Georgie Bingham: Why Rory Needed The Week Off
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland reacts to a putt on the 18th green during the second round of the 2023 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 07, 2023 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images).
Rory McIlroy forfeited £3m by pulling out of the RBC Heritage. He can afford that if he needs a break. Right? Maybe he needs time to get over his Masters disappointment. Maybe he doesn’t want to have to face the press over his failure at Augusta again. Maybe.
Well, stick with me people, I have a theory. Last week was the first time LIV and the PGA Tour went head to head properly. New season, new majors cycle AND a strong LIV showing in the top ten at Augusta made for some squeaky bum time for golf’s righteous. In the end it was Jon Rahm, PGA cheerleader and all-round-good-guy who was untouchable in Georgia, and all is good in the world of golf.
For me, there was never going to be a Rory win last week. Rory needs to go on a run of wins and maybe even pick up another major before he heads to Magnolia Lane without the weight of expectation being too heavy for him to carry. McIlroy needs to hit a run and stay on it, and despite promising signs he’s coming back to some semblance of consistent form, he wasn’t on it.
“I think Rory was fired up by righteous indignation of being one of golf’s ‘good guys’ on the ‘good tour’, while golf’s naughty misfits left for the money. For a while he thrived on it. He seemed to take his leadership role with relish and fly with it. It suited him. I think that last week at Augusta we saw some frayed edges starting to show.”
Thing is, I think Rory was fired up by righteous indignation of being one of golf’s ‘good guys’ on the ‘good tour’, while golf’s naughty misfits left for the money. For a while he thrived on it. He seemed to take his leadership role with relish and fly with it. It suited him. I think that last week at Augusta we saw some frayed edges starting to show. McIlroy took part in an unprecedented walk-and-talk on the fairway of Augusta and not everyone appreciated his availability.
He said yes to that because he’s the guy that the tour, the players, the public look to as the face of “good golf” and I feel like the pressure of that pressure got to him at a tournament where he needed actually to just concentrate on being his best. He needs to win there and to do that he probably shouldn’t be doing PR exercises. The fact he went on to miss the cut didn’t help the fall-out from that.
I think everyone’s looked to Rory and Tiger in the face of these extraordinary times in golf and wants them to give the answers. A lot falls to Rory in the ongoing battle of good v evil in golf - and actually if there’s one week of the year where McIlroy needs to NOT be available, not be the good guy and not be involved in any golf politics - it’s at Augusta. I am not sure he’ll be afforded that, and I worry he may never get over the line for a green jacket. Still I can live in hope. I also live in hope that Rory can find a bit of peace over the question of LIV golf. Fielding questions, always being the tour mouthpiece is tiring and tiresome and he can’t fix anything.
He’s in danger of developing a god complex if any more pressure falls on his shoulders in the ongoing crusade against the Saudi Arabian funded series. He’ll prove me wrong and I hope he does, but I also wish him some peace and quiet for a while so he can find his inner zen and get back to the major winners enclosure this year.
