Rory is “Fighting Something” Photo courtesy of msn.com
Rory McIlroy is definitely fighting something: A weak state of mind.
I am all for technology and taking advantage of every piece of information available. But to allow technology to dictate how I am supposed to play or live my life, that is a whole different thing.
It seems Rory McIlroy is doing that. Golf.com is quoting him saying after his first round at the 2023 PGA Championship, “I’m fighting something.”
“I thought I got a great night’s sleep last night, and I look at my WHOOP, and I was 22% recovery, and my skin temperature was 3.5 degrees higher than what it’s been, I’m fighting something.”
Say what? My WHOOP? Oh brother! Calling McIlroy a basket case is an understatement.
Honestly? I do not know what to make of Rory McIlroy. But if you thought for a minute I would give him a pass, you are highly mistaken. McIlroy made his own cozy bed, running his mouth about things he did not know anything about, and disrespecting lots of people in the process.
There is no doubt, Rory McIlroy is one of the best professional golfers in the world. His accomplishments are well documented and he can be a very entertaining golfer when his game is on.
Unfortunately, this is not what McIlroy has been remembered for as of late.
Since the creation of LIV Golf, McIlroy chose to be the de-facto leader of the PGA Tour. Taking on LIV Golf, Phil Mickelson, and the great Greg Norman, he decided to interject on something he obviously did not have much knowledge of.
For over a year, press conference, after press conference, McIlroy has sounded like PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan’s loudspeaker, unlike Jon Rahm who decided to concentrate on his game and stayed above the pettiness of it all.
Nobody can deny the fact, LIV Golf has changed the face of professional golf and has forced the PGA Tour to be transparent. McIlroy is making more money because Phil Mickelson and LIV Golf shined a light on the PGA Tour’s alleged financial shenanigans.
As a result of McIlroy’s lack of attention, and self appointed leadership role, his own game has suffered and it seems his mental health has taken a hit. His performance at the 2023 Masters was dismal and he chose to disappear for over four weeks, missing his second PGA Tour “Elevated Event” of the season.
According to him, he needed a mental health break from golf. I have to admit, I needed a mental health break from all his nonsense.
This evening, I watched his interview with Golf Channel’s Kyra Dixon and I have to say, he sounded like a man without conviction. His weak answers were telling and it showed me he is not ready to return to the “Big Time” yet.
McIlroy looked more like a lost teenager than a professional golfer on a mission.
My unsolicited advice? Rory McIlroy needs to pay more attention to his own professional career and leave the adults in the room deal with the nuisances of the Tour.
Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee. Photo courtesy of golfnewsri.com
Another week and another opportunity for Brandel Chamblee to make a fool of himself on national television.
On Monday’s episode of Live From The PGA Championship, Chamblee went on a full frontal attack against Phil Mickelson and LIV Golf.
Along with Rich Lerner and Paul McGinley, they were discussing Phil Mickelson’s recent Twitter spat with the USGA and his use of vulgar language. Seriously? Vulgar language?
Chamblee went on to say Mickelson was riding a high after his second place finished at The Masters and that was one of the reasons why he was going after the “establishment.”
He stated that Tiger Woods, not Phil Mickelson, was responsible for the increase in PGA Tour purses. This is laughable to say the least. Phil Mickelson sounding the horn on the PGA Tour alleged financial shenanigans and the emergence of LIV Golf were part of the reasons why the Tour came up with all the changes and increase in purses.
As he went on, Chamblee insinuated Augusta National was a hacker’s paradise.
He alleged Mickelson’s second place finish at The Masters was expected because Augusta National is where, and I am paraphrasing, ‘has been’ golfers go for a second wind, including the likes of Jack Nicklaus in 1986. Say what?
He continued to spew his normal garbage about how LIV Golf was losing lawsuits and players were not happy. According to Chamblee, Mickelson made a lot of promises he did not fulfilled and players were complaining about it.
I do not know where Chamblee is getting his bad information, but LIV Golf players are pretty happy and people are watching more and more.
He continued to ramble about Mickelson, insider trading, and all kind of nonsense that had nothing to do with golf, nor golf fans care about.
Chamblee’s LIV Golf Derangement Syndrome is real and it only continues to make him look like small and irrelevant.
It was funny to see the triumvirate of Rory apologists at the Golf Channel making all kind of excuses as to why Rory McIlroy shot a 76 today in the first round at the Players Championship.
Rich Lerner, Brandel Chamblee, and Paul McGinley, were commenting on how McIlroy looked tired, his swing was out of sorts, and how he seemed not to be in the moment. I do agree with their assessment, and I will add, McIlroy even looks old.
Unfortunately, the reasons for their assessment are completely misleading. Since the inception of LIV Golf into the picture, McIlroy chose to be the face of the PGA Tour. In addition, as the Player’s Advisory Council Chairman and one of the Player Directors at the PGA Tour Policy Board, he took upon the responsibilities, and it is his job to defend the “product.”
The Zoom calls and meetings are part of his duties, and he is not the first one on tour history to deal with those duties and responsibilities.
