Rory McIlroy stood before journalists this Wednesday in the run-up to the Cognizant Classic at The Palm Beaches and his press conference was far from uneventful. The tournament is being played just a handful of kilometres from where he lives and the truth is that he seemed very comfortable, as if he were in his own living room. He was more ironic than ever when talking about LIV Golf, amusing, even playful with the questions and very interesting regarding the moment he is going through in his career and what he sees in the future. He also responded to Talor Gooch, but that’s almost beside the point…
As for LIV Golf, he was asked about recent statements by Chubby Chandler, one of the most veteran and important agents in world golf, who managed Rory’s career in his early years as a professional. Chandler commented in an interview that he saw Rory McIlroy in LIV Golf. “Who knows? He doesn’t need 750 million, but it’s strange what he’s done (referring to his moderation when talking about LIV Golf) and I’m sure it’s a possibility. Whether he does it or not, I don’t know, but if Rahm can do it, most people can do it. I think there’s a 10% chance he’s favouring his signing for LIV with his statements, but at the same time he realises that all these discussions and fights are not good for golf. The man in the street must find the sums of money being talked about appalling.”
Well, Rory has used the finest irony to respond to Chandler. “I think he’s writing a book, isn’t he? I don’t know, I spoke to him in Dubai earlier this year and he might know a few things,” he said laughing. About the 10 percent chance that he’s paving the way to go to LIV, he joked again. “Maybe more like five percent, who knows”.
Be that as it may, at least today, Rory has decided not to take too seriously everything that is being said and commented on out there. As for Gooch, stick and carrot. He has been moderate, but has not missed the opportunity to give him a good zasca by comparing him with Niemann. “The Masters is an invitation tournament and they will invite whoever they believe deserves an invitation. To be fair to Talor, if you read the whole question and then the answer, he doesn’t really say it like that. I think it was more the journalist who led him to say that, so I give him a bit of the benefit of the doubt. He just agreed with what the interviewer asked him. At the same time, Joaquín Niemann received an invitation, I played with him a few weeks ago in Dubai and he went to Australia and won. Last week he was in Oman. He has been chasing his chance to play the Masters all over the world to achieve it. I don’t know if the same can be said of Talor,” he concluded. It should be remembered that Gooch said that if McIlroy won the Grand Slam at the next Masters there would have to be an asterisk for the absence of some LIV players.
Beyond using irony on the most controversial topics, Rory has also been able to laugh at himself, for example when talking about the moment in his career. “Oh, I have to be careful with that, I remember once saying that Mickelson and Tiger were the second nine of their career and I got a lot of shit for it… I don’t know, if I had to say something, I turned pro in 2007, I’ve been at it for 17 years and in 17 years I’ll be 51… I’d say I’m on the 10th green or 11th tee of my career”.
As to whether he sees himself with the same hunger for the next 17 years, Rory was emphatic. “No, impossible, 17 years is a long time. But I do see myself with the same hunger for the next 10 years. The goal is to have ten more good years… or win a Green Jacket and bugger off,” he emphasised laughing.
As for his way of motivating himself, Rory has told a curious story. “I know there are many players who give their caddies the 18th hole flag when they win a tournament. I, however, always keep them. They are all hanging on the walls of my gym. It’s a way of motivating myself. I want to have more and more flags on the walls. That’s my goal”. And the million-dollar question, what does his caddie get? “10 percent of the prize, not bad, right? Well, and he has the four polos with which I won the Majors framed in his house. I think he doesn’t come out too badly”.
Another anecdote where he laughed at himself again. Tiger Woods has said on several occasions that he really only has in sight in his house the trophies he has won in the Majors, in a demonstration that those are the ones that matter and not so much the rest of the tournaments. Well, when Rory was asked if he did the same, his answer was as follows: “well, I only have four, it would look a bit poor. In Tiger’s case, with 15, I understand that it looks better… I have all my trophies. It’s a bit of a jumble, but I have them in my house, apart from a couple of them that are at the Holywood Golf Club, where it all started”, referring to the club he came from.
Finally, he left a very interesting reflection on how difficult it is for players coming from the School or the Korn Ferry Tour to keep the card. “Yes, I’m aware of that. It’s not easy for me to talk about that because luckily I’ve never been in that situation and maybe it wouldn’t be fair to ask them for patience, but what I do believe is that golf and sport should be like this, it’s competition, it’s tough, fierce and you have to take your chances. There are the cases of Nick Dunlap or Jake Knapp. In the end it’s about you have to play well,” he concluded.
