Handbags thrown via Twitter!
After Rory McIlroy dropped three shots in the last eight holes to shoot 70 at the Irish Open on Thursday, American ex-pro-turned-commentator Jay Townsend knocked Rory via Twitter for his course management, calling it “shocking.”
In a second tweet, Townsend went after McIlroy’s caddie, JP Fitzgerald, suggesting that Rory hire Steve Williams, who was recently axed by longtime boss Tiger Woods.
The usually mild-mannered McIlroy snapped back harshly:
Now that had to have been more shocking than McIlroy’s alleged poor course management (I didn’t watch, so I can’t offer an educated opinion).
Here’s a screenshot of Townsend’s tweets (start reading from the bottom):
In a follow-up tweet, Rory’s reply indicated he was sticking up for his caddie, who was a target for criticism after Rory’s Masters Sunday flop:
Towsend was one of the many that implied Fitzgerald could have done more to prevent McIlroy’s Masters meltdown. And the commentator’s strong words on Thursday put Rory over the edge.
“He’s been having a go at JP every now and again and this was the first time I’ve responded,” McIlroy told the Telegraph‘s Kevin Garside. “It was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Now I’ve blocked him on Twitter so I won’t be reading anything more.”
First of all, Rory probably should have taken the high road — he’s a bigger and better person than some of his contemporaries than to resort to petty responses.
Besides the handbag throwing, there’s another point of debate stemming from the incident — how much blame/credit do caddies deserve? Probably anywhere from 5-10%, the percentage of earnings they receive each week (that is, assuming their player makes the cut). A great looper with veteran experience can likely help a player score better compared with an amateur one, but that doesn’t mean the golfer always listens to the advice.
At the end of the day, who’s swinging the club?
(AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
wooooo, is the real Rory finally surfacing? I knew his politeness was too good to be true, just like some people say Phil is faking it too. Anyway, I don’t have problem w/ the response but for every negative response, there will be a blow back. I would’ve said the same thing if I were Rory just like if I were Tiger Woods, I would’ve called out that douche Chamblee.
Yeah except that while Tiger can do the whole condescending thing, he never calls people out publicly (see his responses to questions about Miller), and that’s probably the right way to handle these things (esp since if TW had said this the uproar would’ve made this look like praise).
Rory has occasionally had course management problems, and in that sense Towsend’s criticism was pretty accurate. I don’t think it’s on JP though, and he took it a little to far. But if you’re Rory you just can’t go around making personal attacks.
Honestly though a lot worse has been said of players on twitter than Townsend’s criticism of McIlroy. If I was a player I think I could be polite to the media, but I probably wouldn’t be friendly given some of the comments.
We now know the name Jay Townsend. Mission accomplished Jay – great work. What, your employer wouldn’t let you wear John Daly pants to garner some notoriety?
However we also know you are jerk looking for attention at the expense of anyone nearby. It will be someone else next time.
Rory was likely correct in his evaluation of your skills and status.
(By the way, J. Miller has a patent on the Choke word so you will need to be more creative that that when you next crank up the slam machine.)
OK…Now people can move on to the Tiger returns post…
Whatever JT tweeted, Rory is not exactly showing thick skin. I love the kid and think he is a huge talent. That said, I didn’t like his whining about The Open conditions. Now this. He won a major- maybe he thinks he has the clout to move The Open across the pond to say- Acapulco. It reminds me of the time The Shark wanted to start his own tour.
Blocking the guy on Twiiter seems a bit rash and juvenile also. Believe me though, I DO like the kid.
Fan – What exactly did Townsend say or so outside of stating his opinion to warrant a personal attack. Sippin the Rory juice a little hard there eh? Rory showed he is a whiney little beeeyotch.
McIlroy has recently twice made comments shortly after a poor round he’s had cause to regret. The comment about the Open Championship conditions and the reaction to JT.
Maybe the time to judge RM is over the next few months. If he’s learnt from this, we’ll have an emerging golfer who is a potentially good ambassador for a game that really needs hooks for sponsors. If not, then fair play to critics.
His remarks do tend to show what you get from him is authentic rather than polished media speak – surely part of his appeal.
I think commentators are overlooking the nature of Tweets – RM comment sounds a lot harsher in newsprint than it does in a Twitter context. Jay has done a swell job of raising his profile. However, the repeated jibes can surely only have been made with the intention of provoking an irate response. Pretty shabby by Jay. Well done to WUP for showing these tweets in context.
RM does take on course risks frequently, and has spoken about changing this. However, he gets grief for calcluated gambles at times. He put a 4 iron in the water on 72nd hole of an Asian event that Ian Poulter one last year, trying a 220 yard shot from a fairway bunker at a tight pin. Thrilling TV – he needed it to win the tournament, and was prepared to take it one rather than play safe for 2nd place. Maybe not so smart play in round 1 yesterday, but with 3 days to go and a home crowd to entertain, great to see him being bold.
I’m not sure how many Under 10 tournaments Jay has covered, but the ones I have seen have pretty good course management.
That comment was a snide blow and it would be great if commentators didn’t abuse their position, as they do so secure in the knowledge golfers get crucified in the media (and by sponsors) if they kick back on abusive comments.
So how about giving players some slack and challenging commentators to entertain without stooping to pathetic jibes?
All it takes is one totally unknown, untalented member of the media to turn a premier player against the media. We saw it happen to Tiger. It might have just happened again.
Townsend, as a member of the media profession, should know better. In the end, he is no better at that then he was at golf.
Rory is a golfer. He is not a politician. But, he has become a target for those trying to make a name for themselves.
Lawyers, car salesman and members of the media. Not necessarily in that order.
Hey GilesHam. Please keep it to 100 words or less.
I dig that Rory called him out… he has a pretty solid point. It’s kind of how I feel about all of these other golfers talking about Tiger’s game and how he should do this or that. Unless you have 50+ wins on tour and double digit major victories, I’m going to assume that maybe Tiger has a better grasp on the game than you.
Rory doesn’t have 50 wins or double digit majors. He has been enjoying a collective BJ from the media over the last fews months and the second someone is critical of him or his game he throws a hissy fit. He whiner not a winner.
Good point Stevie.
Short version = Jay has criticised RM caddy JP for 3 years. RM has gone from 200th to 3rd and won a major with him.
Doesn’t sound like a sub standard caddy or course management to me.
“First of all, Rory probably should have taken the high road — he’s a bigger and better person than some of his contemporaries than to resort to petty responses.”
The days of the PGA golfers and Talking Heads in the media operating in that way are going out the door. Todays generation of young golfers are far more active media wise. The ‘net and twitter give players direct contact with fans. If a reporter criticises they can expect a reaction if a player wants to in his own realms.
I don’t think these comments will bother Rory too much anyway. His course management seemed to work okay at the US Open.