Rory

[Parsaregood]

On his day he can be as good as anyone.
But

i think he’ll win another major.
Hope he hits some form as he’s good to watch.

I'm not talking about winning another major, sure he can go on as he is and will probably have the odd win, but if he wants to cement himself as a great player he better get working because if he carries on as he is he will only be remembered as the guy who had a lot of potential, should have done this and that but didn't. Rory has to win 7 majors to not be considered an underachiever in my opinion, that would cement him for now as the greatest British player, and no at this moment in time I can't see him getting there

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Rory seems to have hit some sort of plateau where he is so inconsistent and therefore doesn't figure in contention as much as he perhaps should. As a result there are other players coming through now and so the pool of potential winners in both tour events and majors is getting bigger and making the job harder. That applies to all players though and the level of competition has got better across the tours

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Think it’s madness to write off McIlroy- his ability and talent is undeniable and his has already won more majors than 99% of the current flock with only Woods and Mickleson ahead. He isn’t even 30 yet.

We have seen throughout his career he goes through peaks and troughs but when he peaks he just destroys fields.

He just is struggling at the moment putting all the parts together - currently he isn’t driving the ball great but seems to be chipping and putting well. Wouldn’t surprise me to see him win this week

But I don’t think he will end up winning at Augusta. Just think he will always end up being under too much pressure there - but like Greg Norman

 

[Pin-seeker]

Think it’s madness to write off McIlroy- his ability and talent is undeniable and his has already won more majors than 99% of the current flock with only Woods and Mickleson ahead. He isn’t even 30 yet.

We have seen throughout his career he goes through peaks and troughs but when he peaks he just destroys fields.

He just is struggling at the moment putting all the parts together - currently he isn’t driving the ball great but seems to be chipping and putting well. Wouldn’t surprise me to see him win this week

But I don’t think he will end up winning at Augusta. Just think he will always end up being under too much pressure there - but like Greg Norman

Not seen many actually writing Rory off,more that he’s not living Upto his early potential.
And most actually seem to want Rory to win.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

I'm not talking about winning another major, sure he can go on as he is and will probably have the odd win, but if he wants to cement himself as a great player he better get working because if he carries on as he is he will only be remembered as the guy who had a lot of potential, should have done this and that but didn't. Rory has to win 7 majors to not be considered an underachiever in my opinion, that would cement him for now as the greatest British player, and no at this moment in time I can't see him getting there

Would you count any of the following as great players

Ray Floyd
Ernie Els
Billy Casper
Larry Nelson
Hale Irwin
Vijay Singh
Tony Jacklin
Curtis Strange
Bernhard Langer

Could go on but they have all either won the same or less majors than Rory but would suggest many call them great players.

Winning majors isn’t easy - especially with a very talented field at the moment

But imo he has already shown that he is great player - the way he destroyed the US Open field was as impressive as you will see and some records that will be around for a while

 

[Wolf]

Would you count any of the following as great players

Ray Floyd NO
Ernie ELS NO
Billy CASPER NO
Larry NELSON NO
Hale IRWIN NO
Vijay SINGH NO
Tony JACKLIN NO
Curtis STRANGE NO
Bernhard LANGER NO

completely get your point about Rory, however imo none of them players would be classed as greats. All exceptional players with what they've won but none of them for me have that great status..

I think all British golf fans would love to see Rory go on to fulfil that potential, but as of right now his game, his demeanour and mental fortitude all seem to be lacking that desire that Great players have.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Not seen many actually writing Rory off,more that he’s not living Upto his early potential.
And most actually seem to want Rory to win.

Exactly. When he's on he's excellent but I wouldn't say he destroys fields. In my opinion no-one has done that since Woods when it really could be a case of everyone else playing for second. There are some great players in Phils list, especially Jacklin who won his major in the US when by seven shots (destroying that field) when it was filled with the top players of the day on home soil. I would suggest others like Langer are greats given what they have achieved in the game and he and Els in my opinion would have a higher kudos for what they achieved in their careers than McIlroy to date. Rory still has the opportunity to really stamp his mark but he needs to find far more consistency

 

[Parsaregood]

Talk about great players let's talk about
TIGER WOODS
JACK NICKLAUS
ARNOLD PALMER
BEN HOGAN
TOM WATSON
GARY PLAYER
BYRON NELSON
NICK FALDO
LEE TREVINO
SEVE
PHIL MICKELSON
BOBBY JONES
PETER THOMSON
Rory as good as he is has a long way to go yet

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Talk about great players let's talk about
TIGER WOODS
JACK NICKLAUS
ARNOLD PALMER
BEN HOGAN
TOM WATSON
GARY PLAYER
BYRON NELSON
NICK FALDO
LEE TREVINO
SEVE
PHIL MICKELSON
BOBBY JONES
PETER THOMSON
Rory as good as he is has a long way to go yet

So anyone above Rory in the list on 5 majors is great but anyone on 4 isn’t ?