Perhaps he is having a problem dealing with it and it has creeped into his own game.
For Paul McGinley to say McIlroy has taken “more bullets than other players” and use it as an excuse to justify his lackluster performance, is a joke. McIlroy chose to be the “lead player voice” on the PGA Tour.
Unlike Jon Rahm, and some of the other top players, who have chosen to just play golf and let the suits at PGA HQ deal with LIV Golf, McIlroy chose to take the fight to LIV Golf on his own. He has berated Greg Norman, LIV Golf players, and has flipped flopped his positions about LIV Golf from week to week.
One week he hates LIV Golf and this week he thanks LIV Golf for making the PGA Tour a better product. Perhaps he is indeed tired and cannot keep his convictions or lack thereof together.
At the end of the day, Rory McIlroy has nobody to blame but himself for his failures on the golf course. Jay Monahan is the commissioner of the PGA Tour; he is the man in charge of all the administrative issues and grievances concerning the tour.
McIlroy is a professional golfer and that is where all his energy should be concentrated on.
For him to think that he can carry the torch for the tour all by himself, it is silly and detrimental to his game and psyche. PGA Tour players want to do one thing and one thing only, play golf. All that other mumbo-jumbo they cannot control is unnecessary noise they do not wish to deal with.
Rory McIlroy is his own man, and he is responsible for his own decisions, plain and simple.
Rory McIlroy owns his woes and they are all in his head.
Elevated or Good Old Hot Air? Photo courtesy of gigsalad.com
As we all know, the PGA Tour, and its commissioner, Jay Monahan, are trying everything they can do to diminish the impact LIV Golf has had in professional golf.
From using their cheerleaders at the Golf Channel, the lame golf media, and the United States court system, the PGA Tour wants to totally erase LIV Golf from the face of the earth. Of course, that is not going to happen.
As part of their strategy, and in order to bring the “best” players in the world together, one of the tools they implemented was the designation of “elevated” events in order to have the top players in the world on the field to battle it out.
It sounds great, but let us be honest, without the likes of Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, and Cameron Smith, a PGA Tour event does not have the “best” players in the world on the field. But that is a whole different conversation.
The following is the 2023 schedule of designated “elevated” events, in addition to the Major Championships, and the winners so far. (OWGR at the start of the tournament week.)
Jan. 5-8: Sentry Tournament of Champions $15,00,000 (Jon Rahm) OWGR Ranking: 5
Aug. 10-13: FedEx St. Jude Championship $20,00,000
Aug. 17-20: BMW Championship $20,00,000
Aug. 24-27: Tour Championship $75,00,000(includes bonus)
In a nutshell, the top 20 players will have to play in all the 13 designated “elevated” events with the option of only being able to skip one during the season. For example, Rory McIlroy chose to skip the SENTRY Tournament of Champions; therefore, he has to play the remaining 12 events for the season.
But, hold on a minute, hypocrisy is fixing to kick-in. As reported this week at the Players Championship, moving forward into the 2024 season, the Tour Policy Board voted to make the designated “elevated” events, limited field events with “no cut” format.
This is highly hypocritical from a tour who has mocked LIV Golf for not having cuts as part of their tournament’s format and a limited field. Now, it is all good because it is the PGA Tour doing it.
Even the biggest hypocrite, Rory McIlroy, stated this week “The emergence of LIV has benefited everyone who plays professional golf.” He went on to say, “this has caused a ton of innovation at the PGA Tour, and what was an antiquated system has been revamped to mirror where we’re in the world.”
Innovation, meaning they are going to steal LIV Golf ideas and make them their own. The PGA Tour is such a sad joke. An organization that lacks integrity and principles is not worth anybody’s time or effort.
As to McIlroy, I never thought he was the most intelligent person in the world, so to hear him say theses things after two years of criticizing LIV Golf, LIV Golf players, and LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman, it’s not only expected, but predictable.
In my opinion, McIlroy is a clown, and his flip-flopping regarding LIV Golf shows that he is not the best at handling a juggling act. He is the designated PGA Tour “useful idiot”, and he has done an excellent job at it, while Monahan sits and watches on the sidelines.
So far, the designated “elevated” events for the 2023 season have delivered some level of competition.
Having said that, I think in order for this to work, you cannot have the #46 ranked player in the world, whooping the top 20 ranked players in the world on these “elevated” events. If this were to become the norm, I do not think it would bode well for the tour or the sponsors.
With all due respect to Kurt Kitayama, but sponsors do not want the #46 ranked player in the world winning a tournament with the likes of Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy in them. Kitayama moved to #19 in the official world golf rankings after his victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
So, as The Players Championship is on its on its way, a little known PGA Tour player by the name of Chad Ramey who is ranked as the #225th player in the world by the official world golf rankings, is leading the way after shooting a 64.
Is that is going to be the “product” the PGA Tour is going to sell as “elevated”, they may have to come up with a better plan. Hot air is not going to sell.
As a side note, after shooting an opening round 76, I would suggest McIlroy concentrates on his game and leave the adults in the room and administrative types deal with the tour shenanigans.
