Fellow four-time Major winner Ernie Els believes the European Tour should not have never let Rory McIlroy leave Europe to compete full-time on the PGA Tour.
Els has likened the 26-year old McIlroy to the late, great Seve Ballesteros who dominated European Tour golf winning 50 Tour titles from 1976 to 1995 Spanish Open.
However Ballesteros, who passed away in 2011, captured just four regular PGA Tour titles given he never took up full membership and competed by way of invitations mostly around the time of the Majors.
McIlroy joined the PGA Tour full time in 2010 and surpassed Ballesteros with five ‘regular’ PGA and non-Major or non-WGC wins, with victory in last week’s Wells Fargo Championship.
Fellow four-time Major winning Ernie Els believes the European Tour should not have let Rory McIroy go to the PGA Tour. (Photo – www.pgatour.com)
In contrast, the South African born Els has always been a global player first coming to Europe before he moved full time to the PGA Tour in 1994 and the year he captured his first Major, the U.S. Open.
However on the eve of this week’s Irish Open hosted by McIlroy, Els was asked what he thought of the tournament host.
“Well, yeah, just look at it the field competing this week,” said Els. “Rory called in some favors and the boys responded. We normally try to help our fellow players when we can. You know, we wash each other’s hands, basically.
“The one guy asks a favour, you do it, and the ball kind of keeps on turning. So definitely it helps and definitely enhances fields, and definitely a way to go, yeah.
“But then if I was head of the (European) Tour, I would have made some plan to keep Rory McIlroy in Europe.
“I would not have let him go to the U.S. I would have kept him here and make him the Seve. I think he could be like a Seve because he’s so exciting to watch.
“He’s a pretty happy kid. He does good things off the course. He’s got his stuff together. To have a person like that on The European Tour for most of his career is something that I would have absolutely made happen.”
