Glen Oaks, Long Island, NY …
Fellow Open Champion, Henrik Stenson has expressed some worry Rory McIlroy’s career continues to stall due to continuing nagging injuries.
Uncertainty dominated McIlroy’s golf ahead of confirmation by the current World No. 4 he will ‘shutdown’ his season following taking part in October’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland.
And unless McIlroy wins one of the four FedEx Cup Play-Off titles he will not be seen again on either the PGA Tour or European Tour till the January 25th starting Farmers Insurance Open at La Jolla near San Diego, and if so, the first time he has competed in the ‘West Coast Swing’.
Henrik Stenson reckons the ‘modern swing’ is taking a toll on Rory McIlroy’s body.
Stenson has had his own injuries including undergoing surgery in December 2015 on his left knee and also revealing this time last year he had a slight cartilage tear in his right knee.
But this has been in the Swede’s late 30s and early 40s and not like McIlroy in his late 20s.
“Of course, you want to see all the best players out here competing week-in and week-out and that helps to motivate all of us when everyone is fit and healthy and that includes an injury-free Rory,” said Stenson after shooting a second round 72 for one-over tally on day two of the Northern Trust on Long Island in New York.
“So, it is a little worrying that someone like Rory, and given the energy he puts into his swing and the forces he generates, that this is taking a toll on his body.
“I know he’s had back issues and an ankle injury in the past but this lingering rib injury he has been talking often about is not great for him to be carrying these concerns in the back of your mind as you are competing.
“Also, is must be of concern as Rory is still of a young age.
“But then I guess this is the price we pay for the modern golf swing and hitting it as hard and far as we do at there is always that chance some part of your body is going to ‘give’ at the wrong time”.
And in the near 12 months since the injury-hampered McIllroy captured the Tour Championship three of his closest rivals have won a combined 13 events around the globe.
Hideki Matsuyama has won six times starting with capturing the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas and more recently adding his name to the WGC – Bridgestone Invitational trophy
Jordan Spieth won a second Australian Open title last November and more-recently added a third Major to his CV in storming back from near disaster to win The Open.
Justin Thomas, and four years younger than McIlroy, was triumphant three times early in the season before becoming golf’s newest Major Champion a fortnight ago.
And Stenson ended his own 13-month winless drought since being handed the Claret Jug with a record-setting victory last week at the Wyndham Championship.
The closest McIlroy has come to adding to his ‘silverware’ over the last 49 weeks was carrying a rib injury in losing the SA Open play-off back in January.
