Golf-Player: "McIlroy is as good as I've seen"
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Nine-time major winner Gary Player has said that 2011 U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy is one of the most talented golfers he has ever seen in an interview with Reuters.
And the South African should know talent when he sees it. Having spent much of his career in the shadow of the legendary 18-times major winner Jack Nicklaus.
"Rory's swing is so magnificent," purred Player, slowing down his voice for emphasis. "He's got as much talent as anybody I've ever seen," the 76-year-old told Reuters in an interview at a Laureus sports awards event in south London.
Player said the only imponderable about U.S. Open champion McIlroy, 22, was his desire.
"Nobody knows what's inside of the man, how much passion he has," said the nine-times major winner. "Is he prepared to go through the pain barrier?"
Having said that, Player was hugely impressed by McIlroy's victory in the second major of the year. After letting slip a four-stroke lead in the final round of the U.S. Masters, McIlroy rebounded just two months later, winning the U.S. Open by a record eight-shot margin.
"I have travelled probably more miles than any human being that ever lived playing golf so I've seen a lot of things happen in the sport," Player said.
"Tony Jacklin lost the 1972 British Open to Lee Trevino in a similar fashion to Jean Van de Velde losing (the 1999 British Open) and Jacklin never came back.
"People like Ian Baker-Finch never came back. With a lot of golfers something happens in their career and they never come back."
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