OTHER PEOPLE BUT YOU WANT TO BE ON THE JOURNEY WITH. THAT'S A REALLY COOL PART OF IT. >> AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE FOR RORY McILROY. HE HAS ASKRCENDED TO THE THROWN BACKING OFF, SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER SLIDES TO NUMBER TWO. JON RAHM ROUNDING OUT THE TOP FIVE. YOU HEAR RORY IN THE MEDIA CENTER, AND YOU CAN SEE WHY HE'S ONE OF THE TOP PERSONALITIES IN THE PROFESSIONAL GAME WITH HOW INTROSPECTIVE HE IS AND HOW FREELY HE SHARES HIS PERSPECTIVE. YOUR BIGGEST TAKEAWAY FROM OUTSIDE THE TOP TEN BACK TO NUMBER ONE? >> IT IS NOT JUST THE WINNING, IT IS THE MATTER OF THE WINNING WE HAVE SEEN OUT OF RORY McILROY AND WHO HE WAS WINNING AGAINST. YESTERDAY WHEN KURT KITAYAMA FINISHED SECOND, IT SEEMED TO BE RORY McILROY AND JON RAHM HEAD TO HEAD. BUT WE SAW THE SAME AT LEAST LAKE IN THE FEDEXCUP WHEN HE WENT TOE TO TOE WITH SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER DOWN THE STRETCH.
WE SAW THE SAME AT THE RBC CANADIAN OPEN AGAINST JUSTIN THOMAS AND TONY FINAU. HE'S SENDING THE MESSAGE AS AN ALPHA DOG, WHICH ISN'T OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH RORY, CERTAINLY IN THE SECOND CHAPTER OF HIS CAREER, BUT CERTAINLY IN THE FIRST CHAPTER OF HIS CAREER WE SAW MORE OF THAT. AND HE'S SENDING A MESSAGE THAT HE HASN'T LOST A STEP. BUT IF YOU GO BACK AND LOOK MARCH 4th IN 2012, THAT WAS THE DAY RORY McILROY ASCENDED TO TOP TEN IN THE WORLD. THESE ARE THE GUYS THAT WERE TOP TEN THEN AND ARE NOW. JUSTIN JOHNSON HAS LEFT THE PGA TOUR AND AT LIV NOW NOT ACCUMULATING POINTS. BUT EVERYONE ELSE IS ESSENTIALLY HORSES THAT HAVE GONE TO THE GLUE FACTORY AT THIS POINT. IT IS TO ME AN INTERESTING STATEMENT. WE HEARD HIM TALK ABOUT WHERE HE WAS A YEAR AGO AFTER THAT BRIEF STINT OF WORKING WITH PETE WHERE HIS GAME FELL OFF DRAMATICALLY. IT WAS THE PGA CUP LAST YEAR WAS HIS FIRST VICTORY AFTER HE HAD GONE BACK TO HIS COACH.
YOU ARE SEEING THE RESULTS OF A GUY THAT SEEMS TO BE VERY COMFORTABLE WITH WHERE HE IS WITH HIS GAME. >> I THINK THE NEXT STAGE OF HIS CAREER WILL GO TO DEFINING HIS LEGACY. RORY IS ONLY 33 YEARS OLD. WE FORGET HOW YOUNG HE IS IN GOLF YEARS BECAUSE IT HAS SKEWED SO MUCH YOUNGER WITH JORDAN SPIETH AND JUSTIN THOMAS, JON RAHM, ALL THESE GUYS DID RIGHT OUT OF COLLEGE. YOU FORGET THAT PHIL MICKELSON DIDN'T WIN HIS FIRST MAJOR UNTIL 34 AND THEN HAD 6 FROM 34 UP TO 50. HAD A 16-YEAR WINDOW THAT RORY HADN'T REACHED YET AT 33 YEARS OLD. I'M CURIOUS WHAT HE CAN ACCOMPLISH IF AND WHEN HE CAN BREAK THAT MAJOR VICTORY DROUGHT. BUT HE CAN ALSO ASCEND TO BE THIS GENERATION'S ARNOLD PALMER, IN MY OPINION. HE WILL BE THAT PERSONALITY THAT HELPS CARRY THE PGA TOUR FROM A LEADERSHIP STANDPOINT, FROM BEING ONE OF THE GUYS WHO HAS THE PEDIGREE AND CACHE, TO HAVE THE RESPECT OF HIS PEERS TO NOT ONLY BE THE EUROPEAN ARNOLD PALMER BUT CARRY IT OVER HERE.
