"Rory has more talent than Tiger" says Luke

[Monty_Brown]

Quote from Luke Donald in Dubai:

"In terms of talent I think Rory has more. I think Tiger's work ethic has always been tremendous and his mindset as well."

What say you lot? Interesting way to compare them any way.

 

[One Planer]

It depends how you/he defines "talent"

 

[Mattyboy]

I agree - its Tigers mental strength that has brought him the majors IMO.

 

[bluewolf]

I agree - its Tigers mental strength that has brought him the majors IMO.

I agree...If Rors had Tigers mental strength and work ethic he would be unstoppable..But theres time yet, and anyway, who does have Tigers work ethic and mental strength. The guys a freak of nature..

 

[Monty_Brown]

It depends how you/he defines "talent"

I interpreted his meaning as "natural ability", but then that's a whole can of worms as well

 

[wull]

but surely having the mental strength to do what tiger has done is talent in itself?no?

it's hard to define whats talent,it's like the old "who's the best golfer ever?".....i would personally say tiger but on paper it would be jack but with all the current crop of players and how difficult the field has become then you'd have to go with tiger being better,and the way he did it.

as for rory only time will tell,i think it's a bit to soon to be making such claims....for all we know he could not win as much as we all expect.....not that,that will happen but the fact is "you never know"....another factor now is how good does tiger get,if he gets anywhere near where he was then you won't be seeing so many 1st time winners like we have over the last few years and it's because of this that we believe there is so much new talent out there.

the old guys all say there has always been this new cream of the crop,when mickelson etc came on the scene but no one took any notice,now though....everyone notices and for that reason they think players are so much better than what they were years ago.i'm not so sure that's the case but i might be wrong!!!

 

[CMAC]

I disagree, pound for pound the flair and creative shots I've seen Woods do is better than McIlroy IMO, they are both excellent though so hard to compare.

Wonder why Lukes looking for publicity or was he answering a question?
seems out of character for Mr Donald to be controversial.

 

[Monty_Brown]

I disagree, pound for pound the flair and creative shots I've seen Woods do is better than McIlroy IMO, they are both excellent though so hard to compare.

Wonder why Lukes looking for publicity or was he answering a question?
seems out of character for Mr Donald to be controversial.

BBC interview here

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/golf/16066086.stm

Could be putting a bit of pressure on Rory before they go head to head?

 

[wull]

I disagree, pound for pound the flair and creative shots I've seen Woods do is better than McIlroy IMO, they are both excellent though so hard to compare.

.

that sums it up for me....

 

[brendy]

Woods also has a dozen years on Rory so I think time will ultimately tell.

 

[Aztecs27]

I disagree, pound for pound the flair and creative shots I've seen Woods do is better than McIlroy IMO, they are both excellent though so hard to compare.

Wonder why Lukes looking for publicity or was he answering a question?
seems out of character for Mr Donald to be controversial.

I don't get why whenever the slightest criticism (if you can call it that) is said about Tiger, everyone immediately says it's "controversial". Very puzzling.

Perhaps Luke was just giving his honest opinion, having played with both of them and giving props to his mate (and maybe putting a bit of pressure on him going into this week). It's not like he said Tiger was terrible, but that Rory has more (natural) talent and that Tiger's ridiculous mental strength, work ethic and desire to win is what has made him.

 

[CMAC]

I don't get why whenever the slightest criticism (if you can call it that) is said about Tiger, everyone immediately says it's "controversial". Very puzzling.

you've taken a big leap there Aztec, my comment is actually about Luke 'mild mannered' Donald, nothing to do with Tiger whom I have enormous admiration for, Luke never says boo to a goose never mind say 1 player is better than another, he's usually very tactful. Hope that clears that up.

 

[thecraw]

Me thinks Master Luke is playing mind games!

 

[timchump]

wow whats donald upto?

i think their both ultra talented hard for me to tell the difference,

rory has undoubted great natural ability though tiger's short game i think is better which arguably requires more talent,

phil mickeslon is more talented than both of them

 

[Deleted member 1418]

From what I have seen of both Tiger and Rory, I would probably agree that Rory does probably have more natural talent and ability than Tiger, however it isn't all about natural talent - work ethic, mental fortitude, physical conditioning etc all play their part. A prime example is Faldo and Lyle - Lyle had more natural ability and flair, but Faldo had the others in abundance and therefore deservedly won more majors.The title of the thread can also easily be extended to read so many different ways i.e. "Rory has more talent than Tiger, but both have far less than Seve". Let's face it, it's said everytime you get a number of talented golfers at the same time in any era - look at Nicklaus and Palmer; Arnie probably had more natural talent, but Jack had the complete package.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

How do you define talent? As it stands right now, if the Tiger of 2000 went head to head with the McIlroy of today, I think Tiger would win. Rory has potential to be great, it remains to be seen if he knows how to achieve it

 

[Airlie_Andy]

It all depends what Luke means by "talent" really. I'd suggest he is saying that Rory has more natural ability in terms of the golf swing whereas Tigers swing is more "manufactured." However, I'd actually argue it takes more "talent" to use an unnatural swing to such great effect. To compare it to snooker O'Sullivan is the most talented snooker player to have played the games whereas Steve Davis just knew how to use what he had to win and had the mental strength to go with it. Rory has a long way to go to be half the player Tiger has been but he has the "ability" to do it.

 

[m10johnson]

It's hard to define natural talent so lets not get into that. Currently studying a PE and Sport degree and research shows that you need have at least 10,000 hours of practice before you truly understand the game and can play it properly.

 

[Piece]

Talent can mean he has to work less to get the same result as others on a stock shot.

Or it can mean his swing just looks more natural & beautiful, than say, a Zach Johnson or Matt Kuchar.

Or it can be associated with potential. Rory certainly has potential to go very far in golf.

More talented than Tiger? You can't measure that at moment.

What I will say is that Rory has to prove his talent in all conditions. This means showing talent in windy conditions, links golf, recovery shots, etc., other wise he could be labelled a one-dimensional talented golfer.

 

[Aztecs27]

you've taken a big leap there Aztec, my comment is actually about Luke 'mild mannered' Donald, nothing to do with Tiger whom I have enormous admiration for, Luke never says boo to a goose never mind say 1 player is better than another, he's usually very tactful. Hope that clears that up.

Fair enough. My comment wasn't actually directed specifically at you (though I see that is how it came across!!), but just in general, your comment just reminded me of it. It's like the Poulter comment about Tiger not finishing inside the top 5 at the Masters this year...Blown completely out of proportion. Poults speaks his mind all the time and was just giving his honest opinion with Tiger's current form.