Rory congratulates Rickie
Rory McIlroy made a late bogey on No. 17, missing a 5-footer for par, along with a 15-footer for birdie on No. 18, to join a three-way playoff with Rickie Fowler and D.A. Points (who he was paired with — it was a pretty thrilling duel watching the two on the back nine trade shots). Fowler hit an impressive approach shot on the first playoff hole, No. 18, to win with a birdie, leaving McIlroy with another top-three finish.
If it’s any consolation, Rory, who needed to finish seventh or better to dethrone Luke Donald, is back atop the world rankings. Donald placed third at last week’s Zurich Classic to topple Rory. It’s been a game of musical chairs for those two, who seem to switch places between No. 1 and No. 2 every week or two.
Rory, who was understandably disappointed, would have preferred winning to regaining the No. 1 world ranking.
“That’s nice,” said McIlroy in his post-loss presser when asked his thoughts on retaking the top spot in the OWGR, “It’s a little consolation. I would rather win the tournament, but yeah, it’s good. I want to try and play well for the next few weeks and try and solidify my spot there at No. 1 and hopefully start doing that next week and giving myself another chance to win.”
Agreed.
At some point, it’d be nice for Rory (or Luke or another player) to separate himself from the crowded pack and take a firm grasp as the best player in the world.
What do you think? Is it good for golf for a handful of different guys to reach No. 1? Or do you prefer one dominant player?
(AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
Recent Tweets
Firstly, what’s up with this troll named Chris? He posts the same off-topic comment in every thread.
To the point of this thread, it’s bad for the game that players are cycling in and out of the top spot. All the young guys out right now are not that much better than each other. Rory has the best swing of them all, but not a killer spirit. Guys out there play to win, but not to win all the time, every time. The game is more like a lucrative career for them than an engrossing passion. Tiger in his heyday had the passion that’s missing from Rory.
“All the young guys out right now are not that much better than each other.”
What I actually mean is that no one out there, including Rory, is that much better than anyone else.
Those are sentences that happen while drinking and studying.
Watch out at the US Open..Rory is pounding ball high and straight. I don’t see how he can be beat if he drives it like this. He’s carrying the ball 320 with his 3 Wood.
I’m still waiting for Rory to win a tournament in a major pressure situation.. Sure he won a Major.. but it was a blow out. He hasn’t truly shown that he can come out in a close battle / back 9 situation on top. I think Rory is a champion, and deserves to be at or near number 1, but he has quite a long way to go before he gets that true epic status. He needs to be able to hole 5 footers on the 71st hole.. or drain epic tigeresque 15 footers on 72… Or not bail out with his gap wedge in the playoff.. Rory’s good, but he’s not GREAT yet.
“It’s a little consolation. I would rather win the tournament, but yeah, it’s good. I want to try and play well for the next few weeks and try and solidify my spot there at No. 1 and hopefully start doing that next week and giving myself another chance to win.”
Sorry for multiple posts (where is the edit function?), but I think this comment says it all about his attitude. Yes, he wants to win, but Jack, Tiger and all the other guys who truly separated themselves from their peers would never have given a single though to “solidifying [their] spot” in the ranking. All they wanted to to was win tournaments. Maybe this more a testament to the downsides of a ranking system in general. Then, there would be no way to maintain any shred of complacency about a 2nd place finish, since all it would be is 2nd place finish.
But he said straight up that he’d rather win the tournament. And now you’re criticizing him for not wanting to win enough? I don’t see this as some sort of mental deficiency. I’m sure there’s LOTS of quotes from Tiger saying it’s nice to be number one or something along those lines. Doesn’t mean anything, they’re just being diplomatic.
Yeah, I know I was sounding a bit harsh, but Rory just seems too nonchalant when he hits a bad shot. He gets this “oh well” sort of look on his face. Maybe once he matures more he will really get fired up.
i’ve come to the conclusion…Chris doesn’t like tigger…..same post every topic…..but would like to see Tiger punch him in the face….true story….