WE WILL SEE IF IT IS THE BIG STORY LINE. CAME SO CLOSE IN '22. WHEN IS HE GOING TO GET THAT MONIKER OFF HIS BACK AND PLAY THE GOLF WE KNOW HE'S CAPABLE OF. >> AND IT IS SO EASY WHEN YOU ARE IN THE POSITION OF RORY McILROY. TO LETTING EVERYTHING ELSE SLIDE. YOU HAVE A BUILT-IN EXCUSE FOR RESULTS NOT COMING. IF YOU ARE RORY McILROY, IT SEEMS TO BE A LITTLE MORE FUEL THAT YOU WANT TO MAKE A STATEMENT. AND HE KIND OF ISOLATES WHERE HIS WEAKNESSES ARE. IT IS A NEVER ENDING PROCESS WITH HIM. HE HAD AN INTERESTING SIGN YESTERDAY. TODD LEWIS SPOKE TO HIM ON THE 18th GREEN AND I WAS STRUCK BY HIS ANSWER TO ONE QUESTION. LET'S LISTEN TO IT. >> WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MORE ABOUT THE GAME NOW? >> I THINK JUST THE JOURNEY OF TRYING TO GET THE BEST OUT OF MYSELF. I THINK THAT'S THE SATISFYING THING. YOU NEVER — I NEVER FEEL LIKE I'VE FIGURED THIS GAME OUT.
I DON'T THINK I EVER WILL FIGURE IT OUT, BUT EVERY DAY I WAKE UP TRYING TO GET CLOSER. >> AND THAT'S NOT JUST A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE, THERE IS ACTUALLY GRANULAR DETAIL TO THAT. IF YOU LOOK AT HIS GAME AND BASICALLY FROM 50 YARDS TO 150 YARDS, HE RANKED PRETTY EARLY FROM 50 TO 125. HE WAS TIED FOR 164th. FROM 125 TO 150, HE WAS 86 ON TOUR. HE IS NOW INSIDE TOP 30. HE'S 16th IN STROKES GAINED PUTTING WHEN HE WAS WELL OUTSIDE THE TOP 100 A FEW YEARS AGO.
HE'S ISOLATING WEAKNESSES AND JUST KIND OF PUSHING FORWARD. >> WE'RE CLEARLY SEEING THAT INSIDE THE ROPES WITH HIS GAME AND HIS RESULTS ON THE PGA TOUR. IT SEEMED LIKE THE RYDER CUP WAS KIND OF THE TROUGH — I DON'T WANT TO SAY LIKE ROCK BOTTOM, BUT THAT WAS THE DIP THAT GOT HIS ATTENTION ON, OKAY, I NEED TO ASSESS WHERE THESE WEAKNESSES ARE.
I WAS TALKING WITH RORY. HE'S ALREADY PINPOINTING HOW THE COMPOSITION OF THE EUROPEAN RIDER TEAM IS GOING TO LOOK NEXT YEAR AND THEN WHAT HE CAN TRY TO IMPLEMENT TO TRY TO HELP EUROPE HAVE SOME TYPE OF NOT EDGE BUT MAXIMIZE WHAT THE TEAM WILL LOOK LIKE WITH ALL THESE YOUNG GUYS COMING IN. IT WAS INTERESTING TO HEAR HIS THOUGHTS 12 MONTHS OUT. THAT'S ALREADY, IF NOT THE FOCAL POINT, KIND OF THE SIDE BURNER FOR WHERE HIS ATTENTIO.