What stops Rory McIlroy from becoming a great golf player?
At the age of 23, Northern Ireland native, Rory McIlroy, has no doubt poised to become the future of golf. A cocky, yet confident, player who has the quality game to contend whenever he tees it up.
After winning the 2011 Open, he made the headlines and became the youngest player ever after John J. McDermott to win the US Open championship. It was not only he won the tournament, he recorded the lowest ever score of 16-under par in the history
of the US Open.
“I’d love to be dominant,” said McIlroy, after setting a new US Open record score of 16-under par. “I know how good Tiger was in 2000 to win by 15 in Pebble. I was trying to go out there and emulate him.”
The same season witnessed him finishing second in the European Tour’s Race to Dubai. The very next season, he astounded everyone in the world of golf by winning both the money titles on the European Tour, as well as on PGA Tour.
It is evident that McIlroy has the potential to become golf’s future star. Legends like Phil Mickelsоn and Greg Nоrman also had the same talents; however, they are not among the highest pedestal of golfers. They performed superbly throughout their
careers but neglected some of the important aspects that could have taken them to the top of the game.
McIlroy also has some issues that can hinder in the way of his successful career. Following are few things that McIlroy need to do in order to become a shining golf star.
Avoid outside distraction on the course:
McIlroy declined to take the PGA Tour membership for 2011 in order to stay close to her girl-friend, Holy Sweeney. They broke up later on prior to the British Open and he was then seen with Caroline Wozniacki afterwards.
Most of the golfers keep their personal lives private and try not to affect their golf careers. However, McIlroy seemed too much distracted throughout the season and could have done much better if he had his full focus on the game.
It does not mean that he should break-up his relationship with Wozniacki and cannot have relationships out of the golf course. In fact, he just keeps it out of the focus when he is planning his career.
Improve game in windy conditions:
McIlroy himself admits that he does not like to play in windy conditions. When playing the
2011 British Open, McIlroy expressed his disappointment by not playing well in strong winds.
"Yeah, I'm not a fan of golf tournaments that the outcome is predicted so much by the weather. It's not my sort of golf." He said of the windy conditions.
He was quite right by saying that because he is not good in the windy conditions. He always likes to play lofty shots, which is not a good technique for windy conditions. The trajectory of shot is affected by the winds that result in poor landings
of the ball.
He needs to improve his technique of playing in windy conditions in order to place himself on high notes in such situations.
Overcome short-game weakness:
McIlroy has a terrible record in scrambling. After looking at the PGA Tour stats, one can easily analyze that how poor he is in scrambling as well as in sand saves.
Most of the times when the ball is near to hole, he avoid running shots and try to fly the ball to reach the hole. However, if he tries running shots, the result is worse in most of the cases.
Short game is really important for a player to make good finishes in any tournament he plays. McIlroy needs to work hard on his technique of short game if he really wants his name rated among legends like Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus.
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