Rory's comments after round 4 ...

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Firstly, massive congratulations to Darren Clarke. Absolutely delighted for the guy. As has been posted already, he's one of the most popular Major winners in a very long time.

Just wanted to comment on Rory's "interesting" interview comments though. Big fan of the young guy, but I was honestly dumbfounded when he said he wouldn't be changing his game for the Open as they only played links golf one week a year ... and that he thought his game COULD win the Open, but only if it was nice weather! That's pretty much the gist of what he said, wasn't it? If he actually meant that then surely it's right up there with his comments about the Ryder Cup being an exhibition event! It's THE Open championship, the most important event on the golfing calendar ... yet he wouldn't be considering any changes which might make his game more effective for links golf in challenging weather? Naive? Stupid? Arrogant? All of those? I'm sure he could find the time to develop a more all round game. Hey, maybe spend a couple of hours a day less on tweeting ...

Dave, why would THE major event of our viewing year also be THE major event of Rory's schedule? Just because we all wanted him to win this week, it doesn't mean that it is as important to him as other events this year. His game is obviously working really well for manicured courses in warmer climates so why would he want to mess with that in trying to win The Open. I'm sure that at some point he will have the game for wind and rain, whether it be by experience or changing his game, but right now Rory needs to win as many events as he can and The Open may not figure as highly for him as it does for the British fans. Mickelson has taken years to play as well as he did last week and his career has been pretty impressive without the need to change things for The Open.

Dave The Jackal wrote:Naive? Stupid? Arrogant?

The word i think that sums up Rory best is 'Stubborn'. He's convinced his way is best, an attitude which is ironically more likely to equip him with the confidence to win than his natural talent alone.

There is a simple fact here and that is you cannot claim to be a great golfer until you win the open. You may be a great player of a modern interpretation of the game but not golf. Yes the open is still played with modern clubs and balls but at least the courses are on suitable playing surfaces. If he is content to be a master of the new sport of target golf then so be it.

If he changed his game for the open and it didnt come off straight away people would be giving him more stick than was leveled at Harrington over the last couple of years re swing changes.
let him master 75% of the majors before he starts tweaking!
and in any case... he can still win the Open with his current game- it just seems as though he probably has less of a chance compared to other tournaments he tees it up in

I'm sure that Rory will be so concerned by what we think on here. There is enough debate on here as to the ranking of the majors that there is no consensus whatsoever which major is more prestigious - the difference is that Rory can decide for himself which is more important and act on it. He gets shot down when he does...

sharrison01 wrote:Dave, why would THE major event of our viewing year also be THE major event of Rory's schedule? Just because we all wanted him to win this week, it doesn't mean that it is as important to him as other events this year. His game is obviously working really well for manicured courses in warmer climates so why would he want to mess with that in trying to win The Open. I'm sure that at some point he will have the game for wind and rain, whether it be by experience or changing his game, but right now Rory needs to win as many events as he can and The Open may not figure as highly for him as it does for the British fans. Mickelson has taken years to play as well as he did last week and his career has been pretty impressive without the need to change things for The Open.

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Fair enough, up to a point, mate. Just think that the Open, Scottish Open and Dunhill Links are 3 pretty big ones to not be giving himself the best chance to compete in. His game may well develop to be able to tackle these in tricky conditions, but again that's not what he was saying. When he was growing up on links in Norn Irn, did he only play when it was calm and sunny? He would only have managed about 2 rounds a year!

McLaren wrote:There is a simple fact here and that is you cannot claim to be a great golfer until you win the open. You may be a great player of a modern interpretation of the game but not golf. Yes the open is still played with modern clubs and balls but at least the courses are on suitable playing surfaces. If he is content to be a master of the new sport of target golf then so be it.

not in the slightest bit biased coming from a scotsman.

The Open is but the Scottish Open and Dunhill are hardly prestigious worldwide tournaments. The Scottish attracted the best this year for the first time in ages because of it's venue change - before that it was rarely played by the top players and the Dunhill is half played with muppets like Hugh Grant and Tim Henman. Hardly up there with any of the other majors or WGC events...

has anyone take the chance to look at his record in Links competitions? its pretty impressive! hes won a huge amount in the amateur game. could easily have won the open last year, was leading amateur a few years back, and secured his tour card on the back of a high finish in the dunhill links when he just turned pro.
i think people are going a bit overboard on the back of a couple of comments he made when just off the course.

