Paul McGinley believes that Rory McIlroy will have a harder time Majors just by being at his best, as three other players have caught him up in their overall game.
McGinley joined us on Off The Ball to discuss the US PGA Championship at Bellerive, which was ultimately won by Floridian Brooks Koepka.
“Golf is a simple game in very many ways. Yes, it’s important to be able to hit the ball a long way, but you have got to have the scoring clubs. You have got to be absolutely fantastic with the scoring clubs.
“Look at Dustin Johnson with his wedges, Brooks Koepka with his putter, and Justin Thomas the same. These guys are fabulous – absolutely fabulous. Rory is only average. Sometimes the putting is good, but the wedge play is not great. Then the wedge play is not so bad, but the putting is off. Those scoring clubs are absolutely paramount, for a start.
“The other thing is that this perception that if Rory plays his best, then he wins. That is not applicable any more. There are three guys that are better than Rory, if they are on their game – Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson.
They have that extra gear that Rory used to have. Like Tiger having to box clever, Rory has to box clever – he’s coming up to 30 years of age. You have three guys that can hit the ball just as far and just as straight as him, and have just as much ability to perform under pressure as Rory has had. “
Paul believes that competitors stepping up their game has had a double effect on the game of golf.
“That more than anything is not only why they are winning and Rory hasn’t, but, psychologically, that has had an effect on Rory too. He hasn’t had that extra gear that the others do.
“Rory has to reassess how he is going to approach the game going forward, because he is no longer the most talented guy on the scene."
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