Rory McIlroy is way off base when it comes to “easy” course setups

Rory McIlroy has it all wrong when he talks about courses being set up “too easy” in today’s professional game.

Rory McIlroy is not a player I typically argue with. He’s a generational talent, and more than that, he’s got a brilliant mind for the game, both on and off the course. But his most recent commentary is something that I simply can’t disagree more with, and it’s surprisingly short-sighted, especially coming from him.

He thinks that the European Tour is making its course setups “too easy”, and went so far as to say he was getting tired of coming home just to see that happen.

“I’m sort of honestly sick of coming back over to the European Tour and shooting 15 under par and finishing 30th,” McIlroy said. “I don’t think the courses are set up hard enough.”

"“There are no penalties for bad shots. It’s tough when you come back and it’s like that. I don’t feel like good golf is regarded as well as it could be. It happened in the Scottish Open at Renaissance. I shot 13 under and finished 30th [actually T-34] again. It’s not a good test. I think if the European Tour wants to put forth a really good product, the golf courses and setups need to be tougher.”"

Give it to us a little straighter, could you, Rory?

On the one hand, I kind of get it. When courses are “too easy” – whatever that actually means – golf can become a game dominated by a bit of luck and a bit of skill. They call them putting contests for a reason, because, as Rory says, when there’s little else to put the game’s best to the test, that’s where players separate themselves.

There’s just one small problem with that, though. Shouldn’t the best players in the world absolutely thrive in those environments?

There’s a close comparison here that you can find in circles not that dissimilar to golf: gambling. Namely, poker. Browse any number of online poker forums for the past decade and a half and you’ll find a mantra about low-level games being “too easy” for good players to beat. The idea is that, when you oversimplify the game and minimize the stakes, there’s no way for skilled players to assert their advantages. The problem is, it’s wrong at the poker table, and it’s wrong on the golf course.

Don’t get me wrong, it certainly takes a different approach, but it’s not impossible. Volatile results don’t mean the game is wrong, it means that the strategy a player employs didn’t work that day, or in golf, that week. And that’s okay, because the strongest players know that they will still win in the long run.

And that brings us back to Rory McIlroy. He has proven over the course of a decade that he’s more than capable of withstanding any downswings in his own game, simply to come out stronger on the other side. That’s the mark of a true champion, and while he’s certainly as human as you or me, it’s surprising to see that kind of venting coming from such a polished professional.

Given a day to think on his comments, McIlroy walked it back, but only the smallest amount. He mentioned that his feelings spread beyond Europe, and certainly beyond the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, which is a pro-am event with naturally simpler setups. This was certainly a bit of damage control, especially as European fans and media have taken issue with McIlroy’s movement toward a PGA Tour-centric schedule.

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Still, it’s not like he changed his tune entirely. Let’s look at the numbers, though. In McIlroy’s last three dedicated European Tour events, he’s shot -14, -11 and -15. Only once did he finish outside the top ten (this week at the Dunhill Links). His 14-under mark at the Omega European Masters put him in a five-man playoff, and he finished tied for ninth at the BMW PGA Championship after opening that week with a 76.

What about the U.S.? Last year, McIlroy finished outside the top ten just five times. He tied for 54th (+10) at the WGC-HSBC Champions in October of 2018, T-21 (-5) at the Masters, MC at the Memorial and The Open Championship, and T-19 (-11) at the BMW Championship. A week after that, he won the TOUR Championship and his second FedEx Cup. Three truly poor weeks, and the results bore that out.

Sure, the game can play differently, but again, the best adapt to those conditions. And let me be clear: Rory McIlroy is absolutely one of the best in the game today, and he’s got nothing to prove to anybody.

If he doesn’t want to play in Europe because he’s sick of the travel and doesn’t need the millions in appearance fees and potential prize money, that’s his call. But that doesn’t mean they’re doing it wrong over there, either. It’s just not his cup of tea, and that’s okay.

When it comes to the way courses are setup for pro events, not every week can be U.S. Open week, and who would want it to be? For those who love that event, it’s a special test that doesn’t happen all the time. And for those of us who don’t…well, safe to say that manufactured difficulty doesn’t count much. Anybody can create a brutal track for brutality’s sake.

A truly great course can speak for itself. It’s why we love Augusta National even as distance has all but neutralized several of its best challenges. It’s why the Old Course is an amazing experience whether the wind is blowing at a gentle breeze or a gale. Maybe we just need to recognize that not every track is designed to be among the most difficult out there.

That would make enjoying the week-to-week action on both the European and PGA Tours that much easier. Perhaps it would help players do the same.