It’s been quite a year for Rory McIlroy. Three wins, another FedEx Cup title, a return to world and European no.1, and a major role as an outspoken critic of LIV Golf, have thrust the 33-year-old from Northern Ireland into the global spotlight like never before. But what does the man in question think of his status as pro golf’s senior statesman as we head into 2023 and his 16th season on tour?

When you first set out on your professional career back in 2007, what ambitions or expectations did you place on yourself, and how do look back on what you have achieved so far?
It may sound a bit clichéd, but I think I just took it one step at a time. I wanted to get my European Tour card and once I did that, I wanted to play in the majors and the World Golf Championships. I didn’t start off with grand ambitions. I just wanted to become the best golfer that I could, and whether that meant I was at a certain level or the levels I have reached, I’ve just always tried to get the best out of myself.
When I look back over the last 15 or so years, I know that I have had a pretty amazing career and it has provided me with an amazing life and has enabled me to do some amazing things, but you still have to remember where you came from. I have to pinch myself sometimes and try to put a little perspective on things, as I know that I am incredibly privileged to be in the position I am today. I’m getting to live out my childhood dreams, and not everybody gets to do that, so it’s an unbelievable position to be in.

You’ve been in great form this year and had a great run of results over the last few months. What are your main takeaways from 2022?
Yeah, it’s been great. I feel like almost every time I’ve teed it up this year, I’ve been in contention on a Sunday. You’re obviously not going to win every week, but if you give yourself a chance at least every week, that’s a really good start. As long as I keep putting myself in good positions, keep giving myself chances to win, that’s what I’m really happy with.
Getting back to world no.1, given where I was a year ago, also makes me feel proud. I’ve worked so hard over the last 12 months to get myself back to this place. I feel like I’m enjoying the game as much as I ever have. I absolutely love the game of golf. When I go out there and I play with that joy, the results have been good and long may that continue.
Another thing that I’m really proud of is that I don’t feel I have to rely on one aspect of my game to get me into contention. If my driving isn’t quite there, then my putter bails me out. If my putter isn’t there, my iron play bails me out. I feel like when you get to this level, it’s like, okay, how can you make those incremental improvements to get better, and I think my goal has been to just become a more complete golfer and I feel like I’m on the journey to doing that. I’m as complete a golfer as I feel like I’ve ever been, and hopefully I can continue on that path.

What specifically brings you joy out on the golf course?
Just the journey of trying to get the best out of myself, I think 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. That’s the beauty of this game and why we all keep coming back for more.

It’s obviously been a year of great highs, but how long did it take you to get over the disappointment of not winning The Open Championship this year, especially after getting into such a strong position?
Once The Open was done, I just reset my goals on what I thought a successful season would look like, and that’s what I went off and did and that’s what I was able to achieve. Of course I was disappointed not to win at St Andrews, but you lose more often than you win in this game, so I couldn’t afford to sit around moping in the middle of the season, I had to look forward and see how I could make the best of the rest of the year, which I think I have been able to do.
I feel like any time I’ve had a setback in my career, whether it be missing a cut, missing a chance to win a tournament, trying to get my first win on the European Tour or win my first major championship, I feel like I’ve been able to bounce back from some adversity. It’s been a learning curve, but I think my resilience, and my ability to respond to setbacks, is one of the things that I’ll look back on my career in 20 years’ time and be most proud of.

With the commitment to play 20 events on the PGA Tour next season, it’s hard to see how you’re going to find so much time to play in Europe. What is your schedule going to look like on the DP World Tour next season?
Pretty much the same as it has been the last few seasons to be honest. I’ve set my life up in the States, and that’s where my family is now, so the PGA Tour is where I will continue to play the majority of my golf, but I will continue to play in DP World Tour events where it fits my schedule and where I feel like I can and should play.
I’m an ambitious person. I want to play where the best players are playing and for the last decade or more, the best players have predominately played in the United States. There are a lot of changes going on right now in the schedules, but that probably won’t fully roll out until 2024, when the PGA Tour starts its calendar year season, rather than the wrap-around season which it currently operates.
I think that’s when will properly start to see the benefits of the strategic partnership between the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour. It will unlock more of a global schedule with some of the bigger European events incorporated into that January to August time frame. The two tours are going to run side-by-side and while that means I’m probably not going to play in the Dutch Open anytime soon, or some of the smaller events, more co-sanctioned events are going to attract stronger fields and that can only be good for sponsors and for fans going forward.

Do you see a time when the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and LIV Golf will sit down and sort it out, or have we reached an impasse and golf will be forever split?
I’ve always said I think there is a time and a place where everyone that’s involved should sit down and try to work together. It’s very hard for that to happen right now when there are all these lawsuits going on. There’s obviously this court case that’s going to happen in February with the DP World Tour and then the one in the States later next year, so that makes it very difficult to know what’s going to happen. There’s a natural timeline to let temperatures just sort of settle down a little bit and people can maybe go into those mediations with cooler heads and not be so emotional about it all.
But look, I don’t want a fractured game. I never have. The game of golf – at the professional level – is ripping itself apart right now and that’s not good for anyone. It’s not good for the players on whichever tour their on. In an ideal world, you want the best players competing against each other all of the time, or at least for more of the time, and currently that isn’t happening. So, I’m all for everyone sitting around the table and trying to figure something out.

Do you feel that LIV Golf events should be ascribed world ranking points?
I would certainly want the best players in the world ranked accordingly. I think Dustin Johnson is somewhere around 100th, so it’s not an accurate reflection of where he is in the game. But at the same time, you can’t make up your own rules. There are criteria to be met and everyone knows what they are. I have no problem with LIV players getting world ranking points, but the events have to meet the criteria laid down by the OWGR, and if you don’t meet the criteria, it’s going to be hard to justify why you should have them.

Are you surprised by how much you’ve come to be seen as an unofficial spokesperson for the established tours? Do you feel comfortable in that role?
I don’t know. I’m speaking up for what I believe in. I guess that’s the only thing I can say. Again, I’m speaking up because I believe in the game of golf, and look, the other side will say the exact same thing. But I don’t see how having 48 hand-picked players is growing the game in any way. There have to be pathways. There has to be a meritocracy. You need to give someone the ambition or opportunity to know that if they are playing on the Challenge Tour that in one, two or however many years’ time, that they can be challenging for major championships, which are the pinnacle of our sport. There is this pyramid and this funnel that has been so good for golf for so many years, and I don’t think it’s a broken system. So, whenever something like this comes along that is incredibly disruptive and they are saying things about how golf needs to change, it doesn’t need to change. Golf is the most wonderful game in the world. It doesn’t.
Could there be things that we could do to make it more entertaining from a TV perspective? Of course. That’s something that I think we can do from inside the walls. I don’t think we need to go outside of what we have already to figure that out.
But the game of golf post-COVID has been thriving, and I just want to make sure that it continues to thrive. It’s incredibly divisive, and does LIV Golf bring more eyeballs on to golf? Probably, at the moment, yes, because people are interested in the soap opera of it all, but that’s not golf. The most interesting thing about LIV over the last six months or so have been the rumours about who is going and who is not going. It’s not about the golf. It might be at some stage, but right now it’s the rumour mill that’s fuelling it. So when you you’re watching the PGA Tour or the DP World Tour, you’re watching because of the golf and you’re watching to see who is going to win tournaments that have context and mean something. That’s why I’m speaking up.

Finally, the European Ryder Cup team is most likely going to have a very different look to it next year, with a new generation of players coming through and some of the older players having moved over to LIV Golf or fallen out of form. How do you rate Europe’s chances against what, on paper, always looks like a strong US team?
As you say, our Ryder Cup team is going to look very different next year, and so will the American team to a certain extent. There’s going to be quite a few rookies on both teams, I would imagine. Europe’s had an unbelievable run in the Ryder Cup for the past couple of decades, and we haven’t lost a home leg in 30 years. The US team is very, very strong and doesn’t have lot of scar tissue compared to some of the past teams. They have a lot of their pairings locked down and because of the Presidents Cup, they get a chance to do it every year, which I think benefits them hugely. I think the Hero Cup, which replaces what was once the Seve Trophy, will be very useful for us next year and help us all to get a feel for the team and for Luke [Donald] and the guys to help formulate a plan.
As I said a few weeks ago, when I was playing in the Italian Open, it is time for a rejuvenation of the European Ryder Cup team. We need to blood some new guys, and a home Ryder Cup is the best way to do that. You’ve got the crowd acting as the 13th player on your side, and if you can introduce some of these new guys to the team then it’s the best way to go about it. But, of course, we’ll be the under cogs going into Italy and with how young this American team is, it looks like they will be very strong for a very long time. Either way, I’m excited. It’s a new challenge, a fresh challenge, they’ll be a lot of new faces and I’m excited to be a part of it.

