LAST UPDATE | 17 Aug 2021
EARLY IN JOHN Feinstein’s 1995 book A Good Walk Spoiled: Days and Nights on the PGA Tour, Tom Watson is wrestling with the fact he doesn’t win as often as he used to.
“‘When I was younger, before I had children and money, all I wanted to do was play golf, work at my golf, get better at my golf”, Watson told Feinstein. “But when the children came [Meg in 1979 and Michael in 1982] my time with them was very important to me.
“For a long time, I thought that was the major reason I didn’t play as well. But it wasn’t that simple. I definitely lost some edge. I didn’t work as hard at my game. It just wasn’t quite as important to me.’”
“No one wins year in and year out, especially in the tournaments that matter most, without being an SOB”, continues Feinstein. “Somewhere, some of the SOB seeped out of Watson and the winning that had occurred so regularly— 39 times in 12 years—came to a sudden halt.”
- John Feinstein is the latest guest on our sportswriting podcast, Behind the Lines. To get access to the full interview along with the 85-episode series archive, subscribe at members.the42.ie. And for a limited time, you can get €5 off an annual membership by using the promo code BTL.
Apply Watson’s sentiments to Rory McIlroy.
McIlroy made good on the prodigious, chipping-into-washing-machines-on-television talent of his youth by sprinting to four major titles in three years between 2011 and 2014. Since then…none.
A couple of gnawing near-misses, a few exasperating missed cuts, a heap of desultory top-10 finishes without ever contending.
McIlroy has since got married and become a father, and has spoken openly about how there are things more important in life than playing golf. Plus, you won’t find anyone saying McIlroy has a trace of the SOB Feinstein wrote about in reference to Watson.
So, does the comparison still hold? Does McIlroy’s rounded view of life make him less likely to survive the major gauntlet?
Not so, says Feinstein. He was like this when he was winning too.
“The day he blew the four-shot lead at the Masters [in 2011], he handled himself so well”, says Feinstein on Behind the Lines.
“He answered every question, he didn’t duck anybody, he admitted how disappointing it was. And remember, at that point, he had not won a major. David Feherty told me he was concerned about him, and drove over to the house where Rory was staying. He sat down with him and said, ‘Are you okay?’ and Rory looked back and said, ‘David, if this is the worst thing that happens in my life, then I’ll have a pretty good life.’
“I next saw him at the US Open at Congressional, where he won by eight shots. I walked up to him and said, ‘Rory, I have to tell you, what you did after Sunday at the Masters was as impressive a thing as I’ve seen any athlete do.’
“And I meant it. I told his Dad that, later. ‘What he did and how he handled that is a credit to you and Rosie.’ He thanked me and we talked and I was walking away, he pointed a finger at me and said, ‘If he ever gets out of line, you let me know.’
“That’s the explanation of how Rory became Rory.
“He’s a Hall of Famer. The gap in the resume is the Masters, but Rory would be the first one to tell you that. Does he want to retire now and leave that as his resume? No.
“He’s just turned 32, he is going into what should be a peak period for a great golfer. I have a lot of faith in Rory but much of that is borne of my bias. I have said it for years: if I could pick my son-in-law it would be Rory. He’s just a really good guy. His parents did an amazing job raising him.
“He is brutally honest, which is what I love about him. I interviewed him for one of my Ryder Cup books, and we were talking about his comments when he first made the Ryder Cup team in 2010. He said, ‘I’m happy to make the team, but the Ryder Cup is an exhibition and I’m in the game to win major titles.’
“He was hammered for that. So we were discussing that, and he said the minute he walked onto the grounds the next year he realised he was wrong, that the Ryder Cup was a huge deal.
“Then he leaned back in his chair and said, ‘Really, if you think about it, the initial comments I made were pretty selfish. I was an only child, kind of a prodigy growing up, and there was a selfish streak in me growing up.’
“Then he smiled and said, ‘Imagine that, a golfer being selfish?’
Those comments about the Ryder Cup were a preview of his comments about competing at the Olympics. McIlroy of course went to Tokyo this month and found the experience more enjoyable than he had expected, but caused a greater stir in being among the many top players to swerve the game’s return to the Games in Rio five years ago.
“A whole bunch of guys weren’t playing, and at his press conference before the Open Championship at Troon that year, Rory was asked if he would watch the Olympics.
“He said, ‘Yeah, I’ll watch the important sports like swimming, and track and field. But I don’t think I’ll watch the golf.’
“Of course, the media crushed him: notably the Golf Channel, which is owned by NBC and televises the Olympics over here. I know the executive vice-president walked onto the set right after that press conference and said to the guys on the set, ‘You have to kill Rory for saying that.’
“Brandel [Chamblee] – who is a good friend – said, ‘I think when Rory McIlroy retires he will regret that press conference more than anything in his golf career.’ I immediately texted Brandel, ‘You really think he is going to regret that more than blowing a four-shot lead at the Masters?’
“Brandel texted me back to say, ‘Touché.’
Listen to the full interview with John Feinstein by subscribing to the podcast at members.the42.ie.