Nick Faldo may not be feeling too upbeat about the chances of Tiger Woods winning another major, but he is extremely bullish on Rory McIlroy smashing some major records, including his own.
The former world No1 player, who is now one of the leading TV commentators in the world, was in Dubai yesterday as part of Audemars Piguet Invitational Golf Day at The Els Club, and spoke to the media after the round.
When asked about McIlroy’s recent form and the fact that his two major titles this season has brought him to within two of his British record of six, Faldo said: “I think he will probably cross that by next Christmas.
“I think the way he is performing right now, you have to say yes, he will beat my record soon. But then, as we all know, golf is a really difficult game. You can play great, but somebody else can play better. There are injuries, accidents. So, right now, on paper, yes.
“How many would he win? No idea. He might get to a dozen and feel disappointed. And he might get to five and feel happy. But he has the potential. He is just 25. There has been Jack (Nicklaus), Seve (Ballesteros) and Tiger (Woods), but there haven’t been many who have won majors at 25.
“If he doubles his four to eight in the next two-three years and stays on that course, who knows? It’s quite amazing because I have known Rory since he was 12. He played the Faldo Series and I have helped him a bit with Team Faldo and we have played and practiced together many days. Hopefully, I have passed on a few bits of wisdom.
“So when you look at a kid and when you have known him that long, it’s tough to think that he is that good. Well…now he is not just good, he is great. But is he the next Jack Nicklaus? You actually might be looking at Rory McIlroy, the greatest golfer of all time.”
Faldo expressed his doubt that Woods would ever reach Nicklaus’ major mark.
“Well, the percentages are coming down. I have been saying for four years now that he is not going to get to 19 and beat Jack,” he said.
“Whether he will win one more, I don’t know. But if he did, I think it will be his greatest major win – to do that after what he has been through for five seasons now. Before, he led 10 tournaments and he won 10. I’d even say it’s not even a 50-50 chance that he will win a major again. I think it has dropped to 40, or may be 30 per cent.
“But, and I must throw in a big but, he starts the 2015 season with a new swing, a new swing thought, and I do think with his new coach, he is motivated and he wants to come out one more time and show everybody that he could do it. He really will have to play like the real Tiger Woods used to play to beat Rory and Stenson and players like that.”
When asked if there was anyone in particular that he’d favour as Europe’s new Ryder Cup captain when they play in the US in 2016, the 2008 captain said he’d rather see Paul McGinley carrying on for another term after his success at Gleneagles.
“I wouldn’t rush on anything, but I am surprised that Paul McGinley is not giving it another go,” he said. “Having done all the hard work, and with the tempo in your side, and having got to know everyone so well, I’d like him to give it another go.”
Faldo said he has already apologised for calling Sergio Garcia “useless” while commentating during the Ryder Cup.
“I reacted, I used the wrong word, and I apologised. When you are on live TV, you can’t rub it out, you can’t delete. I apologised for coming out hard, and that’s really it,” he concluded.