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With Henrik Stenson being stripped of the 2023 Ryder Cup captaincy following his switch to LIV Golf, it has fallen to Luke Donald to pick up the baton to lead Team Europe into battle in Rome. Here, the Hertfordshire-born 45-year-old lays out his thoughts on taking the captain’s reins at short notice, the on-going issues around team selection, and how he plans to win back the cup

I know it’s something you’ve always wanted to do, but how does it feel to be a second choice Ryder Cup captain?

I can’t pretend that I wasn’t disappointed when I wasn’t selected first time around in March, as I thought I was in with a decent chance, but I’m delighted, excited and extremely honoured to have been given the chance to lead the team into Rome in 2023.
Obviously, the circumstances around Henrik’s situation are well known, but it is what it is. Sometimes in life we’re given second chances, and I’m thoroughly looking forward to making the most of the one that I have been handed.
This is something I’ve always wanted to do, so when I was offered the chance, I grabbed it. I’ve had amazing experiences in Ryder Cups, and in many ways this [the captaincy] feels like a lifetime achievement award; a reward for everything I’ve done in my Ryder Cup career, so to be a part of it again is truly special.
I’ve been involved in six Ryder Cups – four in a playing capacity and two as a vice-captain – and I’ve learnt a lot along the way. Some of the best experiences of my career have been at Ryder Cups, so I’m excited. I’ve got 12 months ahead of me and I’m looking forward to getting stuck in.

Given the shorter lead time that you will have as captain, what’s the most pressing thing to get sorted ahead of the next September’s matches?

I think we will have plenty of time to get everything in order. There are obviously some unknowns right now, but I’ll have to just deal with those as they come along. First and foremost, we needed to sort out the qualification criteria and we’ve done that now.

You’ve opted for six wildcards, with three automatic places from the world points list and three from the DP World Tour points list, as well as some changes to the points weighting behind some of the events. Are you confident that will give you the strongest team?

The changes to the qualification process follow in-depth analysis with the team at Ryder Cup Europe and I’m delighted that when we presented our thoughts to the Tournament Committee, they were 100% behind them. The revised overall process removes the need for points multipliers in the last few months of the qualifying period, and the six picks give me flexibility to ensure we have the strongest line-up at Marco Simone in terms of in-form players, players with Ryder Cup experience and potential pairings.
As far as the European Points List is concerned, modifying the points allocation will give an improved chance for DP World Tour members playing predominantly on the DP World Tour to make the Ryder Cup team through one of the now three spots available from that list. We have also moved the end of the qualification period forward to give the players the right amount of preparation time once they have made the team.
We are all focused on reclaiming the Ryder Cup in Rome next September and this qualification system gives us the best opportunity of doing just that.

What is your personal position as to whether those players who have gone to LIV Golf should be available for selection for the Ryder Cup team, either as players or vice-captains?

I’m not here really to talk about LIV Golf and whether they will be eligible or not. That remains to be seen, as there are legal appeals currently going on, but part of my role as captain is to create a strong and unified team, and I’ll be working on that as we build towards the matches. Hopefully, we’ll soon have some clarity on the situation [regarding LIV Golf players] and we can start making some decisions about the team when the picture becomes clearer.

Given that the American Ryder Cup team may lose a third of its 2021 winning team due to LIV Golf, how balanced do you think that the two teams might be in 2023?

Well, it’s hard to answer hypothetical questions. I think our top guys against their top guys match out pretty well, to be honest. I think there’s room for some great young players to show form over the next year, and I’m glad we do have a year to find those players. The Ryder Cup has always come down to fine margins, even when the final points tallies have been skewed one way or another. I know last year wasn’t that close judged by the end result, but it felt like the matches were a lot closer out on the course. Ryder Cups are always close, no matter where the players are in the rankings, and we’ll certainly be ready to take on whoever the US has in its team.

Did LIV Golf ever approach you to join their tour?

They have not approached me with a contract to play on the LIV Golf Series, but they did reach out to me very early on in the process about being a broadcast commentator, which I quickly said I wasn’t interested in. That’s all in the past and right now I want to keep moving forward. I’ve been gifted this opportunity to be Ryder Cup captain and this is my only goal, my only interest, over the next 14 months.

You played in last year’s Italian Open at Marco Simone, host venue for the 2023 Ryder Cup. What sort of a test do you think that course will present for the teams next September?

Yes, I played last year, and I’ll be playing again this year. I think it’s going to be an amazing golf course and an amazing venue. There are lots of great vantage points for crowds to watch the action. Obviously, I’ll be meeting with my vice captains and the Ryder Cup Committee over the next few weeks and thinking about how we can set up the course, but I think it’s going to be a great venue.

What do you think is going to be the hardest part of your job?

The hardest part for me will be to get these 12 guys into the team room in a very motivated, unified way. There are obviously some distractions going on, but there’s been lots of Ryder Cups where there have been issues for captains to deal with. We saw that last year with the pandemic and then in 2001 we had to deal with the fall-out from the terrorist attacks of 9/11. You know, these things happen, and we’ll just have to deal with them in the best possible way.

Having been at Whistling Straits as a vice-captain, how would you sum up the size of the task on your hands on a purely playing perspective to get that trophy back?

Well, I think the European Tour and the Ryder Cup Committee have a great template in place. We have had a lot of success over the years. We’ve won seven of the last ten, nine of the last 13, so last year’s defeat was very disappointing. It was a bitter pill to swallow.
It was the first time I was ever on a losing team and it’s not nice. But sometimes failure can really motivate you, and I certainly know that the players will be motivated to win back the cup, and I will be doing everything I can to get those guys in the right frame of mind to put us in a position to do that.
We had some things going against us last year, obviously COVID, and not having the travelling support that we usually do at an away match. So hopefully this time will be a little bit easier in terms of having great crowd support. I’m excited for it to be in Rome. The Italian fans are very passionate and I’m sure we’ll lots of fans travel from all over Europe.

You’ve obviously played most of your golf in recent seasons on the PGA Tour. How much of a challenge is it going to be to get to know these young guys that are going to be the new era for Europe, and how much time will you spend on the DP World Tour?

I certainly plan to be over in Europe more than I usually would do, and I’ll be meeting the guys and getting to know them better. I obviously know a lot of the players that have played in previous Ryder Cups, but it will be important for me to get over to Europe and catch up with these younger guys and really get them in the right frame of mind that this could be a new opportunity for a new generation to step up and make this team. I’ll be trying to really persuade them to be stepping up their schedules and playing some good golf.

Who are the younger players that you think might break through into the team next year?

I think there’s a lot of young talent out there. We’ve obviously got a lot of guys who played last year. We have some experienced players like Thomas Pieters, Thorbjørn Olesen, and some younger guys, like the Højgaard twins. Obviously, I would love Francesco [Molinari] to make that team. To be in Italy, that would be an amazing thing for himself and for me.

Do you feel like this could be a major changing of the guard in terms of how the European team looks going forward?

There are always shifts in the make-up of Ryder Cup teams, we saw that with the American side last year, and I think we’re probably going to see that with our team next year. I think that’s just a natural shift that happens in Ryder Cup teams.
We certainly had a lot of experience at Whistling Straits, but I’m sure those more experienced players still feel like they are capable of making the team. Then again, this is a great opportunity for the younger guys to qualify. So if I was a young European competing on the DP World Tour, I would be very excited about the opportunity to show how good I am and if what I’ve got is good enough to make the European Ryder Cup team.

Several past Ryder Cup captains have sought advice from managers and leading figures in other sports. I wonder whether Sarina Wiegman, manager of the Lionesses, might be on your ‘to-call list’ after England’s win in the Euros?

