Rory McIlroy - 4 Time Major Winner

coillcam

If we didn't have Rory (and Bryson to a lesser extent) we'd quite a bit less to discuss. Probably yawning at the latest Scheffler win or giving out about the WHS. Tbf it's an incredible amount of traffic drawn from Rory. His major performance back catalogue and profile lends itself to the spotlight. Not to mention the backdrop of the PGA-LIV fraction and his recent marital situation.

He's been knocking on the door for the last couple of years. Hopefully, he can reach a level of calmness to get over the line in a major again and I feel he will. To me at least he's looked quite weary/drained at numerous times in the big ones. They definitely take a bigger toll mentally.

Stepping back to think about the last year or so, he could only be human to be affected by it all. I won't get into the course management/caddy/putting stuff as it's all redundant and well-covered already. Irrespective of his ability I still have to acknowledge how impressive it is to put yourself in a position to win like he did.

The scrutiny and hype for the open will be off the charts. Hopefully, he can find a calm place to focus on his game and perform.

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122278522#Comment_122278522

There is saying what happened and then sticking the boot in. There's a big difference and if you haven't read any of that then you've missed a lot of the posts or you have a comprehension issue.

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122280926#Comment_122280926

There is what happened, which is not subjective, and people’s opinion on what happened, which is subjective, if you want only your opinion, ask the Mods to change the thread title to reflect only your view point.

Boards is a discussion forum, not your discussion forum.

monkeybutter

Did everyone except Bryson... Choke

boardise

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122277358#Comment_122277358

On the nine month gap -isn't it fairly crazy to have the four Majors bunched into just a four month time frame? Surely some way could be found to space them out more evenly. Plus -it's time to get away from 3 Majors being held in the US. Golf is now a global game -that should be reflected. The PGA should be dropped and a Major with a new title shoild be rotated around the continents.

monkeybutter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122281138#Comment_122281138

Sure isnt that the same argument as made for liv? For normans original attempted breakaway

Turkeys and Christmas come to mind

They are going to play the majors in good weather, so not too hot too

Thats basically 3 months

Much like the rest of golf

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122281138#Comment_122281138

There were plans in the early 10’s for the Asian Tour to have a 5th golf major, but it came to nothing, presumably because you can’t just introduce a new competition and brand it a major, it lacks the history and prestige. I doubt they could drop the PGA championship, there is no way PGA would agree to that.

slave1

4 is plenty, I'd hate to see Jack or Tiger, even older guys — records be messed with. The US Am was considered a major back in the day but dropped at some stage I think

Dav010

Rather than adding a new major, I wish they would reverse the decision to change the date of the PGA, I thought it was better later in the year.

bren2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122281414#Comment_122281414

This needs to happen.

"Glory's last chance" always made sense for it as the least interesting major.

BraveDonut

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122277560#Comment_122277560

If it was Shane - yes there would be huge activity on that thread. But, it would lean much, much more towards positivity and outlining what a great achievement it was to come second on such a difficult course. And, yes, I know that expectations on McIlroy are greater.

You would not have people coming out of the woodwork with negative comments - only positive

OEP

I know it's never going to happen but having an international major, to replace the PGA, would be great. The PGA has always been the poor relative of the others. The rest have a specific identity - The Master's and Augusta, The Open and links and the US Open and very tough setups.

sReq | uTeK

Rory had 3 birdies in a 4 hole streak.

Rory had 3 bogeys in a 4 hole streak.

Bryson couldn't hit a fairway all day, yet his lies were the stuff of dreams. That's golf.

He made an INCREDIBLE shot when he had to on the 18th and to do that under the pressure when Rory didn't handle it deserved the win.

Rorys putt on 18 was a VERY tough putt. He has to play it that speed or it goes 6ft past the hole and at that speed downhill sloping it can always break.

I'll always keep rooting for Rory, a fantasti golfer if a little flawed.

MyPeopleDrankTheSoup

they can't make another major, it has to happen organically and it's too late now. the mark has been set by Jack, you can't go messing with it now as a poster said. they tried their best with the Players and it's still not a major

callaway92

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122282393#Comment_122282393

You can say all you want that is was a tough putt, but pros should not be missing them. That figure that gets thrown around with him not missing X putts within 3 feet tells its own story.

