Jack Nicklaus has admitted he is unsure why Rory McIlroy hasn’t won a Major since 2014, but thinks it's only a matter of time until he gets more.
The World No.3 is one of the most gifted players of his generation, and, at one point it appeared he could eventually get towards Nicklaus’ haul of 18 Major wins. However, after claiming four by the age of 25, the Northern Irishman hasn’t been able to advance that figure, despite being one of the best players in the world throughout that time.
This week, Nicklaus hosts the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village, where McIlroy will appear, and the 83-year-old explained it’s a mystery why he isn’t doing so with more Major wins to his name. He said: “I don't know really know what to make of it. Because he's very confident. He works very hard at it. He's a good student of the game. He practises a lot."
Despite those attributes, Nicklaus questioned whether McIlroy sometimes lacks the concentration to close out victory. He said: “I don't know whether his is a constant lack of being able to keep that concentration for the whole thing or not, because sometimes he is the par, par, par, double, 8. He does that sometimes. And I said: ‘Why, Rory? Why does that happen?’ And he doesn’t know. Why he hasn't won in nine years? Kind of a mystery to a lot of people because he is so good.”
Nevertheless, Nicklaus thinks it’s only a matter of time until McIlroy wins more Majors. He said: “He’s going to wake up one morning and say: ‘Hey, I better, you know, get on the stick here and start winning some more Majors,’ because he's certainly going to win some more. I can't believe that he's not.”
McIlroy has been one of the biggest proponents of changes on the PGA Tour in recent months to counter the LIV Golf threat, including the addition of designated events. Another change will see some become no-cut, limited-field affairs from 2024. That’s something Nicklaus explained he’s ambivalent about.
He said: “I don't care either way. Obviously from our standpoint here it's a heck of a lot easier to take care of 70 or 80 players, whatever it might be, than it is 120. But I liked the cut before because we felt like having people play all day was nice to have on the golf course, giving some young guys an opportunity to play that might not otherwise get a chance to play.”
Another contentious issue in recent months has been the golf ball rollback proposal, and Nicklaus indicated he is in favour of the move. He said: “I think that what they're doing with the golf ball, hopefully is a good start. It's going to probably pull the ball back 14, 15 yards for you know, a McIlroy or a [Justin] Thomas or one of those guys, and maybe 10 or 12 yards for maybe the average pro.
“To me, the game of golf, if you're going to play tournament golf, you really want to test the golfer. That's theoretically what the tournament's all about. And if everybody's playing a driver and a wedge every hole, they never play anymore to a 6- or 7-iron, 5-iron on a par-5. You lose your ability to be able to test your skills.”