I was flying back from Detroit during the Euro finals, so I didn’t watch the match, but obviously we’re all extremely proud of what the Lionesses achieved. Any time I can talk to someone who is able to have such a success around a team is going to be worthwhile. I think you can see such comparisons between something like the Lionesses and the Ryder Cup. I’m sure I’ll be reaching out to many people who have had a lot of success in that team environment, one being Sarina.
The Lionesses made history, and they will inspire a generation. And that’s what really inspires me about the Ryder Cup – the chance to inspire future generations. I certainly remember a lot of my shots in Ryder Cups much more than I do in individual tournaments, because we are playing for something bigger than ourselves.

Your last Ryder Cup as a player was at Medinah in 2012. Is it a source of frustration that you haven’t been in the team as a player in recent years?

As an individual player, you always have aspirations of playing at the highest level, but my golf has not been as good as I would have liked the last few years. I’m 45 now, but I know that other players are still playing decent golf at that age, but just hasn’t been the case for me. If you had asked me after Medinah whether that would be my last Ryder Cup, I would have said you were crazy. That’s how fickle this game is. I still have aspirations of competing and doing well at the highest level, but

What’s your most abiding memory from the six Ryder Cups you’ve been involved in?

I’ve been fortunate to be a part of five winning teams, so the celebrations at the end are always fun. I got to play Oakland Hills last week for a corporate thing, and that was my first Ryder Cup in 2004. I remember the party in the Irish bar afterwards was pretty memorable.
From a personal playing standpoint, maybe the 7-iron I hit into the 17th at Medinah against Tiger and Steve Stricker when I was playing with Sergio. Maybe the bunker shot on 17 at Medinah, too, against Bubba Watson, and putting that first point on the board leading out Europe.

You’ve played and worked alongside six different Ryder Cup captains. What kind of captain will you be and who do you think of those past captain’s you’re most like?

Well, I enjoyed having my first Ryder Cup under Bernhard Langer in 2004. He certainly crossed all the t’s and dotted all the i’s. I felt like I always knew where I was with him. He was very detail orientated, and I think a lot of the players, including the rookies, were very motivated to play under him.
I suppose I’m somewhere between Langer and a José Maria Olazábal. I think I’m a detail-oriented person. I like to figure things out in my head without blurting them out. José was certainly more of a quiet leader, and I think that will be kind of my stance. That’s my nature. Between those two, I’m guessing I’ll be on the phone to both of them and getting some ideas for my captaincy.

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Adam Scott reflects on a 22-year career that has so far yielded 31 wins, a world no.1 ranking, and a coveted major championship victory at the 2013 Masters. Despite his advancing age, the 42-year-old Australian still feels he has time – and the desire – to add to his already impressive CV

After more than two decades on tour, I’m all about trying to get the right balance in my life between work and family. I moved back to Europe during Covid and settled my family in Crans sur Sierre in Switzerland. I have to do things now to make things as easy as possible for me get around to the tournaments that I want to play, while also not being too far from my wife and the kids. I’m still playing a global schedule, mixing tournaments on the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour, but I’m a bit more picky about where and when I play.

As it did for many people, the pandemic has changed a lot of things for me. Previously I had a very global team, and we had become used to being able to operate and to live wherever we wanted. My trainer was in Hawaii, my coach was in London, and I was living in Switzerland, and during Covid no-one could get to one another to see each other. I spent very little time with my coach, and I don’t even work with that trainer anymore because it was just not possible to do that. So there’s been a lot of changes, and until last summer I felt like a lot of balls were up in the air and nothing was very consistent and I was always juggling something. But you’re constantly learning in this game. And for me it’s been a good time to have a hard reset on many things. I feel like I’ve dealt with a few things that were tougher to deal with, and at least I feel like I’ve come out of it in a better place.

I probably set my expectations a little wrong at the start of last year, but when you’re competitive it’s very hard to lower them. I expect to play at a very high level and if I don’t I’m not really even going to have a job. You can make a lot of excuses, but I don’t think excuses get you very far in. this game, so you just have to figure out a way to deal with whatever situation you find yourself in. After being on Tour for 20 years I know that things don’t always go your way, because it’s a difficult game. So, although I’ve been frustrated when I haven’t played as well as I want to, I have never let it take me to a breaking point.

I managed to turn my game around in the back end of last year when I was able to sort out my equipment. Because of Covid, I hadn’t seen the guy who fits my clubs at Titleist for about 18 months, and I was using a driver that he didn’t particularly like for me. I saw him last summer, and just changing that had a trickle-down effect on everything getting better through the bag. I was hitting the driver better, and because of that the confidence got a bit better, and it’s so crazy that a little thing like that just helped.
The driver is an important club for me. When I look at last year, from February to July, I felt like I was driving it into the rough all the time, but when I’m swinging well I drive the ball very well and that confidence filters through the bag. And as I got into the back end of last year and adjusted some of the golf aspects like my driver, I could start seeing the positives again. That was obviously very helpful and made it easier to adjust my attitude of ‘I’m over this’ to ‘I’m looking forward to playing and getting stuck into a new season’.

My game is in a very good place at the moment, and it’s in a place where I feel like I can get results and that has been born out this year, with six top-10 finishes from 18 starts and getting through to the Tour Championship after finishing fifth at the St Jude Championship and the BMW Championship. I’m in a good spot physically and mentally, and I’m still in what I would still call the prime of my career. I’ve got a lot of experience behind me, so it’s time to take advantage of everything I’ve put into my career at this point and hopefully I get into some situations where I can make it go my way on Sunday and win some big events and maybe tick off a couple of those boxes I have left.

Even at my age, It’s fairly easy for me to stay motivated because I haven’t really achieved everything I want to achieve in the game. There are still a few boxes to tick, and that’s my focus now for as long as I stay out here. Watching Phil Mickelson win the US PGA at the age of 51 certainly gives me hope that I can still play at a high level for another five years at least. I know he’s put an incredible amount of work in to being able to do that and I’m not taking that for granted, but I feel like I like I’m in pretty good shape physically and hopefully I can still be a top player.

The Majors are really what golf careers are defined by, more so than ever. I’d love to win more and be a multiple winner. At this point I need to be greedy because I don’t have much time. Certainly, the Open Championship is unfinished business for me, but I’m not going to be picky – I’ll take any of them!

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After winning the US Open in dramatic fashion, Matt Fitzpatrick has finally arrived at golf’s top table, but true to his Yorkshire roots, he’s doing it while keeping his feet firmly on the ground

Exclusive interview by Nick Bayly

A major champion, a first victory in the US, and now ranked inside the world’s top 10. How good does life feel right now?
Winning a major title is a dream come true for me. It’s something I’ve worked very hard for for a very long time, and it feels like I’ve been rewarded for all that hard work and patience. I feel like I can retire a happy man.
Looking back, it was always going to be a leap into the unknown when I turned professional after leaving college nine years ago, so to be where I am, and having achieved what I have so far, makes me very proud. Although there is obviously a lot more I want to do in the game in the years ahead, I’m pretty pleased with where I am right now.

Having won the US Amateur at Brookline there was a lot of extra focus on you at the US Open. Did you feel that extra pressure, and do you feel like you put extra pressure on yourself in the Majors anyway?
I do put extra pressure on myself in the big events, it’s only natural, but as each one has come along I feel like I’ve got better at handling them, and that showed at the US Open. I felt very comfortable on the course, and felt like I knew where to hit it and where not to miss it.
The people around me say that I’m different in a major week and while I can’t see it myself it’s something that I knew I needed to work on. I feel that I’m a different player now to how I was in the early part of my career, so hopefully I can relax more in the Majors and it will start to show. With that first one [Major title] in the bag, I feel like a can win a few more of these. I’m targeting six. It might sound greedy, but I really think it’s an achievable goal.

