The week earlier than the 2022 Masters was not an ideal one for Rory McIlroy. His iron play on the Texas Open was abysmal, and he missed the minimize at 1 over as J.J. Spaun went on to win the occasion at 13 underneath. That was his final begin earlier than the annual pilgrimage to Augusta National for an try on the most elusive championship in his life.
To pile on, after making an attempt and failing to get out of San Antonio on Friday night after the minimize, McIlroy recalled being advised room service at his resort would take 150 minutes.
“I was like, let’s just wake up tomorrow and start again,” he stated.
At that time in his season, although Rory was enjoying high quality golf, he had fallen to No. 9 on this planet simply as Scottie Scheffler was introducing himself to the No. 1 spot within the Official World Golf Rankings. Fast ahead six months, and McIlroy — on the again of a very preposterous run following that missed minimize — has now began his ninth distinct reign within the No. 1 place.
“If someone had told me on the Friday night of the Valero Texas Open when I missed the cut that I would be world No. 1 by October, I would have asked them what they were smoking because I would not have believed them,” stated McIlroy on Sunday after defending CJ Cup and taking the highest spot again from Scheffler after Scottie’s 30-week stint at No. 1.
Since that Friday in San Antonio, McIlroy has performed 15 occasions worldwide and completed within the prime 5 in 10 of them, together with three of the 4 majors (the opposite main end was nonetheless a prime 10). He’s missed one minimize in that span of time and has received three tournaments. This will possible find yourself being the eighth calendar 12 months wherein McIlroy received at the very least as many tournaments as he has missed cuts.
How uncommon is it to have 9 separate stints as world No. 1? Well, it’s the third most all-time behind Tiger Woods and Greg Norman (11 every) forward of Dustin Johnson (seven) and Seve Ballesteros (5).
What’s extra uncommon, although, is how a lot time has elapsed between when McIlroy first turned No. 1 (March 2012) and now (10 years, seven months).
The kind of golf that should be performed to turn into No. 1 on this planet is fleeting. You should be outrageously good to rise above all the opposite prime abilities on this planet, and usually — if OWGR historical past is any indication — that summit solely lasts for (at most) 1-3 years.
A complete of 25 golfers have ever been No. 1 on this planet, 22 of which didn’t have greater than a four-year hole between their first and final (or most up-to-date) look.
Johnson is a great instance. He first turned No. 1 in February 2017, and his final look there was July 2021. And that is one of the longer runs atop the golf world. Johnson is one of the 2 finest golfers of the final 15 years, and this four-year off-and-on relationship with No. 1 speaks to his sustained greatness over an extended interval of time.
Ernie Els is a greater instance of the norm. Els is most likely one of the 20 finest gamers ever, and he was first No. 1 in June 1997 and final No. 1 in June 1998. One 12 months.
The three outliers are of course Woods (who had a number of stints of at the very least 250 consecutive weeks at No. 1), Norman and McIlroy. Woods went 17 years between his first and most up-to-date (possible final) look. Norman went over 11 years. McIlroy may eclipse that relying how lengthy he retains the highest spot this time round.
Perhaps much more remarkably for McIlroy is that he has not been ranked worse than sixteenth on this planet since November 2009. At no time over the past 13 years have there been greater than 15 golfers on the planet that have been thought of higher than him. To illustrate how outrageous it is to carry out at that stage, check out who was within the prime 10 on this planet when McIlroy entered.
So few golfers keep within the prime 10 or prime 15 for that lengthy, and definitely fewer return to No. 1 so many instances over the course of that a few years. Even although he by no means dropped out of the highest 16 on this planet, McIlroy stated returning to No. 1 felt fairly far-off even as not too long ago as a 12 months in the past.
“Far away? Yeah, it did,” McIlroy stated. “Jordan Spieth got to world No. 1 at Whistling Straits in 2015 when Jason Day won, and I didn’t get back to world No. 1 until 2020. It was just five years of top five, top 10, but it’s important, right? It took me five years to get back in 2020. Then COVID hit; I struggled through COVID. Coming out the back of COVID, sort of struggled a little bit, too. It’s been a couple years since I’ve been world No. 1.
“Yeah, it felt far-off, and I’m stunned that over the past six months I’ve performed as effectively as I’ve to get again to this spot.”
Despite the longevity — and regardless of having achieved the feat so many various instances — McIlroy was emotional after his win on Sunday. He stated that was as a result of of who has been there alongside him for the return to the highest.
“I think [what brought about that emotion was] just the steady climb back up to the summit of world golf and what it takes,” he stated. “It’s not just me; it’s everyone that’s a part of my team. It’s not a solo effort. I just think about everyone that’s made a difference in my life obviously not over the last 12 months but ever. Just thinking over that last 12 months, there’s a lot of people that deserve a lot of the plaudits, and I’m the one that sits up here and takes them, but there’s a lot of stuff that goes on behind the scenes that people don’t know about. All of that stuff combined is just as important as what I do out there trying to get these wins.
“It’s a staff effort, and I believe every time I take into consideration that, that is what will get me just a little bit choked up and emotional as a result of it’s actually cool to be on this journey with different individuals that you simply wish to be on the journey with. That’s a extremely cool half of it.”
Ultimately, a stage of sustained greatness like this is solely achieved by a sociopathic competitor or one so deeply enamored with the sport that he is internally motivated to beat it, irrespective of how lengthy it takes. All the expertise on this planet will not matter until you’ve gotten one (or each) of these attributes. While one might be doubtful about McIlroy when it involves the previous, it’s unattainable to doubt the latter.
“I feel like I’m enjoying the game as much as I ever have,” he stated on Sunday. “I absolutely love the game of golf. I think when I go out there and play with that joy, it’s definitely showed over these last 12 months.”
McIlroy added: “The journey of trying to get the best out of myself [is what I enjoy]. That’s the satisfying thing. I never feel like I’ve figured this game out, I don’t think I ever will figure it out, but every day I wake up trying to get closer.”