Different Strokes: Rory McIlroy must practice what he preaches

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  • McIlroy (l) and Daly (r) have been golf's talking points this week.

    1. McIlroy must remember you should always practice what you preach

    Perhaps Rory McIlroy does it just to see the reaction, just to prove that he can still get the golf media to start dancing merrily to his tune just as soon as someone plays the first note.

    On Monday, Reuters successfully sent the golfing world into a flutter when it reported that McIlroy, out of action since July after rupturing his ankle ligaments, had booked himself in for a practice round at Whistling Straits, the site of next week’s US PGA Championship, this weekend. The news service cited a “reliable source” for its report, although could not actually get anyone from either McIlroy’s camp or Whistling Straits to comment publicly on the story.

    Then, a day later, McIlroy’s publicist told the Irish Golf Desk (which has closer ties than most to the McIlroy team) that talk of a practice round was untrue, despite growing rumours the world No. 1 had started playing and practising again. “Not booked for such a round,” Terry Prone said. “Still going through the ankle rehab process.”

    Later on Tuesday the BBC built upon that story, citing another spokesman who had told them that the Northern Irishman’s recovery was “progressing well” but remained “ongoing”. On the subject of his participation at the US PGA, and indeed the status of his ankle, it seems we really remain none the wiser.

    In a rare example of our dedication to investigative and immersive journalism, Different Strokes actually suffered the same injury as McIlroy – also while playing football – to discover for ourselves exactly how the recovery process unfolds (we can only hope the fact we suffered the injury 18 months before McIlroy does not hurt us when they are handing out the Pulitzers). What happened next, to rehash a popular internet phrase, will not shock you.

    While we were back to walking, and walking well (if we say so ourselves), after no more than four weeks, it took nearer eight to be able to play football again at close to our former (embarrassingly low) standard, and even then only after extensive rehabilitation to restore strength and flexibility to the ankle joint.

    Golf may not seem as physically demanding as football but the ankle joint is actually one area where it most certainly is, with the balance and rotation required of the joint by any half-decent swing (but especially McIlroy’s beautifully fluid one) certain to place huge stress on an area of the body that will still be recovering. 

    McIlroy obviously could play at Whistling Straits next week if he wanted to, could limp through all four rounds at the undulating layout if absolutely necessary, but six weeks on from suffering the rupture his ankle is unlikely to be 100% yet – and if that is so, then the stresses and compensations that he will send up and down his swing could create flaws that take far longer to reset than the ankle itself.

    In announcing he was going to miss the Open, McIlroy promised he would take a “long-term view” of the injury, and only return when he was 100% – competitively and physically. The 26-year-old has made his share of mistakes in his young career (mainly in his choice of off-course representation) but in recent months he has shown he now has a full and mature grasp on what is right for him and, with that being the case, we can only assume that whatever decision he reaches will be the right one.

    Lost in the practice round saga is the fact that McIlroy does not actually need one – he played Whistling Straits in the 2010 US PGA (finishing one shot out of the playoff) and has already had at least one look at the course during a press day earlier this year (more on which later). If he decides he is ready to tee it up, then we can only assume it is because he is confident his ankle is now fully healed.

    If he is not certain of that, however, then he should undoubtedly wait it out. It may be painful to skip another major – especially another he will feel confident he could have won – but, in the long term, it is still the most sensible move.

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    2. Daly’s impossible Ryder Cup blueprint

    The most amusingly optimistic comment in golf this week came from John Daly, who was asked (for some reason) about the Ryder Cup and started his response by saying: “Hopefully I would one day be a captain.”

    Now at this point it is probably worth noting that Daly never even played in the Ryder Cup, and is in fact the only eligible two-time major champion not to do so. Now that is a particularly impressive feat, and speaks as much to Daly’s lack of timing as his wild inconsistency and questionable relationship with other players, but the fact remains: If you don’t ever play in the Ryder Cup, you aren’t ever likely to be asked to be a captain.

    That goes double for Daly, whose egregious disregard for convention (latest example: his get-up at the recent past champions portrait at the Open) is not exactly what the PGA of America look for in a spokesman and a talisman. Which is a shame, considering the artist formerly known as Wild Thing might be onto something with his plan of attack.

    “All I know is my team, if I was a captain, we’d have a blast,” Daly added. “You don’t want to wear a tie, don’t wear a tie. Have fun. It’s supposed to be fun.”

    “I think we just get wrapped up in it. I think when you’re favoured to win so many years like the Americans have been, I think we get uptight. Even the matches that we are getting killed in, we are favoured in.

    “I think we put too much pressure on ourselves. Just go out and play golf. It’s great to play for your country, but it’s still a gentleman’s game at the end.”

    So that’s the masterplan: Ditch the ties and let it all hang out. At the very least, Davis Love III has got to be considering those options – and Darren Clarke must be quaking in his boots.

    3. How to hit the long ball

    Usually this space is reserved for some amusing or irreverent video from the world of golf, but it’s always good to change things up once in a while. So here’s our version of the “Add 10 yards to your drives!!!” headlines we have seen on every golf magazine since the dawn of existence (total yards we’ve added to our drives in that time: Zero).

    Justin Thomas, 5’10” according to the slightly optimistic PGA Tour player guide, is the 17th longest driving on the PGA Tour so far this season, despite giving up plenty of inches to every player above him on that list. How does the 22-year-old get the ball out there so far? Swing analyst experts Trackman Golf took a look, with some of the insights likely to be useful information for any amateur player trying to move the ball out there just a little bit further.

    Incidentally, you may not be familiar with Thomas’s name just now, but it is one worth remembering. The Kentucky native is 37th on the FedEx Cup standings this year (83rd in the world rankings) after notching seven top-ten finishes already, and his first win on tour is surely right around the corner. 

    One of Jordan Spieth’s closest friends out on the circuit, Thomas has seen up close what it takes to become a major champion and will believe he has the same skillset. And, as the video shows, with instinctive power like his it is surely only a matter of time before he joins the wave of young guns taking over the professional game.

    Okay, okay, and to really finish off here’s Different Strokes’ favourites The Bryan Brothers teaming up with professional golf’s favourite Rory McIlroy (pre-ankle injury) for a brilliant golf skills video when the trio were at Whistling Straits recently.

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