At one stage, Rory McIlroy was tipped to beat Jack Nicklaus’ major record. Needless to say, you can imagine how much attention followed the Northern Irishman around during the early stages of his career, and in many respects, the craze that surrounded him was born out of pure relief more than anything else. Indeed, golf had its next star and the future of the game was safe. Fast forward to the present day and that narrative is hanging by a mere thread, especially if you consider that the 32-year-old has gone eight years without winning a major.
Of course, with a few days to go to the 2022 Masters there’s a strong chance that may change if the latest golf odds are anything to go by with McIlroy at just 14/1 to win and considered one of the heavy favourites for glory at Augusta. But if we were to put the most recent Masters odds to one side for a moment, the truth is that the last decade has seen Mcllroy’s brand fall to its lowest ever value with his stock plummeting as the majors dried up.
The long and short of it is that Mcllroy’s trajectory has to change soon with th
e sport of professional golf about to undergo if you will, a changing of the guards. Essentially, the newer generation will be tasked with keeping interest in the sport alive and that burden will more or less fall squarely on McIlroy’s shoulders.
It should be pointed out that this was a task that the 32-year-old seemed more than up to before the 2014 season which would be the year he last won a major championship after winning the Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club.
Few could have predicted the drought that was to follow and has indeed lasted until the end of March 2022. But now that the impetus is gone, it’s naturally hard to be certain that McIlroy will be the next flagbearer of the sport. There are a few indications, however, that the four-time major winner is prepared to stand up and lead the tour in the future given how vocal he was during the Super Golf League saga.
Essentially, McIlroy was the first to call out the doomed idea whilst others were considering signing up to the league owing to the enormous joining fees they were promised. It’s important to keep in mind that McIlroy would have also been approached by the same people and offered at least double what any other player was being given, courtesy of the fact he has won more majors than any of the younger generation. So when you consider how steadfast he was and how constructive his arguments were at the time, you’re left with the sense that this is a man who isn’t afraid to speak his mind and because of his courage to do so, earned golf a lot of international respect in the process.
Couple his ability to speak authoritatively on today’s issues with his extraordinary ability on the golf course and you have an individual who has the capability of taking the game of golf forward when the likes of Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods depart. Indeed, hopefully, the likeable Northern Irishman will now be in a position where he can fulfill his potential by becoming the new face of golf.
