Sign me up as someone who thinks there could be some sparks flying this week and it is setting up that way especially in the Rory vs. Jordan rivalry that the media has been trying to promote... 6 thoughts.....
1) Rory's game is starting to come back in top form while playing US courses basically for the first time since his huge run last year.
2) Spieth winning the Masters put him in a whole new realm of golf greatness discussions which obviously pissed Rory off beyond belief because a) Spieth basically said right after that he is now gunning for McIlroy's top ranking and b) In order to accomplish Rory's longest term goals left, winning the Masters was the most important step this year which he wasn't really in contention for even if he played decent.
3) Anyone hear Rory's comments Monday about how all he wanted to do after his win was look to see how much more he is ahead of Spieth in the rankings? Only to follow that up with his recent news conference today about how he basically said that the Spieth rivalry doesn't do anything for him and more less questioned it as even a rivalry (more inferring it was media hype that is probably temporary until he starts dominating again). And then mentioned that it is very likely there will be some new flavor of the year that the media pits him against next year, downplaying the longevity of Spieth's huge current success that he has had so far this year. UPDATE: Jordan just told the media that he pretty much agrees with what Rory said in that it is still not a comparison/rivalry between him and Rory as of yet.
4) Spieth criticized the format of the WGC last week of the very event that Rory just won. If Spieth meant anything toward Rory by that comment, it is much more subtle than Rory's comments towards Spieth lately however. Either way, Spieth felt like he played well last week but the format sucked and did not portray how well he thought he played so he will have a little more piss and vinegar in him this week to win for motivation.
5) They will be playing every hole of the first half of the tournament together so all those fans that wanted to see more head-to-head action with the top two in the world from the Master's or even last week in match play will get their wish finally this week. PS also the same group is featuring Jason Day.... maybe the best pairing quality wise I have seen the entire year.
Final thought: I think Rory has the right to try to put the media hype and the rest of the golfing world in their place when talking of Spieth's greatness. It is the most pretentious he has sounded in awhile (which he normally is not ever) about something IMO which means Spieth is a lot bigger deal to him and in his head more than any other player in his past. He feels threatened with the attention being stolen by Spieth a little but he is still the King as of now and he doesn't like people feeling he potentially isn't the top player in the world. Rory is talking and stroking it the bulletin board material stuff much more than Spieth right now (which I sort of find interesting considering Spieth has to come and take it from Rory as of now)
1) Rory's game is starting to come back in top form while playing US courses basically for the first time since his huge run last year.
2) Spieth winning the Masters put him in a whole new realm of golf greatness discussions which obviously pissed Rory off beyond belief because a) Spieth basically said right after that he is now gunning for McIlroy's top ranking and b) In order to accomplish Rory's longest term goals left, winning the Masters was the most important step this year which he wasn't really in contention for even if he played decent.
3) Anyone hear Rory's comments Monday about how all he wanted to do after his win was look to see how much more he is ahead of Spieth in the rankings? Only to follow that up with his recent news conference today about how he basically said that the Spieth rivalry doesn't do anything for him and more less questioned it as even a rivalry (more inferring it was media hype that is probably temporary until he starts dominating again). And then mentioned that it is very likely there will be some new flavor of the year that the media pits him against next year, downplaying the longevity of Spieth's huge current success that he has had so far this year. UPDATE: Jordan just told the media that he pretty much agrees with what Rory said in that it is still not a comparison/rivalry between him and Rory as of yet.
4) Spieth criticized the format of the WGC last week of the very event that Rory just won. If Spieth meant anything toward Rory by that comment, it is much more subtle than Rory's comments towards Spieth lately however. Either way, Spieth felt like he played well last week but the format sucked and did not portray how well he thought he played so he will have a little more piss and vinegar in him this week to win for motivation.
5) They will be playing every hole of the first half of the tournament together so all those fans that wanted to see more head-to-head action with the top two in the world from the Master's or even last week in match play will get their wish finally this week. PS also the same group is featuring Jason Day.... maybe the best pairing quality wise I have seen the entire year.
Final thought: I think Rory has the right to try to put the media hype and the rest of the golfing world in their place when talking of Spieth's greatness. It is the most pretentious he has sounded in awhile (which he normally is not ever) about something IMO which means Spieth is a lot bigger deal to him and in his head more than any other player in his past. He feels threatened with the attention being stolen by Spieth a little but he is still the King as of now and he doesn't like people feeling he potentially isn't the top player in the world. Rory is talking and stroking it the bulletin board material stuff much more than Spieth right now (which I sort of find interesting considering Spieth has to come and take it from Rory as of now)
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