Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Brooks can holler and Ror all he likes but it sounds insecure
SOME will say it’s refreshing to hear World No1 Brooks Koepka running his mouth off about World No2 Rory Mcilroy.
They’ll argue it adds colour to an otherwise sepia landscape and encourages the paying public to buy into the prospect of a grudge match.
If it sparks headlines, ignites hype and promotes the sport, where’s the harm?
I’m not against box office sound bites, but Koepka’s comments were way off the mark.
I also suspect they reveal a golfer questioning the elevation of his status in the game.
The Floridian is correct to say Rory hasn’t won a Major since 2014 and that in the interim period he has won both the US Open and USPGA twice.
On the biggest stages in recent years he has been top
gun, but what does it say of Koepka that Mcilroy is still the marquee name?
What does it say of the American that Rory remains the bigger attraction and a player who signs fatter contracts with his sponsors?
The reality is, while both men have won the same number of majors in their respective careers – four – when you drill deeper into the stats, Mcilroy is miles in front.
The Holywood man’s CV includes 17 PGA Tour wins, 13 European Tour triumphs, two WGC events and the Players Championship in March.
Yes, Rory has played for longer, but you can’t knock that record.
Lest we forget, he also schooled the World No1 down the Fedex Cup stretch.
Outside of the majors, Koepka, for all his salt, has only won seven PGA tournaments, one European Tour event and two other titles. It’s also telling he has won only two regular events on the PGA Tour, with the 2015 Waste Management his only success on American soil.
That record doesn’t reflect a player who shows up on a consistent basis.
It doesn’t scream greatness.
Tiger had it every time he teed it up. Koepka doesn’t.
The 29-year-old struggles to get up for regular events and that is a dangerous place to be in because bad habits take hold and complacency creeps in.
Koepka was my player of the year and his major displays were phenomenal, but he needs at least 10 more regular wins and a couple more majors to truly be top dog.
The measured tone of Rory’s response to his comments showed a lot of class, but there’s no doubt a rivalry is brewing between the two.
That’s great for golf. High profile shootouts lie ahead – picture the scene if they clash at the Ryder Cup – and they’ll get the best out of each other in the coming years.
That’s a tantalising prospect, but if Rory completes the Grand Slam at Augusta in April, Koepka will learn that talk is cheap.
Last week’s outburst will go down as no more than a foolish footnote in golfing history.