With Tiger Woods struggling to stay healthy over the past several years and not winning a major since 2008, you could make the argument that Jordan Spieth has become the most popular player on the PGA Tour. Even if that is the case, Rory McIlroy does not think the 24-year-old gets enough credit for how good he is.
In a recent sit-down with Paul Kimmage of the Irish Independent, McIlroy and Padraig Harrigton had extremely high praise for Spieth. The conversation began when Harrington suggested Spieth’s buddies — like Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas — should be paying Jordan a retainer because they have the privilege of getting to golf with him in their free time.
“They are all much better golfers because of Jordan Spieth,” Harrington said.
McIlroy seemed to agree.
“I had a chat with Brandt Snedeker last night and we both said it: ‘Jordan Spieth is the most underrated player in the game,'” he said. “When you look at what he’s done, and what he’s achieved, but all you hear are negatives. … ‘He doesn’t have this and he doesn’t have that.'”
Spieth has already won three major championships, and he’ll play in three more before his 25th birthday. He has won the Masters once and finished as the runner up two times. The only win he needs to complete the career grand slam is the PGA Championship, and he finished second there in 2015.
McIlroy is considered by many to be golf’s next greatest thing, but he has only one more major win than Spieth and is more than four years older than him. A chart shared by Kyle Porter of CBSSports.com shows how both McIlroy and Spieth are tracking right along with Phil Mickelson in terms of career wins per tournament played. Woods remains in his own stratosphere, but that will probably never change.
Spieth has been criticized for some pace of play issues, most notably with the disaster of a situation during the final round of his win at the Open Championship last year. But you could argue that he gets plenty of credit for how good he is, so it says a lot that McIlroy thinks he’s underrated.
Rory McIlroy does not seem to harbor any ill feelings towards ex-girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki.
On Saturday, Wozniacki beat Simona Halep in three sets to win the Australian Open, marking her first career major. She later posted a photo and caption on Instagram about her accomplishment.
“A dream come true!! @australianopen champion and new world #1” she wrote.
And guess what? McIlroy was among those who “liked” the post:
Rory McIlroy seems to be happy for Caroline Wozniacki on her first grand slam win pic.twitter.com/s7JsjEustn
McIlroy and Wozniacki dated from 2011-2014 until Rory called off their engagement, saying he realized he wasn’t ready for it. The topic of their breakup continued to come up in the media even as recently as a year ago, when Woz told McIlroy to move on.
The massive house contains six bedrooms and nine bathrooms. It also includes a putting green in addition to a waterfall and well-equipped gym. You can see a few photos below.
After recovering from a rib injury he suffered last summer, McIlroy will have a busy start to 2018. The now-married 28-year-old will play in two events later this month. McIlroy is then scheduled to take part in two events in February and two more in March, including the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Rory McIlroy says that he will be out indefinitely with a rib injury following a 22nd-place finish at the PGA Championship in Charlotte on Sunday.
McIlroy shot a final-round 68 to finish the major one over par. Afterwards he said he will return home to be examined by doctors. He believes he may miss anywhere from a few weeks to several months.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” McIlroy said on Sunday. “You might not see me until next year. You might see me in a couple of weeks’ time. It really depends.”
Although all four majors have already been played, McIlroy still has work to do in the FedEx Cup standings. He’s ranked No. 43 and needs to be in the top 30 to qualify for the Tour Championship. But it sounds like he’s not too worried about that as of now. Instead, he seems to say he’s more focused on the Masters next year.
“April is a long way away. That’s the next big thing on my radar,” he said.
McIlroy last won a major in 2014, when he went back-to-back at The Open Championship and PGA Championship. The 28-year-old posted two top-10s this year.
Rory McIlroy had a perfect response for former major champion Steve Elkington on Twitter Friday.
McIlroy failed to make the cut at the US Open for the second year in a row. Elk, who won the PGA Championship in 1995, said that McIlroy was “bored” with golf.
McIlroy responded to the comment by sending a screenshot of his career accomplishments, noting that Elk underestimated his career earnings by half.
More like 200mil… not bad for a "bored" 28 year old… plenty more where that came from. pic.twitter.com/R2nigEaee7
Rory McIlroy is riding high entering The Players Championship this week.
McIlroy married wife Erica Stoll two and a half weeks ago. The two then reportedly went on a 10-day honeymoon. McIlroy’s just now getting back into the swing of things with his golf and still appears to be on his wedding high.
The world No. 2 golfer spoke at a news conference on Tuesday and spoke glowingly about his wedding, calling it the “best weekend” of his life.
