Rory McIlroy has provided several hints about his golf retirement – but a fellow icon of the sport claims the Northern Irishman’s performances suggest he has plenty still left in the tank
Padraig Harrington believes Rory McIlroy has the “physical tools” to play elite level golf for another 20 years as he prepares for his 18th season on the PGA Tour.
McIlroy, 35, begins his 18th full season on the tour in January. The Northern Irishman turned professional in 2007 before lifting the US Open trophy in 2011, the PGA Championship in 2012 and 2014, and The Open Championship in 2014. McIlroy has not won a major in the ten years since, however.
Despite McIlroy admitting last February that he may be over halfway through his career, three-time Major winner Harrington believes otherwise. The veteran Irishman, 53, has been left encouraged by McIlroy’s play this year, even calling it “unbelievable”.
And after 21 top-10 finishes in Majors since he grabbed his fourth win at the 2014 PGA Championship, Harrington sees the Holywood star being a force for years to come.
“He’s driving it as well as he’s ever driven it,” Harrington told the Irish Independent. “He chips the ball unbelievably well. He’s got loads of tools and while he’s getting close to that period where there’s got to be fatigue in the system, burnout and all that goes with it, he has the physical tools to keep playing for another 20 years.
“When he’s in his 50s, he’s not going to be giving up anything in the ball striking. So, yeah, it looks like he could be different. But in saying that, nobody else ever has been. I don’t think he needs a hot streak [to win more Majors].
“Yeah, other players need a hot streak to get to the top. But his game is so strong in many departments that he really doesn’t need a hot streak. He’s different. He’s held to a different standard.”
Padraig Harrington thinks the golf star can play for another 20 years ( Image: Richard Martin-Roberts/Getty Images)
In total, McIlroy has 26 PGA Tour victories and, most recently, won the season-ending DP World Tour Championship by holding off Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard. Despite his impressive form, however, McIlroy did provide a rough retirement timeline earlier in the year after calling off his divorce.
He told the media at Pinehurst: “I still have a good little bit of time here, hopefully for the next 10 years. I still like to think I’ve got a good run ahead of me. Whatever those numbers are, whatever the totals add up to, I’ll accept that and feel like I’ve done pretty well for a little boy from Northern Ireland that dreamed of playing golf for a living one day.”
Another decade on the PGA Tour would mean playing until the age of 45, which is still an impressive feat but falls short of Harrington’s prediction. Either way, there is plenty of time still for McIlroy to clinch his elusive fifth major.
