RORY RANTS AFTER DUO STAY AT HOME
RoRy McIlRoy took dead aim yesterday at Ryder Cup team-mates Tommy Fleetwood and Francesco Molinari, telling them they should have gone through a 14-day quarantine to compete on the PGA Tour in America, rather than electing to stay in Britain.
‘If you really care about your career and about moving forward, you should be here,’ said the world No1, competing this week in the Heritage Classic in South Carolina.
‘If I were in their shoes and had to quarantine for two weeks to play, I’d have done it.’
Even by McIlroy’s penchant for straight talking, these were extraordinarily candid remarks. Neither did he back down when it was put to him that players like the above pair have their kids’ welfare to consider, and that going back and forth across the Atlantic would have meant a 14-day quarantine going out and coming back.
‘I get that there’s different variables involved, but you can bring your family with you,’ said McIlroy. ‘It might seem a little harsh, but I don’t get that mindset — and especially if you want to advance in your career.
‘There’s so many world ranking points available in these events, and we all have the means to rent a nice house in a gated community in Florida. It’s not a hardship for two weeks to come over and quarantine.’
McIlroy was equally unsympathetic regarding the argument put forward by
Fleetwood and others that the world rankings at present are unfair because only players competing on the PGA Tour can currently earn points. last week’s winner Daniel Berger, for example, moved up from 107th to 31st to go past lee Westwood, ranked 33rd and another who elected to stay at home.
‘I don’t understand the guys complaining because there is a solution to it,’ said McIlroy. ‘you can come over here and do what needs to be done.’
After Sunday’s final-round meltdown at the Charles Schwab Challenge, McIlroy has moved on to the Heritage event at Hilton Head, which is usually played the week after the Masters, for the first time since 2009.
‘I’m not worried about last Sunday,’ he said. ‘I was rubbish, but it’s fine. I learned from it, and hopefully I can put those lessons into practice here.’