner their jacket size? What’s next… “hey Rory, what’s your cup size?"

Great interview. Funny he mentioned the first hole double settling him down.. some dude mentioned this when it happened, pretty observant 😂 As for the complicated analysis, I wasn’t planning on doing that, but kinda got sucked in and diving deeper. Yup… just plain nervous. You could see it in his eyes coming off 13, he was nervous and a bit shell shocked… oh no here we go.

Appreciate your responses—seriously. Agreed - Rory's overall play from 2015–2024 has been elite. Twenty wins, constant top-10s, and staying in the top tier of strokes gained stats year after year is no joke. That only makes the major drought more puzzling, not less. And yes, he’s come close—Carnoustie, St. Andrews, LACC—but that almost makes the argument more interesting. When you’ve got a guy that good, who keeps putting himself in position, why hasn’t he sealed the deal in the biggest moments? I do think his transformation post-2014—adding noticeable muscle, changing his physical profile—might’ve altered his swing tempo, feel, or ability to stay loose under extreme pressure. Not during Thursday or even Saturday—but on the back nine on Sunday, when the mental and physical margins get razor thin, especially at Augusta. Is this stat meaningful? From 2016–2024, Rory lost strokes to the field on Sundays in nearly half of his major appearances, despite being dominant Thursday through Saturday. That pattern suggests it’s not just bad luck or getting beat—it’s a recurring issue with closing, under pressure. It’s tough to measure pressure in a spreadsheet. And Augusta especially punishes any uptick in tension or loss of touch. I’m not saying “getting jacked” is the sole reason for the drought—but looking for subtle shifts that could explain why a generational talent keeps coming up just short in majors, I think it’s worth considering. And OF COURSE - he finally got to the mountaintop, in extreme, dramatic fashion. Maybe, as others have said, this will equate to cracking the code and going on a major run for the next 5-10 yrs?

There is 100%, incontrovertible, undisputed evidence and proof that he wasn’t winning majors from 2015 - 2024. Even though I concede that my take is laughable, I don’t think it’s laughable to say that Rory’s major drought during that period is one of the most extreme droughts in modern golf history. Extreme meaning, with his innate and physical talent (AND his major record pre-2015), he could’ve should’ve won multiple majors during that period. If you agree with that, then the question is why? What was preventing him from closing the deal on majors?

Not a problem chetlover, as I look back - even thought I truly believed in the take - it looks laughable. IF - Rory had done some of the things I mentioned and lost, I’m sure I would have trumpeted how prescient I was. But now, perhaps my take can be considered for a Wall of Shame. Colin M - - haha, he’s jacked for sure - jacked on Big Macs. Brooks and Bryson; Brooks buffness looks pretty natural? And Bryson - definitely on the bizarre end of the spectrum. But for both Brooks and Bryson, they were winning majors. Whatever jackness they had-have, natural or extreme, was not hindering them from hitting the crucial shots under pressure, at the majors.

OK. - if you don’t mind, can you explain the below? I’m slow, need a bit of hand holding. 7 hours ago, TommyRude said: The bulk up got intense. Again… no. That's why I replied with something like "tell me you've never seen Rory in person without saying you've never seen Rory in person."

haha no problemo! If I’m reading your responses correctly, Rory has never done any intense workouts, he’s never bulked up, he’s never been jacked, he’s never exhibited macho behavior, and he’s won 12 major championships in the past 10 years!

@iacas (I’m not working the quote function so well) Yes, 20 wins, absolutely - one of the best in the world over the past 15 years - I’ll take it further, one of the best ever. But you can’t argue his record in winning majors since 2014? (until now of course) Your point on seeing him in person - - not really sure what you’re talking about there. But I have seen him in person, at the Masters. I was shocked at how jacked he looked. He was playing with Jon Rahm, and standing next to Rahm he looked tiny, but super jacked. Your point about him starting working out to address injuries - that’s true. My point is that he seemed to take it to an extreme level. I recall back around 2015-2016 on… I wasn’t the only one shocked by how jacked he was getting? And I concede - - his record since the inception-of-jackness has been stellar. But again - I was pointing to his lack of major wins in the past 10 years. Again - I concede - he obliterated that this past week, and under the most extreme pressure in golf, exacerbated and intensified by the extreme publicized weight of his record in the past 10 yrs.

My focus was on his record in winning majors, I probably didn’t make that clear. And my take was to highlight certain things that would contribute to him failing under pressure… and pressure being the highest in the majors.

I take my hat off to Rory, WOWOW! That must have been WAY harder than winning it 8-10 years back. To struggle for a decade, and to finally achieve it, one of the great golf stories of the past 20-30 yrs. Boy and he tried to give it away! As for my prediction, obviously off off off. I truly think all the things l listed are real, but to a far less extent I was thinking. Maybe those were more true back in the 2016-2022 period. The pressure was huge, especially-obviously on the back 9. That blocked chip into the creek, that had to be all pressure. And I think the missed putt on 18 in regulation - that was crazy. It seemed like he didn’t take any time at all, that had to be insane pressure. But raising my hand, that pressure and those missed shots were nothing related to any of the factors I listed out! Just pure pressure, built up over 10 years, man o man. And watching the emotion, man that is touching, good for him, his family, for golf. And finally, to the guys I rubbed the wrong way, my bad, really not my style. You guys have been here for years, I’ve been here for 2 days. You’ve built a great site and a great community. Humble apologies, and if you don’t ban me I hope to come back and join up for some lively discussion. Peace!