Yes but Rory’s ball flight is very high which as he said works really well 99% of the time. Should he really change his swing to produce a lower ball flight which would work well in wind but not quite so well in all the other tournaments then? There isn’t an on off switch to swing one way on parkland courses and another on Links. Yes he can punch the ball the ball a lot more in links to keep it down but fundamentally he should not change his swing.

Harrington when he came out on tour had a much lower ball flight which was more suited to links than Parkland courses. Well after he played in the us open (97 I think) he realized that his swing needed to change fundamentally and now he has a much higher ball flight. Kind of Ironic that he changed his swing so it would work better on parkland courses and 2 of his three majors have come on links courses.

So Harrington aimed to get a higher ball flight should be really be asking Rory to go the other way?

On the Thursday and Friday Rory shot level par and was right in the mix despite getting the worst of the weather both days, so his game is certainly good enough to win the British open even and bad conditions. Rory’s problem now is that every word he say will be analysed by the worlds media and of course the 606 regulars, certainly he was frustrated with his round and that his ball moved on the 7th green. But it is a very fine line between honest and sounding like you are moaning, personally I thing Sergio was giving him interview tips during their round.

Rory was raised on an inland course so, I suppose we shouldn't be too surprised by his candidness. Nevertheless, I do think he should try learning to engage his brain before his mouth because as far as I'm concerned he will now henceforth be referred to as the fairweather golfer!

Having said that, didn't these comments come off the back of him having to suffer a penalty due to the wind moving his ball at address?

In any event, why does he need to feel he has to change his game in order to compete over a windswept links course? Sounds like a bit of a crock to me. He's supposed to be a professional, isn't he? Is he so one-dimensional that he can't play knock-down shots into the wind. Don't they have wind in America? Is he so one-dimensional that he can't even chip n'run with, say, a 5-iron? It's ridiculous. Personally, I think this is a deflection tactic to get everyone to stop talking about his bleedin' putting!!!

I didn't realise he had a penalty imposed for his ball moving.
What day did that happen Gael? Was this over a putt?

I think his penalty was during round 4

I see this morning that the twittersphere is "all a twitter" over his ending of his long term relationship and is now "stepping out" with tennis player Caroline Wozniaki. I wonder if this affected him last week, his rather ill-thought out after-tourney comments, and his apparent absense to help celebrate DC's win

Are we sure Rory is not just a bit of plonker?

McLaren wrote:Are we sure Rory is not just a bit of plonker?

A very good point indeed. Often a person's achievements do mask the fact that they are actually idiots. If you've ever seen a Jonny Depp interview it is amazing that he can actually read the scripts!?! Rory could well be similar...

On the McIlroy education issue, i'll leave this one to the font of all wisdom, Blackadder. Talking about Charlie Chaplin, who he despises, he says;

Edmund: He certainly is a genuis, George. He invented a way of getting a million dollars a year by wearing stupid trousers.

Or in this case, swinging a bit of metal and hitting a rubber ball.

I have plenty of degree educated friends who can't rub 2 pounds coins together, and who frankly are as think as a plank. And no, money's not the be all and end all, but in the words of that other great philospoher, Del Boy, money's not everything "but it certainly takes the sting out of being poor".

McIlroy is young, loaded, travels the world, has a great life. Education or not, he's doing pretty well i'd say.

sharrison01 wrote:

McLaren wrote:Are we sure Rory is not just a bit of plonker?

A very good point indeed. Often a person's achievements do mask the fact that they are actually idiots. If you've ever seen a Jonny Depp interview it is amazing that he can actually read the scripts!?! Rory could well be similar...

This was more in relation to his general behaviour and not meant to dredge up the education debate. He seems to have dumped his girlfriend and ended up in a celebrity relationship within moments of his new found superstardom.