Love Rory but it was a bad putt, as was the one on the 16th

bren2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122282846#Comment_122282846

That stat isn't relevant to the one on 18. The putt on 18 was 3 feet and 9 inches.

whitelaurel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122281848#Comment_122281848

yeah more people warm to Shane than Rory, not some big secret.

DellyBelly

I see John Rahm in an interview was saying the difficulty of the putt on 18 for Rory was underplayed. Basically he was saying it certainly was no gimmie and very missable. The putt on 16 was the poor one. I really hope he goes away for the next few weeks and gets his head together. Might be mad to say it but I really think he will win the British Open in a few weeks time

callaway92

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122282858#Comment_122282858

So .75 of a foot more - wow

CalamariFritti

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122282885#Comment_122282885

This.

The one on 16 was the shocker, after that his head was in a whirl I reckon. The one on 18 wasnt a gimme, but under normal circumstances he'd make that all day long as would any pro. But between the pressure of the situation as it was and the head spin from 16 it turned out to be too much.

I dont like people making him out to be a failure, he is obviously far from it, but the truth is thats the sort of stuff you have to deal with at that level and when it really mattered he couldn't.

bren2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122282916#Comment_122282916

Theres a pretty big drop off when you get past 3ft. 96% → 85%. So yeah, simply not a relevant stat. Its also 25% further away.

Putts from inside 3ft isn't relevant when talking about putts outside of 3ft

Innish_Rebel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122282916#Comment_122282916

Just to give an idea of how the strokes gained views length of putts (I think this was 2010 baseline so might have moved slightly from this):

But yes his putt on 16 would have fallen very close to the 99% however the putt on 18 (on average) would have been somewhere between 86 - 95%. Now should he have made these two putts - yes, he says so himself, but they were not un-missable.

I like to use this chart to not beat myself up too much when golfing - the pros don't make 50% of their putts from 8ft - how many amateurs berate themselves for missing an 8-footer!!!

DISTANCE	ONE PUTT
1 foot	100%
2 feet	99%
3 feet	95%
4 feet	86%
5 feet	75%
6 feet	65%
7 feet	56%
7 feet, 10 inches	50%
8 feet	49%

callaway92

He should be making the putt pretty much 90% of the time so?

So it’s a horrible miss. Note that I didn’t say anywhere that it’s unmissable.

bren2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122283161#Comment_122283161

Nobody saying he shouldn't make it.

I simply pointed out that the 496 stat is irrelevant when discussing his putt on 18.

I think it was a tricky putt and I was stunned he tried to play it at that weight. I would have thought you'd take the break out of it and you don't care about the comeback putt.

The Big Easy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122283161#Comment_122283161

It wasn't a horrible miss, the one on 16 was, that was a yip and will give him nightmares for a long time.

The one on 18 he'd expect to make far more often than not, but it was certainly missable, he didn't hit a great putt and it didn't go in.

Shane generally misses 3-6 of those a tournament and sometimes in one round!

The distance is only one factor in the difficulty, downhill left to right putts (for a right hander) are generally considered the most difficult in golf.

There has been so much nonsense posted here since Sunday night, it's hard to know where to start tbh

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122283347#Comment_122283347

Yes, as the days have gone on, the difficulty of the putt has increased.

callaway92

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122283347#Comment_122283347

Statistically there’s no make success difference in a downhill or uphill putt (as much as mentally we think the downhills are tougher)

OEP

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122283506#Comment_122283506

I guess the word of Rahm would carry some weight though.

It seems like the general consensus has been that the putt on 16 was a terrible miss. The putt on 18, much trickier but should still make it. Don't think that's changed as the days have gone on.

bren2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122283644#Comment_122283644

Theres a difference between "no statistics exist" and "statistically there's no difference". AFAIK, there's no stat to measure downhill v hillup make percentages. However, a downhill 3 foot 9 inch is objectively harder than a 3 foot 9 inch uphill putt all other things being equal.

AyeGer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122281030#Comment_122281030

Bryson is a seriously underrated golfer, yeah his swing looks odd and he was seen a a big blaster for a while but he has an excellent short game. I had money on him for the US Open thankfully. He is the only one of the LIV golfers that I miss.