The PGA needed this today

atlantacowboy

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I absolutely don't think anyone who knows Rory or Jordan or Justin would say they are complacent. Bryson is absolutely obsessed.

It is certainly said that Koepka doesn't practice his craft as much as others.

There is no way someone can possess the talent and health of Rory McIlroy and go 8 years without winning a major without calling work ethic into question. He basically got rich and famous......starting dating tennis stars and models and his practice time went out the window. He was never as dedicated to the game as Tiger and Phil. The drop off from his 2014 form is just way too steep to contend that he continued putting in the work he did to get to that point.
 

JustChip

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There is no way someone can possess the talent and health of Rory McIlroy and go 8 years without winning a major without calling work ethic into question. He basically got rich and famous......starting dating tennis stars and models and his practice time went out the window. He was never as dedicated to the game as Tiger and Phil. The drop off from his 2014 form is just way too steep to contend that he continued putting in the work he did to get to that point.
And it’s extremely difficult to get back once it’s faded. He can put in the work, but the mental toughness and confidence only comes from success. Conversely, failure breeds lack of confidence. Tiger was the most mentally tough player I’ve ever seen. More so than Jack.
 

T-RO

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There is no way someone can possess the talent and health of Rory McIlroy and go 8 years without winning a major without calling work ethic into question.

I don't know a lot about his off-course lifestyle, so I concede maybe you are right.

But I'll add this: There are huge numbers of people in Japan right now wondering about "what's wrong" with Hideki Matsuyama. They saw him win the Master's. So why hasn't he won more? How could he not even make the top 10 at the PGA Championship. Is he lazy? Weak? Does he choke?

"Our native son has show us he can beat the best. Why hasn't he done it more!?"

Fans have a way of attaching all kinds of mis-placed narratives and explanations.

The reality again is golf is very fickle. Win a championship one week and struggle even to make a cut the next eight months. This kind of thing happens all.the.time.
 
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atlantacowboy

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I don't know a lot about his off-course lifestyle, so I concede maybe you are right.

But I'll add this: There are huge numbers of people in Japan right now wondering about "what's wrong" with Hideki Matsuyama. They saw him win the Master's. So why hasn't he won more? How could he not even make the top 10 at the PGA Championship. Is he lazy? Weak? Does he choke?

"Our native son has show us he can beat the best. Why hasn't he done it more!?"

Fans have a way of attaching all kinds of mis-placed narratives and explanations.

The reality again is golf is very fickle. Win a championship one week and struggle even to make a cut the next eight months. This kind of thing happens all.the.time.

Yes, and thats why you can't assess a player from week to week or even month to month. Players are judged year to year. But you are making the argument that there is so much luck involved with the way the ball bounces and rolls that greatness and accomplishment is fickle and arbitrary. Thats not true and we have seen examples of sustained greatness measured over a period of years in many players. . McIlroy was great and on par with Tiger Woods back in 2014. 8 years of no major wins can't be chalked up to the fickle nature of golf.
 

T-RO

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Yes, and thats why you can't assess a player from week to week or even month to month. Players are judged year to year. But you are making the argument that there is so much luck involved with the way the ball bounces and rolls that greatness and accomplishment is fickle and arbitrary. Thats not true and we have seen examples of sustained greatness measured over a period of years in many players. . McIlroy was great and on par with Tiger Woods back in 2014. 8 years of no major wins can't be chalked up to the fickle nature of golf.

Luck is certainly a part of it, but I'm also very much talking about something else.

I take it that you've enjoying some rounds of golf yourself, right? Surely you've experienced this:
Being in 'the zone'. It's wonderful, magical, but then it's gone. And we absolutely see it on the pro tour. Players can hit a zone for a day, a weekend, perhaps a season.

The Zone is how Jim Furyk can shoot a 58. He said what we all say, "Why can't I do that all the time?"

You mention "sustained greatness." Let's think about what that means. Seems to me in most years there are four majors w/four different winners.
 

T-RO

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Today Jordan Spieth and Phil were paired @Day 1 Colonial:
Jordan 63 (-7)
Phil 73 (+3)
 
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