In what is surely a precursor for the 2016 season, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth are facing off this week for the first time this year at the Abu Dhabi Championship.
The two players have been the two dominant players in recent years and have both won two majors in the past two years. 2014 was McIlroy's dominant year, while Spieth lit up the courses around the world last year.
Golf writer and creator of bytheminsport.com Lawrence Donegan spoke top Off the Ball about the two players and how he sees 2016 panning out for the stars. "I have long held the view that if Spieth played his best golf and Rory played his best golf, Rory would win. I'm beginning to wonder about that, because the way Spieth keeps on ratcheting it up is almost Tiger-esque."
Big three finish up on the 9th hole: McIlroy 66 Spieth 68 Fowler 70 Follow live: https://t.co/XiIsP3pWGg pic.twitter.com/u7S3jCwqc5
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) January 21, 2016
Golf returns to the Olympics this year for the first time since 1904 and Donegan is unsure how seriously the World's best golfers will take the tournament. Donegan compared golf to how tennis is rated at the Olympics. "It's never going to reach and obtain the same status as Grand Slams and I think it will be the same with golf... In terms of a gold medal before a Claret Jug, that's just an absurd thing to say."
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