Rory McIlroy may not be racking up tournament wins at the rate Tiger Woods has during his career, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a PGA Tour star who climbed the unofficial sound-bite rankings faster. So not surprisingly, when McIlroy was asked about Tiger’s record-equalling 82 PGA Tour titles, the 30-year-old Northern Irishman gave another fantastic – and candid – response.
In an on-camera interview with GOLFTV at this week’s WGC–HSBC Champions, McIlroy made it clear he believes he has no chance of reaching Tiger’s 82-win total. That’s right, no chance.
“I’ll never get there,” McIlroy says in the clip. “I’m a realist and I know that 82 PGA Tour wins is something that in this day and age is probably not going to be surpassed.”
Of course, Rory is probably right. As the 17-time PGA Tour winner points out, Tiger already had a remarkable three times that many wins (50) at the same age. However, that doesn’t mean McIlroy isn’t still using Woods’ staggering stats as motivation for his own career.
“I’m never going to get to those numbers, but it motivates me to play well and play better and win more,” McIlroy said.
“Seeing what Tiger’s done,” McIlroy added, “if it doesn’t motivate you, then I think there’s something wrong.”
Well said, Rory. As usual. Anyway, watch the interview here:
We sat down with @McIlroyRory to talk @TigerWoods, 82 wins, his ambitions and what legacy is important to him. pic.twitter.com/W8HXPW9kZj
— GOLFTV (@GOLFTV) October 31, 2019
