Rory McIlroy Is Ready To Reclaim His Position As Golf's Dominant Player

As the clock ticked excitedly towards the 79th Masters Tournament at Augusta National, the headlines and roundtable discussions were dominated by the prospect of a likeable 25-year-old Northern Irishman joining Nicklaus, Woods, Hogan, Player, and Sarazen in an esteemed group of individuals who had completed the modern career Grand Slam.

However, in the days and weeks after what turned out to be merely a career-best fourth place finish down Magnolia Lane, Rory McIlroy was abruptly swept aside in the maelstrom of hype and attention that accompanied Jordan Spieth’s own remarkable charge at sporting greatness throughout the spring and summer of last year.

It was yet another example of the narrative promiscuity that has descended upon the game in the aftermath of Tiger Woods’ dramatic fall from grace, which ushered in a frenetic climate of attempting to manufacture short periods of success into apparent “eras” or “dynasties.”

There was a significant void to fill, and golf has perhaps been overly keen to do so.

Now when a young golfer wins a major championship (or often just a lucrative second-tier tournament), he is portrayed to be destined for a defining record and bracketed alongside similarly marketable players. But when that trajectory begins to slip in the wrong direction, he is abandoned with another suitor poised to succeed him.

Such was the case with Rory last year, winner of two majors and both money lists in 2014, being discarded in the midst of the impressive run from the young Texan. Even with regards to column inches, golf can apparently be the most unforgiving of professional sports.

This was partly self-inflicted. The American may have been on a heady collision course with potential history, but many observers still regarded McIlroy as being a strong favourite for the Open at the Old Course, a venue that had consistently brought with it fine results and heightened confidence.

But something unexpected happened as the sport’s most tenured championship approached, with a friendly “kickabout” with friends disastrously resulting in the four-time major winner suffering from a ruptured ankle ligament, which ultimately ruled him out of a week that could (and maybe should) have been his own assertive riposte to the success of Spieth.

It has to be retrospectively seen as a recklessly missed opportunity, with his comeback occurring (somewhat surprisingly) a month later in the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits. Trying to shake off the rust on a challenging course, McIlroy was left to watch on as Australia’s Jason Day claimed the Wanamaker Trophy in convincing fashion following a duel against Spieth. One year removed from his own victory at Valhalla, the proclaimed “Rory Era” seemed to be well and truly over.

Subsequently, as Jordan and Jason battled for the FedEx Cup, the Ulsterman was graciously included in the new “era” that has been defined as something equivalent to a modern big three, or even less convincingly a “big four” if you include Rickie Fowler suspiciously ahead of Bubba Watson, who has almost without exception been ranked inside the world’s top four for the last 16 months.

As the other two protagonists competed for ascendancy, McIlroy slowly pieced together his game in a competitive environment, which culminated in his victory at the DP World Tour Championship, which secured the Race to Dubai for a third time. Winning twice on the European Tour, once on the PGA Tour, in addition to the jointly-sanctioned WGC Cadillac Matchplay, would count as a life-changing season for most players, but not quite enough to distinguish oneself from the pack.

That is something the 26-year-old is seeking to achieve in 2016. Clearly determined and energised by the challenge presented from the headline-makers of last year, Rory is focussed on making up for lost time and reclaiming his former position as the primary subject of those columns.  

"It's a goal of mine for next season -- to try to reclaim that position (world number one) as fastly as I can," he recently told the BBC. "I feel like now until 40 is my time to collect some hardware and make my stamp on the game."

There is more than a sense that Jordan Spieth, who recently dominated the Tournament of Champions in a statement of intent, is the finest exhibitor of the title-lusting mentality that has been present within the all-time greats of the game. Despite his appealing and pleasant demeanour, the 22-year-old has an unshakable objective to not just win a major or become world number one – those have already been ticked off – but to make a lasting impact. Rory now has that same intent.

Adding more tournaments to early-season schedule than ever before, McIlroy is positioning himself for a concentrated effort to add further major championships to his already hefty tally, with a potential rivalry with Spieth the most compelling of potential plotlines. Despite the talk of that contest already being a reality, it won’t become legitimate until they are battling head-to-head.

This week’s Abu Dhabi Championship is the first opportunity to see that script being transformed into an episodic saga, with both twentysomethings adding allure to the opening leg of the European Tour’s early season sojourn in the Middle East. It may prove to be a preview of more to come.

With Spieth’s performance at Kapalua having already suggested that this year could even be a progression from the last, the stage is now set for McIlroy to make a declaration of his own at a course that is primed for his powerful and domineering game.

There will be much intrigue to see whether the older man is able to reaffirm the frequent assertion of many observers that when everyone plays to their limit; Rory will win. In comparing the contrasting skillsets of the two players, it would be easy to categorise their struggle as being a classic duel between the relative importance of driving vs. putting, but that would be a disservice to both players who are considerably more dynamic in their abilities than just one particular facet.

On the face of it, McIlroy’s imperious combination of length and accuracy from the tee offers him an extra gear that few can even come close to matching, but Spieth’s all-round consistency and golfing intelligence brings with it a number of intangibles that have proven to be authoritative in their own way. It all makes for what could potentially be the most intriguing of contests.

With all of that considered, this may just be the year when it becomes genuinely legitimate to declare this period in the game’s long history as belonging to an individual or group of players. Despite the premature talk of a big two or big three, don’t be shocked if Rory manages to rise above the others to build on the foundations he laid out in 2014. This is his time to leave a mark.