Is that the cut off for a great player

What about the Tom Morris’s ? Guess not great then ?

To be in the top 20 of major winners and still in your 20’s out of how many pros over the 100 years plus ?

Some may say he is underachieving and on ability possibly but already is a great player when you look at how many majors he has already won

 

[Wolf]

The word great is banded around far to much in all sports, Rory has 4 majors yes that doesn't make him Great, it means he has achieved a lot in a short career so far.

Great players do it for a prolonged period over a whole career, Rory has not done that yet so cannot for me be classed as great player yet, does he have the potential to become one, without a doubt, the big question is will he become one..

Personally I don't think he will, imo Spieth and Koepka will go past him on that list. But I would like to see him to do it, needs a lot more application though from him

 

[Parsaregood]

If Rory retired now he wouldn't be considered a great, he'd be remembered as a great talent and a good tour pro

 

[robinthehood]

Someone of his talent should be knocking out 2 or 3 wins a season with the odd major here and there. That's not looking likely anymore

 

[Imurg]

Someone of his talent should be knocking out 2 or 3 wins a season with the odd major here and there. That's not looking likely anymore

A year ago it looked like Tiger wouldn't even play again.....
Just sayin'.....

 

[shortgame]

I wouldn't say he destroys fields.

Shooting -16 for the US Open record?

Winning the PGA by 8 shots?

 

[PhilTheFragger]

Ok so Rory has had a crap season,
Member of the winning Ryder Cup team and he has earned more money than anyone on this forum has.

He is probably disappointed and frustrated with his form, but class is permanent and I have no doubt he will turn it around .

 

[Slab]

There does seem to be a certain cyclical pattern in both the mens and womens game for a lot of players where a good number them can hit a rich vein of form and are able to dominate for 1-3 years performing very well winning multiple events (& picking up a few majors as well) but it also seems they do need to make hay while the sun shines because for most that level just doesn’t last long enough (& rarely do they get a 2nd extended bite)

Rory is in good company with the likes of Spieth, DJ, Harrignton, Park, Ko etc and the list goes on just from recent years… but when something happens be it injury, personal circumstances or just a change in focus or tweaks in the swing and it leads to a drop in form from their lofty position at the very top and if they haven’t grabbed their chance when it was all clicking then their careers might well be viewed very differently 10 years down the line (just look at Matsuyama for an example of someone who was on fire for 18 months but the majors just didn’t happen)

All these players are easily good enough to win again and most of them will, but the wins just don’t come thick and fast anymore so if/when they get the form back they need to hold their focus from year to year not just month to month

They all have one more thing in common, they are all a couple of tiers below the real elites like Woods, Nicklaus, Watson, Davies, Sorenstam etc (I’m not going to go back in history) who it seems were able to hold their time at the top for 5-10 years & more

In terms of results will the likes of Rory & Spieth etc be able to bridge the gap to even get close to the levels of Seve & Faldo) remains to be seen. Rory is marginally closer than the rest as things stand and has plenty time on his side but does need that 2nd bite as does Spieth but it will be a massive accomplishment for either because for me Rory is much closer to having a career similar to Singh & Els (if he can reach them)

 

[TheDiablo]

Rory has said he might not play enough on the European Tour next year to retain membership. Pretty shocking and a huge kick in the teeth for the tour.

I wonder if this decision is held to the same standard on here as other players making the same decision...

 

[Dan2501]

Bad year and yet has earned around £7m across both tours, is 5th on the R2D and finished 13th in the Fed Ex with a PGA Tour win. Wish I was having a similarly bad year.

He's not playing great atm but people writing him off already is hilarious. He's a streaky player but when he's on he's very difficult to beat. Only a matter of time before everything comes together and he starts winning events again.

 

[drdel]

Rory may be a cash machine and can play well my beef however is with his attitude when he isn't doing so well.

 

[TheDiablo]

Just to add to my post above, this would rule him out of being a VC or C at a future RC under the current rules