McLaren wrote:

sharrison01 wrote:

McLaren wrote:Are we sure Rory is not just a bit of plonker?

A very good point indeed. Often a person's achievements do mask the fact that they are actually idiots. If you've ever seen a Jonny Depp interview it is amazing that he can actually read the scripts!?! Rory could well be similar...

This was more in relation to his general behaviour and not meant to dredge up the education debate. He seems to have dumped his girlfriend and ended up in a celebrity relationship within moments of his new found superstardom.

My apologies if it came across that way but I meant no reference to education and fully understood that neither had you!?!

I agree with you that he could be a plonker but find it interesting how that side of them can sometimes be masked by their abilities in their chosen field. I always thought of Rory as having a good head on his shoulders because of his skills on the course and his attitude to golf off of the course - when you hear about things like his celebrity relationship it does make you wonder what he's actually thinking. Hope he doesn't go "full plonker" but will be keeping an eye out for it...

i think rory comes across as a fairly well rounded lad most of the time. I think his comments on this occasion were probably well founded but ill advised.

Pluses of the British Open... it's ours, it has history, it's a different test... which in principle is a good thing.

Downsides, the weather and draw can make a huge difference, arguably there's a bit too much luck involved regardless, and, from a viewers perspective, many of the courses are pig ugly.

I realise its sacrilege to question links golf, but i've never been a fan, and the british open is my least favourite of the majors.

If i was PR agent to the latest darling of the golf world and knowing he shared that view, i'd probably be advising him to water down his opinions or just not give them. As i'm not his pr agent, i'm all for him speaking his mind.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-14195134


Looks like he dumper her, maybe she was a complete bore or maybe he wants to play the field and not be tied up and have fun without get accused of cheating. Smart guy unlike you know who! This guy gets better every time. To think I used to hate him once upon a time. Ok so maybe he is arrogant at times and was sulking at the end of the Open and did not wait to congratulate Darren but still his latest move is a mark of a single minded man just like he refused to play at the Players. No need to suck up to anyone Rory.

The 3 most important golfers of the new generation are Ryo, Rory and Rickie, I call them the 3R'S! Long may they reign!

Where does Manaserro fit into that?

I'm going to merge this with the other Rory thread (as it was already mentioned on there). No need for two such similar threads

KeizoYamata wrote:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-14195134


Looks like he dumper her, maybe she was a complete bore or maybe he wants to play the field and not be tied up and have fun without get accused of cheating. Smart guy unlike you know who! This guy gets better every time. To think I used to hate him once upon a time. Ok so maybe he is arrogant at times and was sulking at the end of the Open and did not wait to congratulate Darren but still his latest move is a mark of a single minded man just like he refused to play at the Players. No need to suck up to anyone Rory.

The 3 most important golfers of the new generation are Ryo, Rory and Rickie, I call them the 3R'S! Long may they reign!

Rickie "Three Rounds" Fowler? Do me a favour, not all that impressed with Ryo either.
The similarity with McIlroy begins and ends with age.

McIlroy could have been called Rory 3 rounds after Augusta.....and that was a proper blow up round, not a slip from 3rd to 5th like Fowler had last week.
Come on Super, he does need a win but he is improving his CV bit by bit.

He is improving granted, but lets not call him part of the new breed until he actually wins something. So far it only really contains Mannaserro and McIlroy.

Once he does win, gets a haircut and starts dressing like a grown up I'll probably actually quite like him.

Back on Fowler again?!? I'm pretty sure that on that thread I listed the ages that the last/current generation of players won their first tour events. If none of them had won anything by now it would bear no shame - they are all still really young and would have no expectations of winning at this age.

super_realist wrote:He is improving granted, but lets not call him part of the new breed until he actually wins something. So far it only really contains Mannaserro and McIlroy.

Once he does win, gets a haircut and starts dressing like a grown up I'll probably actually quite like him.

I have a spanner in your works there - he is religious.

You can be religious if you like so long as you don't preach about it. (I'll still think you are feeble minded though).

I've no problem with him being touted as part of the new breed, but he has to qualify by winning something first. He's just a "maybe" right now.