‘Nobody has hit more golf balls than me… so DON’T call me lazy’: Rory McIlroy summons the courage of American great Sam Snead ahead of The Open as Northern Irisman insists he is working harder than ever
- Rory McIlroy says he is working harder than ever to improve his game
- The Northern Irishman was asked about his inconsistencies ahead of The Open
- The 32-year-old insisted nobody in the world has hit more golf balls than him
Brooks Koepka or Bryson DeChambeau — who do you think Rory McIlroy would rather have a pint with at the 19th hole?
With the week of the 149th Open at Royal St George’s upon us and his game seemingly in disarray, it’s fair to assume it’s not a dilemma high on McIlroy’s list of priorities.
But, at the launch of a new video platform on Sky Q — called GolfPass, of which Rory is a founder — he was characteristically forthcoming on that left-field query and more orthodox questions regarding the season’s final major.
Rory McIlroy summoned the spirit of Sam Snead when he was asked about his natural talen
He even summoned up the spirit of American great Sam Snead at one point with a positively bristling response when it was put to him that it must be frustrating being the most naturally gifted talent in the sport but so inconsistent.
It used to annoy the hell out of Snead when he was called the most naturally gifted player of his generation. He would snarkily point out that he actually worked from morning till night on the practice range so that his swing appeared so natural. McIlroy was more polite but got his point across forcibly enough.
‘I don’t like the talented tag because it suggests if you are naturally talented you don’t work hard or practise,’ he said. ‘Talent is simply the hard work that you have put in over the years. There is no one in the world of golf who has hit more golf balls than I have.
‘I get where people are coming from but I’ve been playing golf since I was two years old so that naturally talented thing irks me as it gives off the impression I am naturally lazy and don’t work as hard, which is obviously not the case at all.’
The 32-year-old insisted that he is working harder than ever to improve his game
It’s the sort of feisty attitude McIlroy is going to need during a week that promises to test him to the limit. The last time he was seen at the Open, he was fighting back the tears after missing the halfway cut by one at Royal Portrush in 2019.
Now he arrives at St George’s after tournaments in Ireland and Scotland that have dissolved much of the promise shown during his spirited display at the US Open last month, where he finished tied seventh.
With the weather forecast none too clever for the next two days, McIlroy instantly set to work, playing a full 18 holes yesterday. ‘After missing out on the biggest and best major last year, it’s all the sweeter that we’re here,’ he said after his round.
McIlroy admitted for the first time that he got his preparations wrong at Portrush, where he opened with a three iron out of bounds and tumbled to a first round 78 before responding with a 65.
‘I didn’t quite approach Portrush the right way in terms of preparing myself to play in that atmosphere in front of those people,’ he said. ‘It was almost as if, once the first round was out of the way, I was unburdened because I was of the mindset “I can’t win from here” and then I go out and shoot 65.
The Northern Irishman admitted he he got his preparations wrong at Portrush back in 2019
‘It’s trying to feel on the opening day how I felt on the second day. Clearly, at Portrush I didn’t do a good enough job of getting into that frame of mind but I’ve learned from that.’
At St George’s a decade ago the expectation was off the scale. McIlroy arrived having won the US Open by a country mile at just 22 and was feted with every stride. But he showed his tender years after the final round when he railed against the admittedly tempestuous conditions with some infantile remarks.
To be fair, he went away and worked hard to add links-style shots to his game, amassing a fine record of a win at Royal Liverpool in 2014 followed by three successive top five finishes.
It’s hard to see him mustering another of those this week, given his current travails, but perhaps the fate of fellow Northern Irishman Darren Clarke at Sandwich in 2011 will prove auspicious.
Clarke, then aged 42, was much more down in the dumps than McIlroy after also missing the cut at the Scottish Open the previous week. We all remember — and savour —what happened next.
As for the brooding rivals Brooks or Bryson as a drinking partner, you can probably guess. He went for the Sports Jock over the Science Nerd.
‘Brooks and I probably have more in common than Bryson and I,’ said McIlroy. ‘They are two different characters.’
Rory was speaking at the launch of GolfPass on Sky Q. For more information go to sky.com/GolfPass