“This is Rory’s time. The dawning of a new era,” declared The Guardian after Rory McIlroy won the 2014 Open Championship and the PGA Championship in just three weeks. However, is the era dead by now? The 4X Major Championship has bagged 20 major top 10s over the last decade. But he has failed to grab any win ever since.
McIlroy was very close to having his limelight moment at the 2024 Paris Olympics, but sadly he finished with a T5 tying with Jon Rahm at a 15-under. He was just four strokes away from Scottie Scheffler. This year too, once again, he will be entering the FedEx Cup playoffs without a major win. However, it looks as if the World’s No. 3 golfer has his heart elsewhere. Just like the 48 YO Tiger Woods, who opened up a new venture called TGR design, looks like McIlroy too might follow in his footsteps.
Will Rory McIlroy take up golf architecture?
At the age of 28, Rory McIlroy stated that he would love to delve into designing golf courses. It was his close relationship with Jack Nicklaus, who was a member of the Bears Golf Club in Palm Beach. It was when McIlroy got to talk to the Golden Bear, that he wanted to follow this passion. Well, he still seems to be as passionate about golf architecture at the current time. After the practice round of the St. Jude Championship, Rory McIlroy was dubbed as the ‘architecture aficionado’. Well, rightly called so.
Last year, Andrew Green created a new fifth hole at the Oakhill. It is a par-3 which is called Little Poison, in the same spot that had a par-3 fifth for the 1968 US Open. It is slightly elevated and is surrounded by bunkers inspired by Ross. It also features a wide range of flagstick locations and distinctive challenges for players who miss the putting surface. When asked about the changes, McIlroy passionately stated, “I liked what he did at Oak Hill. Yeah, the only thing I would say about Oak Hill was he maybe made the fairways a little too narrow, or the PGA — whoever set it up. I think what he’s done at Congressional is cool, as well.”
The East Lake has now become the permanent host of the Tour Championship since 2004. Rory McIlroy had won the Championship last year, but after this year’s renovation, he has not been there as of yet. But he still is pretty excited to play as the restoration has been done by Andrew Green. “Those bunker faces and everything. I thought he’s done a — I guess the three courses that I’ve played that he’s done work on, I’ve enjoyed them, so I’m looking forward to seeing East Lake,” stated McIlroy.
From Tiger Woods’ TGR design to Jack Nicklaus’ designs, a lot of professional golfers have taken to designing the golf courses. Rory McIlroy might turn out to be another one. Nicklaus has even stated that he would want to team up with him in the future to create golf courses.
While McIlroy might be all good words about Andrew Green, he critically analyses courses and points out blatantly if something could have been better designed
Rory McIlroy calls the TPC River Highlands obsolete
At the 2023 Travelers Championship, Rory McIlroy finished with a T7 at the TPC River Highlands, five strokes behind Keegan Bradley, who lifted the trophy. The par-70 course allowed Bradley to score a whopping 23-under, which McIlroy stated was because of the soft conditions. They made it easier to score. He even stated that he does not enjoy playing on such easy courses and called it obsolete for modern golfing.
Sixty-six out of the sixty-seven players who made the cut scored an under-par, and it was because of the easy course. “Unfortunately, technology has passed this course by, right? It sort of has made it obsolete, especially as soft as it has been with a little bit of rain that we had,” said Rory McIlroy. They limit the golf ball, and courses like these fail to be challenging enough, ruining the fun of the matches.
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