R-Mac’s links attitude surprises oldies

Rory McIllroy’s dislike of links golf and his unwillingness to adapt to it has raised the eyebrows of many former major winners.
Rory McIllroy’s dislike of links golf and his current unwillingness to adapt to it has raised the eyebrows of a good few former major winners assembled at the British Senior Open.
Former Masters champion and Ryder Cup winning captain, Ian Woosnam, for one, was not only surprised by McIlroy’s attitude, but was critical of the 22-year-old for blurting out his feelings to the media.
Less than a month after his magical performance in winning the US Open at the Congressional Golf Club in Washington by records scores, a rusty-looking McIlroy shot disappointing closing rounds of 74 and 73 at the wind and rain-lashed Royal St Georges links in South East England to finish unimpressively in 25th place at the 140th Open.
And he then surprised golf-wise observers even more by telling the media he didn’t enjoy links golf where “The outcome is predicted so much by the weather,” and added that he saw “no point in changing your game for one week a year.”
To this Woosnam is reported to have said: “He’s only a young kid, he’s going to say the wrong things every now and then and he’s probably now thinking, ‘What the hell have I said.’
“Of course, to be a true golfer, you have to be able to play around the world, play in different kind of golf conditions. Tiger (Woods) adapted, (Jack) Nicklaus adapted, (Arnold) Palmer adapted. They all adapted. He needs to adapt. At his age he’s got the ability to do whatever he wants to do.”
Another major winner critical of McIlroy’s attitude towards links golf, notably in view of the fact that the Ulster young gun must have grown up playing links courses, coming as he does from Northern Ireland, was Zimbabwe’s Nick Price, who learnt to play his golf on the parkland courses of Central Africa
Price, a two-time winner of US PGA Championships, who made a point of mastering links conditions to also win The Open at Turnberry in 1994, said: “He has to get his mind-set right for that. He’s going to have 20 or 30 Open Championships in his career and he doesn’t want to have that attitude
“He’d better get out there and start liking those courses and figure out a way to play.
“If he’s a good enough player, he will do that. Every great player adapts to the conditions. He may not like it as much as playing on parkland courses but he will learn, I guarantee it.”
Tom Watson, in the meantime has shown a lot more understanding for McIlroy.
The 61-year-old American, a five-time winner of The Open and widely regarded as one of the all time great exponents of links golf, said he knew exactly what McIlroy was going through as he had been there himself.
“Honestly, he sounded like I did when I was his age playing links golf. I did not like links golf. I did not like the bounce. I did not like the firmness of the greens, and the wind so much, and I didn’t like the uncertainty,” Watson said.
“When I hit a shot the way I thought it should go, it should stop. In American golf, it stops where you want it.
“He’ll change. He’ll get to a point where he’ll understand the difficulties in the way that you have to manage yourself on links golf courses.”
When asked how long it had taken him to get into links golf Watson smiled and said: “Four. It just so happened I won two of them.”
Like Watson, Woosnam also believes McIlroy’s attitude will change.
“I think it’s difficult for the kid. Everyone was comparing him to Tiger Woods, but at the end of the day he’s only won three tournaments. And one of them was a major,” Woosnam said.
“I think we’ve got to ease off on the kid. He’s got to develop.”
Latest
-
Ryder Cup
New Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald motivated by ‘bitter’ memories of 2021 defeat
Stenson was stripped of the role for breaking his contract by joining the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series.
-
Ryder Cup
The task facing Luke Donald after replacing Henrik Stenson
Stenson was appointed on March 15 and said he was fully committed to a role before signing with the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series.
-
Ryder Cup
Luke Donald named Europe’s Ryder Cup captain
Donald replaces Henrik Stenson after he was stripped of the role.
-
PGA Tour
Tony Finau claims second straight PGA Tour victory
The American won the 3M Open in his previous outing.
-
News
Henrik Stenson cushions Ryder Cup blow with £3.6m debut win in LIV Golf
The Swede was stripped of his role as Europe captain after joining the Saudi-backed breakaway tour.
-
News
Former Masters champion Bubba Watson becomes latest player to join LIV Golf
The left-hander is currently sidelined by a knee injury and is not expected to play until next season,
-
Ryder Cup
Luke Donald tipped to replace Henrik Stenson as Europe’s Ryder Cup captain
The Swede lost the job 127 days after his appointment following his decision to join the LIV Golf series.
-
News
Max Homa: Tiger Woods now understands the respect he commands from his peers
Homa has made no secret of his admiration for Woods.
-
Ryder Cup
Bernard Gallacher fears Greg Norman is not the man for compromise with LIV Golf
Players who have resigned from the PGA Tour to join LIV Golf will not be eligible for next year’s Ryder Cup.
-
LPGA Tour
Brooke Henderson takes two-shot lead into final round of Evian Championship
South Korea’s Ryu So-yeon climbed into outright second place on 15 under.