Rory McIlroy - 4 Time Major Winner

Dav010

Keano wrote: »

Flip it on it's head for a second. Everyone lauded Speith's putting for years. Where is he now?

Ya, I’d agree with you, he seems to have completely lost his mojo.

I also think he is an example of what can happen when pros rely too heavily of one aspect of their game. Being amongst the best off the tee is good and well, but if 37% of the field are possibly better than you on the green, you have to be putting the ball pretty close to the cup on approach.

tyivpc5qjx0f2b

Keano wrote: »

Flip it on it's head for a second. Everyone lauded Speith's putting for years. Where is he now?

Luke Donald was World Number 1 too very much on the strength of his Putting.

Putting is a far higher variance element of the sport than Driving which is why you see such wild variations in putting rankings and also the performance of those who rely heavy on it.
Compare that to those who excel at Driving, they are often far more consistent in their performances.

McIlroy is a great example, he has remained in the Top 6 in SG Driving from 2017-2020, during that same period Speith only finished in the Top 10 in SG putting once.

Speith is ranked 93rd in the world and hasn't won since 2017, if I remember correctly McIlroy hasn't been outside the Top 10 in the world during that period and has won 5 events.

Similarly Jason Day, Gramem McDowell & Denny McCarthy appeared twice with McCarthy leading it for the past 2 years but not sure what volume he has played in relative terms.
Day is another example of someone who went through a purple patch but once the Putting wasn't going well, he fell away.

DuckSlice

Azalea Billions Griddle wrote: »

Luke Donald was World Number 1 too very much on the strength of his Putting.

Putting is a far higher variance element of the sport than Driving which is why you see such wild variations in putting rankings and also the performance of those who rely heavy on it.
Compare that to those who excel at Driving, they are often far more consistent in their performances.

McIlroy is a great example, he has remained in the Top 6 in SG Driving from 2017-2020, during that same period Speith only finished in the Top 10 in SG putting once.

Speith is ranked 93rd in the world and hasn't won since 2017, if I remember correctly McIlroy hasn't been outside the Top 10 in the world during that period and has won 5 events.

Similarly Jason Day, Gramem McDowell & Denny McCarthy appeared twice with McCarthy leading it for the past 2 years but not sure what volume he has played in relative terms.
Day is another example of someone who went through a purple patch but once the Putting wasn't going well, he fell away.

So what are you saying? Putting is everything except for Rory, or his putting isnt as bad as who you mentioned?

gypsy79

etxp wrote: »

So what are you saying? Putting is everything except for Rory, or his putting isnt as bad as who you mentioned?

No I think he is saying that relying on putting is less likely to end in a career near the top ALL the time than one that relies on driving

The ranking of a person who relies on streaks of good puttings WR will be much more volatile

Dav010

gypsy79 wrote: »

No I think he is saying that relying on putting is less likely to end in a career near the top ALL the time than one that relies on driving

The ranking of a person who relies on streaks of good puttings WR will be much more volatile

Fair point, if your biggest asset/advantage was length, as the field catches up putting becomes more important than ever.

blue note

gypsy79 wrote: »

No I think he is saying that relying on putting is less likely to end in a career near the top ALL the time than one that relies on driving

The ranking of a person who relies on streaks of good puttings WR will be much more volatile

When you say putting streaks, I think you're being a bit unfair on the good putters in the game.

Jordan Speith had about 5 or 6 years at the very top of the game. That's not a streak, that's being an excellent golfer with your putting being your biggest asset. And similarly with Luke Donald, for 10 years the worst he finished a year in the world rankings in a year was 31st. Again, it wasn't a streak that made him good, he was just good and again putting was his biggest strength.

They both obviously had some years better than others, similar to golfers whose biggest strength is a big drive. But putting is not as streaky as people make it out to be. Sure you can have good and bad weeks, but the same is true with your driver.

I always just feel it's disrespectful to the best putters in the game that their success if so often put down to streaks, whereas people who are great drivers or the ball, great iron players, players who have a great touch around the green are never put down in the same way. With those guys when they're not winning we hear that when they get a hot putter they'll clean up. With the good putters we hear their game is going to collapse when their streak ends. But the people who are good at putting have a hot putter far more often!

neddynasty

Deleted User wrote: »

I watch him from the 10 to 20 foot range and am amazed at how little he seems to sink. I never really expect them to fall when watching him.

Being realistic if I was playing the sort of greens he is playing I'd probably struggle too. Putting is a strong part of my game. But likely not at his level.

McIlroy is shown a lot more on TV so you see pretty much every putt. That's going to be somewhere around the 30 mark so you'll see a lot more mid-range misses. Compare that to someone like Max Homa. They might only show 2 of his putts in a round but both will be 20 feet and both will drop. Makes him out to be an unreal putter in comparison.

tyivpc5qjx0f2b

blue note wrote: »

When you say putting streaks, I think you're being a bit unfair on the good putters in the game.

Jordan Speith had about 5 or 6 years at the very top of the game. That's not a streak, that's being an excellent golfer with your putting being your biggest asset. And similarly with Luke Donald, for 10 years the worst he finished a year in the world rankings in a year was 31st. Again, it wasn't a streak that made him good, he was just good and again putting was his biggest strength.

They both obviously had some years better than others, similar to golfers whose biggest strength is a big drive. But putting is not as streaky as people make it out to be. Sure you can have good and bad weeks, but the same is true with your driver.