“It was really cool. We tried to keep it as private as possible, it was between our friends and families and we didn’t really want anything else.
“It was a weekend of celebrations. We had a welcome reception on the Friday, the whole wedding day on the Saturday and a farewell brunch on Sunday. We spent three really nice days days with the people we cherish the most and that was really special.”
McIlroy says he tried to lose some weight entering the event this week, so it sounds like he is trying to refocus and prepare for golf again. If he plays extremely well, it could be because he has so much peace of mind.
Rory McIlroy and former PGA Tour employee Erica Stoll got married over the weekend in a glamorous ceremony at the Ashford Castle in Ireland, but you might have a difficult time finding photos of the big day. The couple took countless security measures for the seven-figure wedding, including preventing drones from flying overhead.
According to a report from the Irish Independent, McIlroy and Stall hired anti-drone technology that had been previously used in counter-terrorism operations in the Middle East. Drone Defence executives Liam Brady and Richard Gill told the Irish Independent that this is the first time the technology has been used to prevent cameras from spying on a wedding, but they expect the practice to become more popular.
Here’s more:
The Cong castle was in “lockdown” from Friday morning. Drone Defence executives Liam Brady and Richard Gill – speaking exclusively to the Irish Independent – said the technology deployed to prevent camera-equipped drones will shortly be used widely in Ireland and other European cities.
“This is the first time this kind of technology has been used here,” Mr Brady said.
Mr Gill explained that their system enables the detection of unsanctioned drones that enter controlled airspace. “The drones are then either taken under our control by special technology or they are disabled by the use of a deployed net.”
If you thought Michael Jordan and his wife went to great lengths to protect their privacy when they got married a few years back, it sounds like McIlroy and Stoll managed to outdo them. Gone are the days where guests are simply asked to leave their cell phones at the door.
27-year-old golfer Rory McIlroy won his first ever major nearly six years ago when he took home the title at the US Open at Congressional in 2011. After that win, McIlroy, then 22, received a letter from late golfing legend Arnold Palmer.
On social media Tuesday, McIlroy shared that letter:
A letter from AP after my first major. Great words of wisdom as always. Can't wait to play @APinv this week and celebrate his amazing life. pic.twitter.com/plIpZxgjtn
That’s a pretty cool letter to receive from one of the most iconic figures in golf.
McIlroy of course won that major by shooting 16-under and 268 over the 72 holes — both of which were major records. He was named PGA Player of the Year in 2012 and 2014 and has some work to do in 2017 to get back to that form. McIlroy finished in the top 10 in two majors last year but also failed to make the cut in the other two.
Rory McIlroy has taken a lot of heat for playing golf with President Donald Trump in Florida over the weekend, and he responded with a statement on Friday.
The current world No. 3 golfer was invited to play a round of golf with Trump at Trump International Golf Club in Florida and accepted despite having a rib injury. He took a lot of criticism for playing with the polarizing president, but said in a statement that accepting the invitation was not a political statement nor an endorsement of Trump’s policies:
McIlroy has tried to avoid the political spotlight in the past. Rather than decide between playing for Ireland or the United Kingdom in the Olympics, he decided not to participate at all.
It’s also worth noting that McIlroy visited the White House in 2012 when President Obama was in office:
Unbelievable experience at the White House last night! Big thanks to @BarackObama for the invite! We'll get that golf swing sorted soon!
Given that information, it seems like McIlroy is just playing it even and trying to avoid controversy, which is something he had enough of with this last month.
Caroline Wozniacki was surprised to hear Rory McIlroy talking about the former couple’s relationship in a recent interview, and the tennis star has a very simple message for McIlroy in response.
“I saw it alright, but I do not really have anything to say,” Wozniacki said. “Was I surprised? Yes.”
Woz then got a bit more personal.
“It’s a little dead by now. It is three years ago, so I don’t understand why he keeps bringing it up,” she added. “I don’t think there is any reason to. He looks like he is a good place in his life, so he surely he must move on.”
McIlroy is now happily engaged to former PGA employee Erica Stoll. He insisted he holds no ill will toward Wozniacki, but some of the things he said were unflattering, to say the least. You can read McIlroy’s comments here.
McIlroy won two majors and was named PGA Tour Player of the Year in the months after he abruptly split with Wozniacki, so it seems like not dating her has been good for his career. As Woz said, the two broke up a long time ago. You can’t blame her for being annoyed that she still has to answer questions about her ex.