You also went out in the last group on Sunday at the PGA Championship, with every chance of winning, but ultimately finished fifth. What was take on that week and how did it set you up for what you were able to achieve at the US Open?
The PGA was a pretty good week for me, regardless of the result. To have that experience, going out in the last group on Sunday in a major championship, was a first for me. I was obviously disappointed not to have got it done, but I learned a lot about myself that week and I was definitely able to draw on that experience when I got into the same group at the US Open. Of course, I didn’t think it would come around quite so quickly, but perhaps that was even more to my advantage to have that experience so fresh in my mind.
The biggest takeaway from the PGA was staying patient. I think Saturday’s third round was one of my best days on a golf course in a long time. I got off to such a poor start, so to be able to battle back and shoot what I did, gave me a lot of satisfaction. That was a big positive despite not coming away with the title. At the end of the day, I didn’t play well enough. I probably had my ‘C’ game on Sunday, not even my ‘B’, and that was never going to good enough.
The US Open required similar, if not more patience, especially with all the wind that we faced. There were so many holes which could bite you, yet there were holes that you could get after. It was defend, attack, defend, attack, and it was about knowing when par was a good score.

A few seasons ago you were complaining that the Majors were in the hands of the big hitters, but you seemed to have transformed yourself into one of those players. How have you achieved that?
I’ve spent a lot of time over the last 18 months to two years working with Mike Walker and my coach and biomechanist Dr Sasho Mackenzie. We did a little bit then, and he gave me this speed stick called The Stack. I’ve been doing that religiously week in and week out. It’s like going to the gym. I’ll be honest, it’s worked wonders for my long game.
I feel like if I’d been leading a major three or four years ago, and I was playing with someone like Will Zalatoris in the final group, I’d be concerned that I’m going to be 20 yards behind him off the tee. But I felt comfortable all day that I was going to be past him. To know that I’d be hitting a club less than him on a lot of approach shots gave me alot of confidence. It certainly gave me a mental boost.

You’ve had ten top-ten finishes in your last 17 starts. What do you feel like has been the key to your consistent play over the last six months?
Statistically speaking, my iron play has been considerably better so far this year than it was last year. I’ve made far fewer mistakes. I feel like I’m getting quite deep into a lot or rounds without having a bogey on the card, so that’s been a positive. My short game is also a lot sharper and when I miss greens I’ve been able to rescue pars, which previously might have been bogeys, so it’s little improvements here and there that are making the difference, nothing dramatic. It hasn’t all come together until now, and the result speaks for itself.

It’s well documented that you pay very close attention to your performance stats. Where does this attention to detail come from?
Yeah, I’ve been doing my own stats for a long time – since I was 14, if you really want to know, so it’s not a new thing for me. But during the first lockdown back in March 2020, I got in touch with Edoardo Molinari, who plays on the European Tour, but has also created his own stats analysis programme that records pretty much anything you want to record.
One element of his programme tracks dispersion, something which I’d not done before, but was very interested in. Say, on your approach to the green you’re aiming four yards right of the flag each time, but you’re pulling it two yards left, there’s a six-yard difference there on your aim. So, while it might look good on your ‘strokes gained approach’ stats, when measured against your actual target you’re still six yards away. Using Edoardo’s programme, I now know what my strokes gained to my target is rather than just strokes gained to the pin. It just made it more specific to my game, seeing my own patterns, and it helps me plot my way around the golf course a bit better.
Over time we’re gradually building up a better picture of my overall game, and although the improvements might be marginal, or sometime barely noticeable, it gives me a better understanding of where my weaknesses – and strengths – lie and what we can work on. It’s certainly helped me structure my practice sessions better, enabling me to focus on the things that need improving rather than spending too much time on things that are already working well.

As a player, you seem like someone who is never quite satisfied, and that you will always pushing to find that bit extra. Is that a fair assessment?
No matter how good your achievements are, I think you can always be striving for more. There will always be guys that are having success and I suppose that competition is what motivates me. With so many players out there playing well week-in and week-out, you can never be content with your own game, no matter how good it is. I really want to be the best golfer I can possibly be, and if I give 100 per cent – there isn’t much more I can ask of myself.

Billy [Foster] once described you as ‘the ultimate professional’ and ‘Bernhard Langer’s love child’. What did he mean by the Langer reference?
It was nice to hear the first part, but I guess what he really means by the Langer bit is that I might be prone to over-analysing things and get overly obsessed with details! I’m very lucky to have Billy. He’s got so much experience, and has been there, done it and got the T-shirt.

How great was it to have Billy on the bag for your major breakthrough and for you to help him to his first major win as a caddie?
I am so pleased for him. He’s had quite a few near misses over the years, so I was just delighted that we were able to get the job done. He was almost more emotional than I was at the end there, but it just showed how much it meant to both of us. He has been just an asset over the last 3-4 years since we started working together, and I’m just so lucky to have someone with that much experience to guide me through these tournaments.

What will being able to call yourself a major champion do you for going forward. Do you feel like the shackles are off?
It’s funny, after Shane [Lowry] won the Open, he told me that he got some abuse at a tournament soon after when he wasn’t playing very well and he said that it didn’t bother him at all, because I knew he’d won a major. And I think I’ll be drawing on that one a lot when things aren’t going my way.
But once you’ve got one, you know you want to go and win more now, there’s no doubt about that. I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing and hopefully more will come.

How much are you looking forward to teeing it up at St Andrews as a major champion?
It will be great. I love playing St Andrews. It’s a great golf course. It’s going to be interesting, obviously, with the length and everything. And now I’m a bomber, I’ll probably be driving most of the greens! Yes, I’m looking forward to it. I’ve got two weeks off now, which I couldn’t be happier about. I’ll get my head around a few things, and then we’ll go to St Andrews.

You seem to have cut back on your schedule over the last two seasons. Is that to help you fresh?
Yes, I have deliberately played fewer events over the last couple of years, and that has really helped to keep me fresh. When Billy came on to my bag, he stressed the need to take more breaks. Looking at my schedule in years gone by, I was playing as many as 32 events, and last year I think played 28 or 29. It doesn’t sound like a big difference, but it is. It’s an extra week or two to work on the game, and it’s an extra week or two of rest. It all adds up over the course of a season, and it certainly made a big difference to my performances.

You’ve recently joined Skechers as a tour ambassador. What attracted you to the brand and what specific performance demands do you have from a golf shoe?
The big thing that attracted me to Skechers is that it is solely a footwear company – that’s all they do and they are renowned for making quality products. Things weren’t quite working out the way I wanted with my previous brand, and after speaking with my trainer we decided to make a switch.
I’ve been wearing and testing Skechers GO GOLF shoes for some time now, and I’m really pleased with the comfort and performance that I’m getting from my Pro 5s out on the golf course. I like the way they look, as they’re perhaps a bit more athletic than previous models, and it’s been any easy transition to make.
The service they offer on tour is first class, and they’re happy for me to work with them, sharing ideas and passing on insights that hopefully can help improve future products and help players at all levels of the game.

 Do you switch between spikeless and spiked models depending on course conditions?
No, I purely play in spiked shoes. I slide around too much at impact if I wear spikeless. Nothing against those models, but my foot pressures are all over the place, so they just don’t provide enough stability for me. If I’m practicing at golf courses at home in Florida or back in the UK, I’ll wear SoftSpikes – plastic cleats – as they’re kinder to the greens, but when I’m on tour its metal spikes only.  I get through three two or three pairs of golf shoes a month. That might sound like a lot, but the amount we play and walk around the course, shoes can scuff up pretty easily and not look their best, so I guess it’s in both our interests to have fresh pairs ready to go. I mainly wear white shoes, but I’ll mix and match depending on what I’m wearing.

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A dramatic final day’s play at the PGA Championship at Southern Hills resulted in Justin Thomas winning his second Wanamaker Trophy after a play-off with fellow American Will Zalatoris

As a past winner of the PGA Championship, you know how hard it is to win these things, but starting out on Sunday, seven shots back, and with six players in front of you, how much of a chance did think you had of lifting the trophy?
When I looked at the leaderboard on Saturday night I could see that there were a lot of good players ahead of me, but I also knew that none of them had won a major before, and some hadn’t won a PGA Tour event, so I knew there would be some nerves out there, just as I felt them back in 2017.
I hadn’t won in a while, and it had been five years since my PGA win, so I while I wasn’t feeling out of it, I knew that it would take a pretty good round from me and for others to fall back for me to have any kind of chance. To be honest, I only really thought I had a chance to win once I found out I was in a play-off. Up until that point my fate was kind of in the hands of others. I posted a score, but I didn’t think it would be a winning one. I thought six or seven under was doable, so when I missed that birdie putt on 18 in regulation I felt like it could have been an important one.