I always just feel it's disrespectful to the best putters in the game that their success if so often put down to streaks, whereas people who are great drivers or the ball, great iron players, players who have a great touch around the green are never put down in the same way. With those guys when they're not winning we hear that when they get a hot putter they'll clean up. With the good putters we hear their game is going to collapse when their streak ends. But the people who are good at putting have a hot putter far more often!

I don't think Speith was ever at the top of the game for 5 or 6 years nor was he at the top of putting rankings for 5 or 6 years.
The top drivers aren't really similar to Speith's run, he was good at putting, one of the best but not nearly on the relative level of top guys off the tee.

Since 2014, DJ has been outside the Top 10 in driving once(finished 11th), Rory was outside in 2015 and Bubba hasn't finished outside it.
I doubt that is possible for Putting.

Tilikum17

Tilikum17 wrote: »

He’s not playing terrible at all. He’s playing like himself, a lad that bombs it off the tee with no distance control on his irons whatsoever.

Absolute myth

Rory back to himself.

UnknownSpecies

As if summoned by the comments, he makes an absolute raker on the 10th. Of course it was only for par!

Rikand

UnknownSpecies wrote: »

As if summoned by the comments, he makes an absolute raker on the 10th. Of course it was only for par!

Serious recovery though. Hopefully it kickstarts him

UnknownSpecies

Yikes, awful missed 3 foot putt on 16...

Bill Ponderosa

Tilikum17 wrote: »

Rory back to himself.

Yeah nice 67 seems to be slowly kicking into gear.

UnknownSpecies

UnknownSpecies wrote: »

Yikes, awful missed 3 foot putt on 16...

I wouldn't have missed that

downthemiddle

Deleted User wrote: »

I wouldn't have missed that

Putts for double bogeys don't carry the same pressure.

Arnold54321

Bill Ponderosa wrote: »

Yeah nice 67 seems to be slowly kicking into gear.

And just to think what score he would post if he got his putter going. That said he had an unbelievable up and down on 15 after a drop from a cactus.

boardise

Actually ,talking about putting , i've often thought that there should be more putting greens ( natural and artificial) made available in all kinds of settings .Municipal authorities could do more to provide them in parks .I see quite a number of schools that have some useable space for a green. One frequently sees tennis and basketball courts -which is grand- but surely putting could be included as well ,
I wish the GUI would get pro-active on this and create a plan ,consult with local authorities etc.
I don't think costs would be prohibitive . They could start small and assess the costs ,maintenance and security issues that arise.
It would be a fun activity for all ages -and a great way of enticing kids into pitch & putt and golf. In some cases it should be possible to organise a putting competition structure. There might even be an opening for an entrepreneurial type here
Anyone else see any merit in this or am I pipe dreaming ?

monkeybutter

Municipal authority?

Dav010

monkeybutter wrote: »

Municipal authority?

County Councils monkeybutter, county councils.

fullstop

Putter stone cold again today. Should go back to Kenyon IMO.

Arnold54321

Rory now misses a 3 footer for birdie on 4. At this point he should be only 1/2 off the lead.

boardise

Arnold54321 wrote: »

Rory now misses a 3 footer for birdie on 4. At this point he should be only 1/2 off the lead.

6 putts missed from inside 9ft. Abject.

costacorta

Sure he will shoot a 65 final rd now when pressure of winning is gone .

OEP

costacorta wrote: »

Sure he will shoot a 65 final rd now when pressure of winning is gone .

Would you prefer if he went out and shot 74 tomorrow?

Deeper Blue

The Sky coverage of Rory annoys me quite a bit

The way Rob Lee goes on you'd swear he should be winning every single tournament

Yesterday he was on -4 with 6/7 holes to go and the lads at Sky were saying "another 4 or 5 on the way in and he'll be right there", or words to that effect

This type of coverage happens every time he plays

Then the narrative always seems to be that he's failed

Is he a great player? Yes
Is he going to win/contend every week? No

The coverage seems to always set him up for a fail in my opinion

First Up

El SueÃ&#177 wrote: »

Yesterday he was on -4 with 6/7 holes to go and the lads at Sky were saying "another 4 or 5 on the way in and he'll be right there", or words to that effect

You must have watched a lot of the coverage to see that. In the parts I watched I never saw or heard McIlroy mentioned. I had to go online to see his score because they never showed the leaderboard long enough to get to his name!

First Up

First Up wrote: »

You must have watched a lot of the coverage to see that. In the parts I watched I never saw or heard McIlroy mentioned. I had to go online to see his score because they never showed the leaderboard long enough to get to his name!

There is so much filler during golf coverage but they never seem to go past the first or 2nd page of the leaderboard.

tyivpc5qjx0f2b

El Sueño wrote: »

The Sky coverage of Rory annoys me quite a bit

The way Rob Lee goes on you'd swear he should be winning every single tournament

Yesterday he was on -4 with 6/7 holes to go and the lads at Sky were saying "another 4 or 5 on the way in and he'll be right there", or words to that effect

This type of coverage happens every time he plays

Then the narrative always seems to be that he's failed

Is he a great player? Yes
Is he going to win/contend every week? No

The coverage seems to always set him up for a fail in my opinion

It works both ways, he simply gets a disproportionate amount of coverage.

When he's bad, he gets slated more heavily than he deserves and when he's playing well, he's lauded as untouchable

boardise

costacorta wrote: »

Sure he will shoot a 65 final rd now when pressure of winning is gone .

65 definitely on now with about 6 to play .
Rory putting like Season 2 today .:D

ankles

No pressure, here we go again. He'll finish top 10 yet, albeit with no chance of winning. A game that can challenge the gods but can't stand the pressure