McGinley: New focus fires McIlroy to new level
The Dubliner, who will be looking to McIlroy to lead Europe to a hat-trick of Ryder Cup victories at Gleneagles next month, insists that even he learned new things about the world No 1 having watched him win three massive events in a row.
“You don’t see it when you speak to him one on one,” McGinley said of the new, ultra-focussed McIlroy. “But when you watch him play on TV, you see the focus, you see his eyes, you see how he hones in on a shot that he knows is important and that he can pull it off. I have learned a lot watching him the last two weeks.
“This is a Rory McIlroy at a different level that I’ve ever seen him at before.”
McGinley wondered how McIlroy — who loves to play at a fast pace — would deal with being forced to wait on every shot, as Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler blazed a trail in the group in front, in the final round of the weather-delayed US PGA. But like the wave of criticism that crashed over the Holywood star last year and in previous seasons when he lost form and direction, he was able to remain true to himself and focus on the job in hand.
“He was able to channel the energy into the right place,” McGinley said. “The delays could have been aggravating and annoying but he was able to turn them into a positive and bounce back. It was difficult playing behind those two guys and they were playing fantastically. As he said himself, he gutted that out and it was a tremendous win. All credit to him. It’s great for Rory, it’s great for Europe and its great for the European Tour. Long may it continue for Rory. He’s very focused at the moment. He’s got a great attitude and whatever it is he has, Rory should bottle it because it’s the secret.”
McGinley has always been fiercely loyal to McIlroy, whose public support for the Dublin native turned the Ryder Cup captaincy battle in his favour. And he points to McIlroy’s own loyalty and determination to remain true to his backroom team — especially his caddie JP Fitzgerald and swing coach Michael Bannon — when he was in crisis just over a year ago.
“He defended them very strongly and all credit to him for that,” McGinley said. “He is a loyal boss and a loyal friend and I think he’s got himself surrounded with some really good friends.”
McGinley is impressed by the steely determination McIlroy has shown in recent months and especially on Sunday, when he fell three strokes off the lead with nine holes to play.
What impresses him even more is the way that McIlroy has dealt with questions about beating Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18 Majors, stressing he just wanted to add to his tally one at a time.
“I think it is a wonderful way of staying in the present and one of the reasons why Rory is so focused at the moment,” McGinley said. “He’s got it and bottled it. He really is a class act. He spoke earlier in the year about somebody stepping up and taking on the mantle (as the face of golf) and it looks as if he has done so.”
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