So what was your gameplan going out there on Sunday? Were you trying to be aggressive or avoid making mistakes?
I was trying not to play the field or think about what others were doing. I just went about my business, trying to execute each shot as well as I could, and then wherever it ended up, I just gave my club to Bones [his caddie, Jim McKay] and then moved on to the next shot and so on. Bones did an unbelievable job of keeping me in the moment and keeping me patient. Southern Hills is a very hard golf course, so you had to be patient, and I just hung in there, tried to stay positive and got the job done.

Did you feel that chasing from behind gave you the opportunity to play with a bit more freedom than the leaders?
I didn’t look at the leaderboards on Sunday, so I didn’t know where I necessarily was. When I made the birdie on 12, it felt like there was a different energy from the crowd and I got a sense that I might have been in the mix, but I didn’t know where I was at, but I’m in striking distance.

You were the only player in the last seven groups who broke par. How much of that would you attribute to the difficulty of the conditions and pins and frankly, to the nerves, given so much lack of major experience out there?
I would say the golf course and the wind probably 80 per cent, and I would say the difficulty of winning a golf tournament and a major, 20 per cent, if I had to put a number on it. I mean, it was tough. The wind kept switching and it was easy to second guess yourself. A lot of potential birdie holes could turn into bogey holes and worse if you got things slightly wrong, and that’s kind of what we saw happen out there. Southern Hills is a great major championship venue, and it tests all facets of your game.

When do you think your experience of having ‘been there and got the t-shirt’ came into play during the final round?
It definitely came into play during those last three or four holes. I played the back nine beautifully. The holes I didn’t make birdie or had birdie putts I had really good looks, and I hit great putts that just didn’t go in. And the holes I missed the green I was able to salvage a par, which is what you have to do to win a major. I kept telling myself I’ve been here before. Although it’s been five years, it was somewhere down in there, and that really helped.

Is it possible to feel a bit of sympathy for Mito Pereira, with the wheels coming off like that on 18?
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, in ideal circumstances you want to win a golf tournament, you don’t want someone to lose it, but that’s golf. There have been many times in my career when I feel like I’ve let a tournament get away. It’s brutal. It’s not fun. But at the same time, I’m sure Mito will be able to look back at it later and reflect, he’ll be able to learn from it and be better from it. There’s no reason for him to hang his head – he played unbelievable golf this week.

The weather changed so much over the course of the four rounds. How differently did it play from day-to-day and what factor did the weather play in the result?
I don’t think I’ve ever played in a major – outside of the Open Championship, of course – where we’ve had such a severe change in conditions during the course of the tournament. When I played on Friday morning, the wind was howling out of the south, and then on Saturday it was cold and blowing out of the north. That doesn’t happen often, let alone in a major championship and at a place like this. It just brought out another side of everybody. It challenged us, but I was also excited, because although I would have loved to have seen this place in a north wind, I hadn’t before. But at the same time, I’m sure a lot of guys hadn’t either. It probably helped that I hadn’t been here that often because it was a lot easier to throw the past two rounds of memory out and just almost take each hole from scratch for what it was. It was very tough, but everybody had to deal with the same kind of stuff.

Given that your father and your grandfather were both PGA Professionals, can talk about how special it is to win the PGA of America’s Major Championship?
Yeah, it’s very, very special. I’m pleased. At this point any of them is great; I don’t care which one it is. As Tom Brady always says, your favourite Super Bowl is your next one, and that’s what my favourite major is. And at this moment, it’s definitely the PGA. I know somewhere up there, grandpa was watching and pulling for me. It’s very, very cool to be able to share this victory with my family.

In what ways are you a better golfer now than when you won the PGA back in 2017?
Five years is a long time, especially at this stage of my life, so I’ve definitely matured quite a bit a player and as a person. I would like to think that everything has just gotten a little better, although I couldn’t put my finger on anything specific element of my game, but it those 1% increments that can make the difference. There is nothing that is monumentally better than it was five years ago, but it’s all improved just a little bit and it all came together this week. It feels like it’s a lot harder to win on tour than it did five years ago, as the strength in depth feels much deeper than it did when i first started out. My world ranking had fallen without me thinking that I was playing any worse, and that just shows how quickly you can drop when you’re not winning.

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After winning his first European Tour event, breaking a world record, and making a big impression at last year’s US Open, Yorkshire’s Marcus Armitage is ready to take on all challenges that the game has to throw at him

During the spring of last year, as the UK emerged from the final of its three national lockdowns, there can’t have been many golf fans with an internet connection that didn’t tune in to YouTube at some point to see a professional golfer trying to hit a golf ball into an open-top sports car travelling at 80mph down the runway at Elvington Airfield in Yorkshire.

Filmed as part of the European Tour’s on-going series of stunts and wind-ups designed to drive up digital clicks and hits, the world record for ‘the longest drive ever hit into a moving car’ was eventually achieved when Marcus Armitage’s 303-yard effort with a Callaway Epic driver rattled into the back of a BMW M8 Convertible driven by touring car champion Paul O’Neill.

It beat the previous record by 30 yards, which was some achievement in itself, but the star of the show was definitely Armitage, whose child-like enthusiasm for the task, and the sheer joie de vivre that he showed once he had chalked up the record – which initially involved him taking off his shirt and running bare-chested down the runway – made him an instant internet sensation, with over 115,000 views in just a few days after it aired in mid-April.

The European Tour’s media team definitely found the right man for the job in Armitage, as the 34-year-old from Huddersfield is a natural born entertainer, as well as being a pretty handy golfer.

Just two months after entering the Guinness Book of World Records, Armitage, who goes by the nickname of ‘Bullet’ on tour – it’s a long story – added another important addition to his CV when he recorded the first European Tour win of his career at the 2021 Porsche European Open in Germany. It was a well-deserved and very welcome reward for a man who has progressed through golf’s ranks the hard way after a very tough start to his life.

While most 13-year-olds are breezing through life without much of a care in the world, Armitage was dealing with the death of his mother, Jean, from cancer. For any child to lose a parent at such a young age is devastating, but it hit young Marcus hard, and he lost all interest in school and learning.

Already a decent golfer, with a handicap of 10, Marcus turned his attentions to the driving range and the golf course, where he passed the hours that he should have been spent studying textbooks, mastering the arts of driving, chipping and putting at Oldham Golf Club instead. Golf proved an all-consuming distraction from the sadness he felt from the loss of his mother. It became his sanctuary and a safe space where he, and he alone, was in control of his destiny.

Looking back on those days, Marcus says: “After mum died, I left school because I couldn’t focus in the classroom. The only place I could focus was on the golf course, hitting shots and trying to get better. It took my mind off what had happened with my mum. Golf just became my answer. I mean, I know there are no answers in life, but it was my answer at the time. Everything was golf.’’

As his game progressed and his handicap came down, Armitage joined Howley Hall Golf Club and soon started winning on the local circuit. For Armitage there was no smooth transition from the amateur ranks to Europe’s top tour with a few months of sponsors’ invitation, as is often the case for the game’s elite amateurs. He had to carve out a different path and after turning professional in 2012, he joined the EuroPro Tour, the third tier of professional golf in Europe. He proved an instant success on the UK-based circuit, winning three times during the 2013 season en route to being named rookie of the year and earning promotion to the Challenge Tour.

After three relatively successful seasons on the second-tier tour, a victory in the Foshan Open in China in 2016 helped to earn his European Tour card through the end-of-year rankings for the 2017 season. The big time beckoned. But, like many before him, Armitage found the step up to the top tier a tough one, and he dropped straight back down to the Challenge Tour after finishing 152^nd in the 2017 Race to Dubai ranking.

Playing the tour when you’re not making cuts is an expensive business and Armitage soon found himself £100,000 in debt and running out of funds to pay for flights and entry fees. After winning his European Tour card back through qualifying school at the end of 2019, Armitage was facing the prospect of preparing for the 2020 season without the funds to pay for flights or hotels and the future looked bleak. Help, thankfully, came in the shape of fellow European Tour player Robert Rock, who leant him £5,000 to cover his expenses for the first few tournaments of the year and enable him to continue to follow his dream.

