Rory McIlroy finds strong ally in his criticisms of European Tour courses being ‘too easy’

Rory McIlroy has found an ally in Ernie Els following his decision to criticise European Tour courses for being ‘too easy.’

The Northern Irishman made the controversial comments after finishing T26 at the Alfred Dunhil Links Championship despite finishing 15 under par.

“I’m sort of honestly sick of coming back over to the European Tour and shooting 15 under par and finishing 30th,” McIlroy said.

“I don’t think the courses are set up hard enough. There’s no penalties for bad shots. It’s not a good test.”

Els has turned his attention to course design in recent years, and was the man behind Wentworth’s much-criticised re-design a decade ago.

“Agree 100 per cent with Rory McIlroy,” Els tweeted.

“When we toughened up West Course (at Wentworth), 6-under won the BMW PGA Championship.

Agree 100 per cent with @McIlroyRory. When we @ErnieElsDesign toughened up West Course, 6-under won @BMWPGA. Had so much blow-back from players, we had to ease up & now 20-under wins. @EuropeanTour flagship tournament & other top events need courses ‘major’ tough. Test the best!

— Ernie Els (@TheBig_Easy) September 30, 2019

“[We] had so much blow-back from players, we had to ease up and now 20-under wins.

“European Tour flagship tournaments and other top events need courses ‘major’ tough.”