Rory Said Tiger And Phil Are "On The Last Few Holes" Of Their Careers And People Are Freaking Out About It

ATLANTA — With neither Tiger Woods nor Phil Mickelson qualifying for the Tour Championship for the first time in more than two decades, it might signal a changing of the guard, especially now that Rory McIlroy has emerged as a solid No. 1 in the world. McIlroy, 25, wasn’t willing to go that far Wednesday, but he did acknowledge that time and injuries are catching up to the two superstars. “They’re just getting older,” McIlroy said Wednesday at East Lake Golf Club. “Phil’s 43 or whatever [actually 44], and Tiger’s nearly 40 [39 in December]. So they’re getting into the sort of last few holes of their careers, and that’s what happens. “It obviously just gets harder as you get older. I’ll be able to tell you in 20 years how it feels.” McIlroy also pointed out that Woods has been injured and hasn’t had the opportunity to play. “When he gets back to full fitness, you’ll see him back here,” said McIlroy, who also noted that Mickelson nearly won the PGA Championship last month, finishing second behind him. Mickelson is missing the Tour Championship for the first time in the FedEx Cup era that dates to 2007. During that seven-year span, Mickelson never finished worse than 15th in the final FedEx Cup standings.

So this quote from Rory is getting a lot of run right now.  Him basically saying that Tiger and Phil are getting older and are on the back ends of their careers.  A non-story really.  Well then of course people freaked the fuck out because that’s what people like to do.  People on Twitter saying Rory is taking shots at Tiger and Phil and that he’s only saying this stuff now that’s he on top of the world and winning majors at a break neck pace.  Everybody just calm the hell down.  Find me one thing in that Rory quote that isn’t true.  You can’t.  It’s all true.  Are Tiger and Phil are getting older?  Yep, happens to everybody including legendary athletes.  Does Tiger have a problem staying healthy?  Pretty obvious that’s a yes.  Tiger seems to WD more than he finishes tournaments these days  Are Tiger and Phil on the latter ends of their career?  YES.  Tiger is nearing his 40s and Phil is 44.  That seems to be the part tripping people up.  Like saying that a golfer headed into his 40s is on the back end is such a shocking statement.  It isn’t.  Even for Tiger Woods.  Especially for Tiger Woods because of his injury history.  The oldest anyone has ever been when they won a major was 48.  Tiger’s body is about 75 years old right now with all the wear and tear.  To think Tiger isn’t on the down slope of his career is nothing short of moronic.  Also, it’s not like Rory said Tiger and Phil aren’t ever going to win again.  He’s just said they’re older now.  Everything Rory said was true.  All of it.  So everybody just needs to stop.  Stop trying to create controversy where there’s none to be had.

Advertisement

PS- And you know what?  Maybe Rory wouldn’t have said these things if he hadn’t won a bunch of majors recently but I like that type of swagger.  I like a young guy on the come up who says “Hey, it’s my turn”  That gets my blood going in the best possible way.

Double PS- A small part of me hopes Tiger sees this quote and he takes it as a slight and makes a huge come back.  Even though what Rory said wasn’t a slight, the best best athletes ever take everything as a slight.