Rock’s faith was soon repaid – along with the debt – when Armitage finished third in the South African Open in early January, enabling him to get back on his feet both financially and professionally. The rest of the season yielded five top-10s and a further €260,000 in prize money after he made 18 cuts from 23 tournaments, and his career was back on something resembling the right track.

With his financial worries well and truly behind him, Armitage gently moved up a gear in 2021, making 19 of 25 cuts, bagging six top-20 finishes and securing his long-dreamed of first win at the aforementioned European Open in June, where a closing 65 in the rain-shortened 54-hole tournament was good enough for a two-shot win and a €180,000 winner’s cheque.

The emotion of it all came to a head at the trophy presentation in Germany when a tearful Armitage opened up about the thoughts that were going through his mind as he lifted the trophy, including the debt he owed to his mother. Speaking through the tears, he said: “Twenty years ago I lost my mum and I’ve dreamt about this [winning on the European Tour] since that day. You have days where you think it might not ever happen, but I just stuck at it. Today is a great day, and I’m sure she would be proud, and everybody in my team that’s helped me – but this one’s for me. For all of those lonely days I spent working on my dream. While I’m grateful to my team, I think I’ve got to take a lot of credit for it myself.”

Those humbling words touched a chord with many who were there on the day and those that watched on television. The European Open win led to a significant rise up the rankings for the Yorkshireman and qualification for his first major championship on US soil, the US Open at Torrey Pines, and then later that summer a second stab at the 149^th Open Championship at Royal St George’s, having made his debut at the 2018 renewal at Carnoustie, where a dislocated shoulder caused by an indoor sky-diving accident put paid to his chances of doing himself justice.

Armitage’s doctor had advised him not to play at Carnoustie, but having waited all of his life to be given a chance to play, he was damned if playing with one working arm was going to stop him from taking part. He duly bunted his way around to an opening 80. The next day he managed 11 strokes better, a respectable 69, courtesy of a red hot of a putter. He missed the cut, of course, but he had had his first taste of the Open and was eager for more.

He had to wait four more years for that opportunity to come around again. Opening rounds of 69 and 72 at St George’s saw him advance to his first Open weekend, while a pair of even-par 70s on Saturday and Sunday kept him at one over for the championship, well back from winner Collin Morikawa, but with an experience he won’t soon forget in a hurry.

“It was magic,” he says, recalling his week on the famous Kent links. “Major golf is everything that I’d imagined as a kid, and even more so at the weekend. I’m a fast learner, but it has taken me a bit of time to feel comfortable in these bigger events. Some people take to it straightaway, like your Rorys, but it’s taken me a bit longer. I’m slowly getting the gist of it, and hopefully I can break through next year with something bigger.”

For now, Armitage is happy being one of the underdogs, and flying under the radar, but it might not be for much longer.

FACTFILE
Age: 34
Lives: Huddersfield, Yorkshire
Turned Pro: 2008
World Ranking: 163
European Tour Appearances: 96
Cuts Made: 62
Wins: 1 (2021 Porsche European Open)
Top 10s: 13
Prize Money: €1.45m
Race to Dubai Ranking: 37 (42nd in 2021)
Driving Distance: 312 yards
Driving Accuracy: 48%
Greens in Regulation: 71%
Putts per GIR: 1.71
Stroke Average: 70.31

What is in Marcus Armitage’s bag?
Driver: Callaway Epic Speed (9°)
Fairway wood: Callaway Mavrik Sub Zero (15°, 20°)
Irons: Srixon ZX7 (4-PW)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM8 (50°, 54°, 58°)
Putter: Odyssey Works 1W
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

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After bagging her first win as a professional at the British Open back in 2018, England’s Georgia Hall is looking to take her career to the next level after recent victories on both sides of the Atlantic

You kicked off this year with a win at the Saudi Ladies International in March. How important was it to get a ‘W’ in the book so early in the season?

Yeah, it was fantastic to win in March, which was early in the season for me, and to do so at such big event. Both my previous big wins have come in the second half of the year, so I was really pleased to get off to good start this year.
I love the course at Royal Greens, it seems to suit my game, so to lead from the first round and to keep my head in front was something I was very proud of. I had a five-shot lead going into the final round, and sometimes those big leads are the hardest to defend, as you can start playing safe and get into trouble, but I was really happy with the way I coped with the pressure and kept my lead intact. I put a lot of work in at the start of the year, so I’m in a good place at the moment, and I’m very happy with my golf.

You adopted a different schedule at the start of the year compared to previous seasons, playing in a couple of tournaments in Florida, but no play at all in Asia. What was the thinking behind that?

I love playing golf tournaments anywhere in the world, so a lot of the time I would just play in a certain tournament just to play, but this year I’ve kind of set out my stall to play in the events I specifically enjoy playing and the golf courses I know I play well on.
Travelling to Asia takes a long time and I haven’t played that well there in the past, so I thought I’d mix things up this year and see how I fared with a different schedule. I also skipped the KIA Classic in California because I don’t enjoy the course at Aviara. And it kind of paid off, as I won in Saudi the following week at a course that I know that I like and generally play well on.

Do you feel that as you’ve got more experience under your belt you’re in a better position to make decisions about where to play and where not to play?

Yeah, I think it takes a few years to know what schedule suits you and what courses you perform best on. And living in the UK, but playing predominantly on the LPGA Tour, makes things a tiny bit harder travel-wise. So, I it’s taken some time to learn what courses I like and how many weeks I can be away from home. I’ve never really done that well in Asia, but I’m sure I will be back there soon, but I figured it would be ok to take a break from it for a season and see how things go.

You’ve been a global player from the outset of your professional career, but how hard was it to adjust from playing the LET to the LPGA Tour?

The LPGA Tour is a big change from the LET – the pins are often in tougher spots and the courses are a lot longer than in Europe. And, of course, the fields are stronger. There can also be some big distances between venues, and time differences, so you have to factor all that in too.
We obviously play for a lot more money in America, but it also costs a lot more to get out there and stay out there. If you are not playing well and missing a lot of cuts, it is extremely expensive. You have to pay for a visa to get over there, flights are even more expensive nowadays, and if there is a week where there isn’t a tournament, you still have to pay for accommodation. It is expensive, but if you do play well, the rewards are there.

It’s a record-breaking season in terms of prize money on the Ladies European Tour, with €30 million up for grabs across the season. How does it feel from a player’s perspective to have those purses to play for and for women’s golf in Europe to getting that kind of support following what has been a rocky time for the tour?

Yeah, I think it’s fantastic. It’s definitely what the LET needs, and it’s such a more positive situation to be in than was the case just a few years ago. I’m really happy for the girls. The tie-in with the LPGA Tour has been a really great move, and that’s why you get LPGA players coming over here, because they want to compete in these events and play on this Tour.

How much are you looking forward to teeing it up at the Aramco Team Series event at Centurion next month?

The Aramco Team Series has been a really great addition to the Tour and one that I know the girls enjoying playing in. Having that team element is different and makes it a little more interesting – and is a real force for good in women’s golf.
Any time you get to tee it up on home soil is very special indeed, so an opportunity to win individually or with my team in London at the Aramco Team Series is something that would obviously be a massive season highlight.
I love the concept and a chance to play and win with a range of different players with some good memories from last year. Women’s sport and UK golf is booming at the moment, so fun and exciting events like this on the LET provide a massive opportunity for more women and girls to get inspired to play.

Looking ahead to the rest of the season, what are some of your immediate goals?

My main goal is to win more tournaments, and I think I’m ready to do that now. I have a better understanding of my game, I have a better understanding of my schedule and where I can play my best, so hopefully that will lead to some positive results and hopefully some more wins. I just want to take it to the next level, and I feel like I’m ready to do that.
One of my other goals is to get back into the world’s top 10. The top players in the world are super consistent and it’s tough to get there, so I have to play good golf week-in, week out. Being more consistent in the majors is also important, but putting in strong performances across the board will be the key to getting my ranking up.

We had fans back the Women’s British Open when it was held at Carnoustie last year and will do so again when Muirfield hosts the tournament for the first time this year. How much of a boost does it provide to play in front of a supportive crowd?

