- Rory McIlroy - Rory McIlroy wins in Dubai. Just.
Firstly, congratulations to Rory, winning on the European Tour isn’t easy. Something he knows all too well having lost two play-offs last year. So to have won the Dubai Desert Classic, wire-to-wire, fending off some of Europe’s the World’s best players, to join the great names of past winners on the HUGE trophy, reach 14th in the World Rankings and all as a teenager is truly an incredible achievement. Hat off.
Earlier in the week, buddy of Tiger Woods, Mark O’Meara was quoted as saying “Rory McIlroy is a better golfer than Tiger Woods at the same age”, a fantastic compliment for a player of his stature to even resemble the Irishman to one of the games greats, let alone tell the world that he is better than him at the same age. Or is it?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of Mark O’Meara, a great guy, one of the best 5-10 foot putters the game has ever seen and has had a fantastic career. When he says something as insightful as that the media are going to take note. But when it comes to predictions, well let’s just say he’s not the best. This is the guy who in 1998 said “Will he (Tiger Woods) become the greatest player ever? In my opinion, no. Jack’s record, is Jack’s record and if he gets near that then he has done great”. Eleven years on, although Tiger is yet to overtake Jack an awful prognostication.
When you look into it O’Meara actually said “McIlroy is a better ball striker at his age so is one step ahead in that department”. He left out that his putting, chipping, pitching, bunker play, decision making and focus - effectively everything that makes your score - is still lacking in comparison.
I digress slightly, because my issue with McIlroy isn’t if he is better than Woods. My beef, and this may come across utterly dense considering what he has just done today, is the guy doesn’t know how to win. He never has, and I’m not sure if he ever will. I think that is what is going to hold him back from becoming a major winner.
Throughout his amateur career he was always known as ‘a bottler’. Selectors knew it. Fellow players knew it. He knew it. Now the whole World can see it. Everyone was so supportive of him when he missed a putt of less than two feet in his first play-off. A play-off he should have never been involved in. He should have been collecting the trophy and giving his victory speech at that point. But perhaps he’d already done that mentally which is why he ended up in the play-off? Needless to say he lost.
He has played some mind bogglingly awesome golf this week in Dubai. A class above the rest of the field. So much so he found himself five shots in front with four holes to play. Dream land. Perhaps it was then when he woke from his dream? Something my followers on Twitter would have known all too well. When I posted “McIlroy on brink of first win! Can’t believe it! 5 ahead 4 to play. will those 2 playoff defeats effect him down the straight?” And, oh, how they did! He proceeded to start leaking more shots than a bad goalkeeper. Making horrible swings, bad decisions and holing 10 footers for bogeys! When Rose birdied the 17th and McIlroy dropped another the lead had been cut to just one.
To his credit the bunker shot he made from the back of the 18th after dreadfully misjudging his pitch was delightful. Rose squandered his birdie chance, and McIlroy for once held his nerve, to my surprise, on the three foot putt to scoop the first prize cheque of €323,514. The famous golf cliché ‘scorecards don’t have pictures’ springs to mind. Luckily for McIlroy nor do the record books. In the words of the great man himself “a W is a W” and it goes down a McIlroy W.
McIlroy is going to have a great career, I certainly hope so anyway. Golf needs guys like him to encourage the new breed of winners into the game. But winners are born, not bred. McIlroy isn’t a born winner and you need to be a winner to scoop a major. He lacks the killer instinct. Heaven forbid the Ryder Cup to rest on his shoulders in years to come.
McIlroy will win many more times in his career (but never a major). For that I’m certain. Just don’t be surprised if the news and blog headlines read “Rory McIlroy wins. Just.”.
Time will tell… I hope I’m wrong.