Can we ban Chris somehow? Geez dude.
Also, I like the revolving door. I honestly think it’s bringing out the best in both Rory and Luke. If someone else gets in the mix too (or even a couple more), all the better!
After the Brasil Cup this weekend it is time for Stephanie to do another episode of “Know Your Asians.”
I think it’s good to see a number of guys competing for the top spot. Professional golf is so competitive at present it makes for exciting viewing. You just don’t know who is going to win each week.
I agree in that it’s exciting for golf fans, but it’s not great for the game generally. It’s not bad either, just neutral. The dominance of Bobby, Arnie, Jack and Tiger captured a much broader audience than golf fans. That kind of dominance brings in those who only want to watch a person doing something much, much better than everyone else. There’s an ebb and flow to these things and eventually a new dominant player will emerge and the game will have another boom. It will be hard to match the last boom that happened with Tiger though.
What we need to see is some real rivaly such as we saw with Jack and Arnie.
It’s OK for the number one spot to change places but that’s happening without the players playing against each other. We want to see head-to-head matches for the majors and the number one spot, at the moment it’s all happening on paper, it seems.
I agree with the thoughts that Rory hasn’t been truly tested yet. Obviously his US Open win showed he had the concentration and the guts to come back and win a major but we won’t be fully convinced of his greatness until he slams in those putts at the closing stages in a pressurised competitive situation to win a key or a major tournament.
I cant think of any reason why I would think Luke is better than Rory. I dont care if Rory is 15th and Luke is 1st. World rankings are only worth while for the people that are using them to get into majors.
If anyone will take Luke Donald over Rory I would love to hear you explain why.
The only reason I would ever select Luke over Rory is due to age and experience at this point. Don’t get me wrong, Rory is well beyond his years and just think how great this kid will be when he gets to “prime golf age” if he can stay healthy. I’m definitely pulling for Rory and I’m anxious to see the huge seasons in his very bright future!
The lack of a dominant #1 reflects both the parity among the world’s best players that we have rarely experienced in the Tiger Era as well as the point that the OWGR is a totally synthetic ranking, much like the BCS. The opacity of the calculation of the OWGR to even ardent golf fans makes it just a nominal title rather than giving any fan/expert weight behind it. When the gust of a breeze can decide the difference between winning and missing a playoff, having a scientific calculation of who the best player is seems almost farcical. We all know who the best players are…they are the ones who consistently finish among the leaders week after week in the most demanding conditions on the most demanding courses (Rory, Westwood, Tiger, Phil, Luke, Mahan, Bubba…etc.) We don’t need numbers to decide which of them is best. Unless the answer is clear (e.g. Tiger 2000-2001, 2007-2009), it’s as much of a matter of opinion as anything else.
P.S. What’s happened to Dustin Johnson?
Dustin Johnson hasn’t been the same since “Gulbisgate”. But I honestly think I would also be a changed man
There’s probalby no truth to that statement and I couldn’t tell you if DJ has won or not since that Natalie Gulbis stuff.
Point I’ve made different places and more than a few times. The thing about being number one or even the world’s most dominant player realistically is skewed to the more recent dominant players. I revere Jones, Nelson, Hogan, Arnie, Jack as much as the next person. I think a huge factor is how many guys were actually capable of beating Jones in an event? You can bring that forward and touch on every dominant player of an era. The legitimate contenders comprise a very large group now. Bobby Jones had to deal with a handful of guys that could beat him. Tiger , at his best, had a large group of players. Tiger in his prime had many more guys to deal with than even Jack did.
This. That point is what makes Tiger’s accomplishment so special, and will make it even more special if he is able to pull out a few more majors before succumbing to age. People like to see an athlete who is able to beat everyone else regularly (but in their generation). That is the common thread that unifies these great players past and present – that they were able to play golf so much better than anyone else in their time.
Dustin Johnson was a w/d from the Masters because of a non-golf injury. No idea when he’s coming back.
There are rumors that Dustin has a coke problem. Stephanie?