Rory McIlroy responded to a commentator with harsh words Thursday. McIlroy double-bogeyed 18 to finish one under (tied for 44th) after the first round of the Irish Open. Commentator Jay Townsend criticized McIlroy while on-air for The Golf Channel and later on twitter.
During Rory’s second shot on 18, Townsend said on-air “And there you go. That’s why you don’t hit it into the bunker. You guys talked about ‘refreshing the way he plays.’ He plays silly, several times already today.”
He continued his criticism on twitter, writing “McIlroy’s course management was shocking.” He followed that up by saying “Rory McIlroy should hire Stevie Williams, as I thought JP allowed some SHOCKING course management today.”
McIlroy did not take the criticism kindly, firing back with this tweet:
When Townsend told McIlroy to get rid of his caddie, J.P. Fitzgerald, that’s when McIlroy replied to say he stands by his caddie.
McIlroy certainly went overboard here. Commentators are supposed to provide analysis and opinions and many times their subjects don’t like hearing the negativity. Telling someone to shut up and that their opinion doesn’t matter because they were a failed golfer is an arrogant response.
Townsend’s opinion matters if there’s merit to what he said. However, once he got personal suggesting McIlroy hire a new caddie, that’s when it was fine for Rory to show his passion. The bottom line is McIlroy can’t let criticism bother him that much and maybe he should take some of the advice into consideration.