I do feel very calm when I am playing the British Open. It is just so nice to play in front of the crowds that are generally getting behind you. We missed that in 2020, and to hear them cheering my name at Carnoustie was a lot of fun. Hopefully there will be a few people pulling for me at Muirfield. It certainly made a huge difference when I won at Lytham in 2018.

Going back to that win in 2018, how much pressure did having your first professional win being a major put on on you in terms of expectations in the immediate aftermath?

To be honest, I felt like the win gave me a big confidence boost, rather than putting extra pressure on me. I had an OK year after that, nothing amazing, but the second half of the 2018 season was strong. I certainly didn’t feel any external pressure – we don’t generally get that kind of attention in women’s golf, say, like they do in tennis or some other sports, so the only pressure was coming from me and what I wanted to achieve.
I’ve won a major, I’ve won on multiple tours, and I’ve had a decent run in the Solheim Cup, so I feel like I’ve done ok for someone who is still only 26.

You’ve had your boyfriend, Harry [Tyrrell] on the bag for some time now. How important has he been not only in his professional role, but also being there to support you?

Playing professional golf is a team effort – people forget sometimes how much we travel and how much time we spend away from home. It can get very lonely if you are on your own, so it is great to have Harry with me, not just as a boyfriend and a caddie, but also as a travelling companion.
He definitely helps me be more relaxed on the course. We are still boyfriend and girlfriend, but we just stay focused on the golf. He is someone I can speak to about everything and anything, as I do get a bit stressed at times. He can be a bit too laid-back, but I think I can be a bit too much the other way, so we balance each other out well.
As a caddie, he does all the yardages with me, double checks that we have the right number of clubs, all that kind of stuff, but in terms of the green reading, I have always done that myself.

Slow play has been an issue in professional golf, and women’s golf in particular, in recent years. What more do you think needs to be done to speed things up? Are you in favour of harsher penalties?

If someone is being slow and holding up play, then I believe that they should get penalised, whether it’s a warning, as a first-off, or some sort of penalty for habitual offenders. I don’t think it should matter whether it’s the last round or the first, if someone is being slow, they need to be told to hurry up or face a penalty.
I don’t think there necessarily needs to be a change in policy, but players do need to be told more often by officials to get a hurry on. It doesn’t make for great viewing on TV or help the other players when players are extremely slow. It can be hard when the weather’s bad and the wind’s blowing, but otherwise there are no excuses really.

What advice you would give to any young girls out there thinking of taking up golf?
I started when I was seven years old, and I just really enjoyed trying to make contact with the ball and try to hit it as hard as I could. The key when starting out is to have a lot of fun with it and try not to focus on the end result too much. Everyone is different, some find it easier than others, but the essential ingredient is to have fun.

WHAT’S IN GEORGIA’S BAG?
Driver: Callaway GBB Epic (9°)
Fairway: Callaway Epic Flash Sub Zero (15°)
Hybrid: Callaway Mavrik (19)
Irons: Callaway Apex Pro 19 (3-9)
Wedges: Callaway Mack Daddy 5 Jaws (50°, 54°, 58°)
Putter: Odyssey White Hot RX Rossie
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

GEAR TALK WITH GEORGIA

“The GBB driver is my favourite club in the bag, Driving has always been the best part of my game. When I play well, people often say it’s because of my putting, but I’m much more consistent with the driver.”

“Besides driver, I only carry a 3-wood. I go straight from my 3-wood to my hybrid. I’ve never even hit a 5-wood. For me, the gap between hybrid and 3-wood is fine. I don’t feel like I need anything between. However, for the British Open, I’ll often switch out the hybrid for a 3-iron.”

“I’ve had the Apex Pro irons in the bag for three seasons now and I’m really happy with them. I’m more about the look of the club and feeling comfortable with it than focusing on the numbers when I test, but I always take yardage into consideration. If I like it, and it doesn’t go shorter, I’ll start using it. The Apex Pros are forged and the feedback of the face is superb and I won’t change until something better comes along that works for me.”

“Callaway does cool custom stamping on wedges, and they’ve done some nice ones for me, They put my logo on one, the British flag on another, and they made me one when I won the British Open in 2018.”

“My Odyssey White Hot RX Rossie is the oldest club in my bag,” says Hall. “I’ve used it for the past six years, and it was old when I first got it. I’ve tested other putters, but I always come back to this one. You don’t hit the putter far, but I think it’s the hardest club to test. Putting is so personal. The only change I’ve made over the years is putting a SuperStroke grip on it, which takes a lot of the tension out of your hands and enables a smoother release.”

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At what point did you think you could win? And what was it like seeing Tiger charge up the leaderboard?
I’ve told this story many times, but I literally didn’t pay any attention to what Tiger was doing, or what anyone else was doing. I was playing so well, and so focused on what I was doing, that I was literally oblivious to what was going on around me. I couldn’t control what they were doing and they couldn’t control what I was doing, so it seemed like a waste of mental energy to think about those things.
All I knew was that I was leading by one after nine, having been three behind Justin at the start. I didn’t see another leaderboard until 13, when I saw I had a six-shot lead with five to go. And I was like, ‘Wow, I really have a chance to win this thing’.
Of course, I heard the cheers around the course, and, at first, I thought they were for Fred [Funk], as he had some story going that week, but I soon realised that they for Tiger, but I just tried to staye calm and go about my business.
I remember after making birdie at 13, the walk from the green to the 14^th tee was about 50 yards, but it felt like about 150, as all these thoughts started entering my head. I thought the only way I was going to lose this was if I screwed something up, so I kind of gave myself a talking to and just got on with it. I holed a 40-foot putt for birdie on 16, and standing on the tee at 17, I still had a two-stroke lead, and it was all still in my own hands. I pared the par-three 17^th and had that two-shot cushion going down the last.
The great thing was that I had a world-class caddie on my bag, Steve Duplantis – who is sadly no longer with us – and he knew what I was like when I was under extreme pressure. I remember when we got to the 18^th tee he pulled out the driver and said to me ‘Hit this thing as hard as you can’. I got up there and swung it as hard as I could and it just sailed straight down the middle and was one of the longest drives I hit that week. I didn’t miss a single fairway in the final round and Steve knew that the harder I hit it that driver the straighter it went. I found the green with my second shot had the luxury of being able to three-putt for a bogey and the win.
I really went into that final round thinking that I had nothing to lose, so it really helped free me up to play my own game.

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Newly-crowned Masters champion Scottie Scheffler reveals how he tamed Augusta and what it means to become a Major winner

How does it feel to have won the Masters, your first major title, just two weeks after reaching no.1 in the world?

It feels pretty good and I’m just really thankful to be in this position. Obviously, I had dreamed of winning since I was a kid, every golfer has, and I imagined what it might feel like to walk up 18 with a big lead, but for that to play out the way that it did was beyond my expectations. I didn’t break my concentration until we got on to the green on 18. Once we got there, I was like, all right, I’m going to enjoy this, and had some fun with it. The four-putt was a little embarrassing though, but it kind of broke the tension.

Did you have a game plan for getting your way around the golf course this week?

We did. My caddie, Ted, and I knew exactly where I wanted to put the ball and if I was to miss it, which side of the golf course I could be on to where I could still get it up-and-down. We just did a good job of keeping myself in positions where we could still manage to reach the green when I wasn’t swinging my best. Ted knows this golf course so well, and I trusted him every step of the way. I had a lot of nice up-and-downs, so if I was to pick one part of my game that excelled the most, I would say it was probably my lob wedge.

Talking of wedge play, how pivotal was the chip-in was at the third hole?

I would say what is most important thing for me was getting that ball up-and-down, but to have it go in was obviously off the charts, but my main goal was just to get up-and-down, and see it go in was something special. Parring 4 and 5 was huge as well. After that I kind of just started cruising. I felt comfortable with most of the aspects of my game and I felt like I wasn’t ever going to make a bogey.

Did you keep your eye on the leaderboards all day?

