Sir Nick Faldo tells media: You should be grateful, Rory McIlroy 'has suffered'

Sir Nick Faldo believes the media should be grateful for Rory McIlroy as he has 'suffered' being the PGA Tour's spokesperson in their LIV Golf battle.

Lara Kuipers

28 Jun 2023

Sir Nick Faldo says Rory McIlroy 'has suffered' as the PGA Tour's spokesperson as they fought LIV Golf but believes the Northern Irishman will be 'seriously inspired' when he tees it up at the 151st Open Championship.

Nobody wants McIlroy to win a major championship as much as he does, he's made that clear.

However, golf legend Faldo believes his next one could be just a few weeks away.

McIlroy, from Northern Ireland, made a splash early on in his career, grabbing his first major in 2011, and earning three more by the end of 2014.

But since then, the 34-year-old has suffered a major championship drought that's lasted nine years, and will soon be approaching a decade.

And his lack of major titles since 2014 has not been due too poor play, as he's since won 14 more PGA Tour titles - including three Tour Championships.

Last season alone, McIlroy finished inside the top-10 at all four majors, highlighted by a runner-up at the 2022 Masters Tournament.

This year he didn't experience the same level of close calls, but he did finish runner-up again at the 123rd US Open at Los Angeles Country Club just over a week ago.

This time, he finished just one-stroke short of forcing a playoff against Wyndham Clark.

McIlroy's final chance at winning his fifth major in 2023 is just a few weeks away, with the 151st Open Championship beginning 20 July.

The tournament is returning to Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England for the first time since McIlroy won it at the venue in 2014.

And Faldo thinks that could aid to McIlroy's advantage.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he's seriously inspired at Hoylake. I mean, that's where he won last. I'm sure he's got lots of scar damage, scar tissue from nine years now," Faldo said during a press conference ahead of the Betfred British Masters, a DP World Tour event he's hosting this year.

Faldo, a six-time major champion himself, also spoke about McIlroy's role over the past year as an unofficial spokesperson for the PGA Tour amid the LIV Golf drama, and what it could look like moving forward with the recent merger news.

Faldo added:

"I'm pretty sure Rory suffered from being constantly asked, being the spokesman. You know, and he's young. You want to have a clear head when you play golf and do your own practise. Hence, Rory's carried that and that's kind of part of it, and the next round of players should be very grateful that they can go and play a tournament under the radar."

Faldo continued:

"Give you an example, you guys do the math, I'm pretty sure you can go play in an event, finish 12th every week, so you're not seen on television. You don't have to do anything. All you have to do is roll up, take a bag of balls out, play four round of golf nicely, sign a few autographs and leave, and you can make a quarter of a million a week.

"Tell us how many other jobs offer that? And you're not really making much contribution to the Tour or anything. You just waltz in, play golf, hit a golf ball around a field. Some should feel grateful -- yes, it's very competitive, yes, I get all that. But my goodness, you should be very grateful to the top guys who have handled all the media and everything."

McIlroy followed up his runner-up at the US Open with a tie for seventh this past week at the Travelers Championship, a designated event on the PGA Tour.

In three weeks' time, he'll be at Royal Liverpool seeking that long-awaited fifth major championship.

Take me to more news!