Live

Highlights on Off The Ball

07:00 AM-01:00 PM

Highlights on Off The Ball
Advertisement
Videos

"In some way, I admire the bloody-mindedness about him" - Paul McGinley on Rory McIlroy's Irish Open absence

Paul McGinley says he is seeing "good vibes" in Rory McIlroy's game. The four-time Major winner f...



Videos

"In some way, I admire the bloody-mindedness about him" - Paul McGinley on Rory McIlroy's Irish Open absence

Paul McGinley says he is seeing "good vibes" in Rory McIlroy's game.

The four-time Major winner finished second to Dustin Johnson at the WGC-Mexico Championship on Sunday.

And his recent form is exciting McGinley as he told Off The Ball.

"His putting looks really good," he said.

"Those vibes look good and it's carried through into the last month or so. To be honest, last week was as good as I've seen Rory play for a number of years, if not ever. He really was that good. All facets of his game and no weakness there."

In terms of reasons for the upturn, McGinley feels Brad Faxon's addition to McIlroy's team has been very positive.

"Brad is a disciple of Bob Rotella's, who I believe is fantastic at what he teaches and had great success with Padraig [Harrington] for one," he added.

"Indirectly, he's now a disciple of Bob Rotella's. Because the stuff that Faxon would be talking to him about will be stuff that he's learned from Rotella over 2-3 decades of working with him."

Irish Open absence

Since we last spoke to McGinley, McIlroy has announced that he won't be at the Irish Open.

"In some way, I admire the bloody-mindedness about him," he said.

"To be the top at anything in your life, you've got to really have the courage of your convictions. He's certainly not turning his back on the Irish Open from everything that he's said."

Meanwhile, McGinley also highlighted some issues with modern golf.

"I saw a stat recently in the PGA Tour last year. Missing a fairway on the PGA Tour costs 0.1 of a shot. So the question they're asking nowadays on the PGA Tour is you can be really, really long but not necessarily straight," he said.

"But for me, the game should also be about straightness. US Open the last 2-4 years, I've been really disappointed with the way the USGA set up the golf courses. I stood on the 18th tee last year in Shinnecock doing my prep and honestly, I was thinking, 'How can you miss this fairway?' I've never seen anything so wide for an 18th hole in the US Open.

"That's what's happening with the modern game and unless we address this situation with technology and address it very soon, the game is out of balance."

Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!

Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.


Read more about

Golf Irish Open Off The Ball Paul McGinley Rory McIlroy Sport