For the most part I didn’t look at leaderboards. I did see at one point that Rory posted 7-under, and then Cam and I were kind of getting a little tight there after he birdied 11. I made a huge par putt there. After that he made the mistake on 12, and I had a nice up-and-down, and after that just played some good golf. I just kept my head down, kept pushing and trying to hit good shots and stay aggressive. The minute you take your foot off the gas, and play overly conservatively, bogeys can just start racking up. You have to play conservatively aggressive and hit good shots. You can’t just limp your way in. I knew that on the back nine and all I was trying to do was just hit good shots.

Eight weeks ago today, you had our first PGA Tour victory. You now have four wins in your last six starts. Could you ever imagine back then how this was all going to play out? And other than due to the fact you played great golf, did you ever see this coming? What do you put it down to?

I would say ‘no’ to both of those! I’ve never been a guy that likes to look too far into the future. So, for me, just staying present has always been what works best.

The Masters brings lots of life-changing things, but how excited are you about being able to come back here year after year?

That’s the coolest part about this whole deal. This is such a fun golf course. Augusta National is about as cool as it gets. I just can’t believe that I can come back and enjoy this golf course for the rest of my life.

A lot of top players, including the likes of Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas have talked about the influence of Tiger on their game. What has Tiger’s influence on you been?

Oh, yeah. I played Tiger’s irons, wore his shoes and wore his shirt this week. Tiger has done so much for the game of golf. and I, and all my fellow pros, are so glad to have him back out here. He is the needle for the game of golf. He has completely changed the PGA Tour since he came out on tour 25 year or so ago. And his YouTube clips are such an inspiration for me. I remember watching the highlights of him winning in ’97, kind of running away with it, and he never really broke his concentration. That’s something that I reminded myself of today. I tried not to look up. I tried to keep my head down and just keep doing what I was doing, because I didn’t want to break my concentration. The only time I did was on the 18th green and I had a five-shot lead and was like, all right, now I can enjoy this. And you saw the results of that. Thank you, Tiger.

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As he embarks on his 15th season as a professional, Rory McIlroy reflects on a year which has, to date, seen him win two PGA Tour events, but fail to contend in the majors, briefly slip outside the world’s top 10 and endure a wretched Ryder Cup which all ended in tears

A far as years go on the CVs of most professional golfers, a season that currently features two wins and seven top-ten finishes would count as a pretty decent return. Well, it would if you weren’t called Rory McIlroy.
Ever since he burst onto the professional scene in 2007, aged just 17 – and for several years before that ­– big things have been expected of Rory. And for large chunks of his career he has delivered on that promise, and some.

Four major championships before he turned 25; 23 top-10 major finishes; 19 PGA Tour victories; 14 European Tour wins; three Race to Dubai titles; two FedEx Cup titles and a grip on the world no.1 spot for over 100 weeks. Throw in six Ryder Cup appearances and you have the makings of a pretty handy record.
But dig down through all the stats, all the Ws, and all money, and there remains the nagging feeling that Rory hasn’t quite got the results that his almost unfathomable talents deserve. OK, he’s still only 32, and maybe a year or two off his absolute golfing prime, but with all the miles already under his belt and all the other distractions that are now entering his life, it’s hard to know whether McIlroy’s best golfing years are behind him or still ahead of him.
Victories at last month’s CJ Cup, and another at the Wells Fargo Championship in May, maybe point to the latter, but his last win before that came at the WGC-HSBC Champions in China back in November 2019. He lost his world No.1 status in June last year and slipped down to 14^th in the rankings – his worst position since November 2009 – before he rose back up to eighth following his win in Las Vegas last month.

And in a sport largely, and perhaps unfairly, judged by major championship wins, he’s not got his head in front in one since the PGA Championship in 2014 and he’s still agonisingly a Masters’ win away from completing the career grand slam of majors. And don’t mention that fourth place in the Tokyo Olympics, where he missed out in the seven-way play-off for bronze medal.
It’s perhaps no coincidence that Rory’s dip in form followed the start of the pandemic and arrival of his first child just over a year ago, but after the emotional turmoil caused by the heavy defeat in the Ryder Cup, it seems that the 32-yesar-old Northern Irishman is ready to reapply himself to being the best version of himself.

McIlroy, for his part, believes that despite all his past achievements, and let’s not forget, his immense wealth, he still has the desire and the hunger to return to the top of the golfing and thinks any questioning of his motivation to rediscover his best form is unfair and unwarranted.

“When I play my best, I still think I’m the best player in the world,” he boldly said ahead of his debut on the 21/22 PGA Tour at the CJ Cup, which, of course, he went on to win. “I haven’t played like that for a while, though, but I don’t feel like I need to go that far back to 18 months ago, when I was the No.1 player in the world.

“Obviously the last 18 months haven’t been what I’ve wanted them to be, but if you keep it in perspective, I’m not that far away. I’ve shown throughout my career that I care, that I want to win, that I want to be the best, and in that respect nothing has changed. Of course, there’s a ton of great players now that are playing really good golf, but you just have to try to not just keep up with that, but become better.”
There was no greater display of just how much McIlroy cares about his game than at last month’s Ryder Cup, when he broke down in tears while being interviewed moments after he had won his singles match – the only point he gained from four outings in Europe’s heavy defeat at Whistling Straits. The emotionally charged interview, which was full of home truths, went viral in minutes, and served to underline just how much the matches mean to him now, having once described the Ryder Cup as little more than an ‘exhibition’ during his youth in 2009.

Looking back on that post-match interview, McIlroy admits to being surprised by his reaction, but also said that it showed that he lets himself off the hook too often. “I don’t necessarily get that emotional about golf, so I guess in that way it surprised me. But the Ryder Cup is always a very emotionally charged week,” he said. “I said afterwards that there were so many different thoughts and emotions. There was relief that I’d won a point, but there was frustration that I didn’t get more out of myself and disappointment I didn’t do more for the team. There were so many different emotions going through me there and it was all just a little overwhelming.”

He adds: “I think sometimes I give myself too easy a time of it and I try to play it off with talk of ‘golf not defining me’ or that I’ve got balance in my life and I’m happy away from the course, and that’s obviously very true, but if I’m honest, sometimes I maybe use that as a way to lessen the blow if I don’t play good golf.

“But I think it was a good thing for me. I think I realised a couple of things about myself that I hadn’t publicly acknowledged before. I was surprised at how emotional I got, but then after a little bit of reflection over the last couple of weeks, I sort of realised why I did get that way.”

The six-time Ryder Cup player insists that Padraig Harrington couldn’t have done any more and that Europe just didn’t hit quality golf shots or hole their fair share of putts. He says: “There’s not much more Padraig could have done. Sure, the captains set the tone and they create a little bit of the culture around the team, but at the end of the day it’s the players that are out there hitting the shots and trying to hole the putts, and Europe didn’t hit the shots or hole the putts. When you look back on it, America just holed so many more putts than we did and got momentum early. And when you’re the away side and trying to fight back from that, it’s very difficult. I certainly couldn’t criticize anything that Padraig did. It was on the players to play better golf and we didn’t do that.”

Returning to his own prospects, McIlroy is adamant that getting back to basics, and not trying to beat other players at their own game, as he admits he did with Bryson DeChambeau when he came out with his new power game, will be his route back to the top.

“There was a lot of reflection the last couple weeks and this is what I need to do. I just need to play golf, I need to simplify it, I need to just be me. For the last few months I’ve been trying to be someone else to try to get better and I’ve realised that being me is enough. I know that when I do the things that I do well, I’m capable of winning a lot of events and being the best player in the world.

“It’s just a matter of getting back to playing golf my way. That starts with being creative and being visual and not being so technical with it. To get to 20 wins out here is a big achievement. I didn’t know if it was going to be this week, but I knew if I just kept my head down and kept playing well and doing the right things, eventually I’d get there. I want to get back to that point where I’m knocking off four or five wins a year.”

With 20 wins comes lifetime membership on the PGA Tour, once you’ve played 15 seasons. For McIlroy that will become official at the beginning of the 2023-24 season. “It’s pretty significant, not having to worry about minimums on Tour and being able to really set a schedule, and especially at that point when kids will be getting to school age and maybe wanting to spend a little bit more time at home, that’s important. When you look to the bigger things in life, getting to that level, I can pick and choose where I play nowadays anyway, but that makes it even better and less of a burden.”

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