After Rory McIlroy clinched his first Masters title this year, he couldn’t help but confess, “I started to wonder if it would ever be my time.” Indeed, it took the Northern Irishman almost 11 years to grab a major after his 4th major win at the 2014 PGA Championship. And plenty of people noticed his accomplishment, including Tiger Woods, the golfer who last won a Grand Slam before McIlroy. And sure, McIlroy was the first golfer since Woods to grab a Grand Slam, but could he ever match up to Woods’s feats? Especially when he shares similarities with Woods’s rival (when it comes to careers), Phil Mickelson?
What similarities? Well, take their driving skills, for instance. On his recent appearance on Beyond the Clubhouse, Alan Shipnuck tried to answer that, saying. “I mean, his [McIlroy] superpower is the driver, and he’s driving it as long and straight as ever. You know, it’s like, um, if that started to go, it would be more challenging, but he’s still in great shape.” So, what’s so good about McIlroy’s skills? It’s thanks to his powerful swing, impressive clubhead speed, and ability to generate both distance and accuracy. His driving game features an in-to-out swing path, a steep-to-shallow attack angle, and precise weight transfer.
But when it comes to Mickelson’s driving skills, it is marked by a powerful swing, which generates remarkable distance while maintaining control off the tee. His technique involves a strong grip and setup, exceptional body rotation, and optimal tempo, allowing him to consistently drive the ball with authority. And Shipnuck draws similarities between them, saying, “As long as that endures, then, you know, he’s more akin to a Phil Mickelson than a Tiger Woods. You know, kind of this long, fluid swing. Those are the ones that last. The Sam Snead’s. Um, it’s not short and violent like, you know, Tiger was.”
Their drives are vastly different than Tiger Woods‘s, which is marked by a powerful yet controlled motion, featuring a strong hip turn, compact backswing, and stable base. His smooth transition into the downswing generates significant clubhead speed through impact. The point? Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson are extremely long-hitters, and it’s likely to affect McIlroy’s chances in majors.
Shipnuck points out, “It’s hard to imagine he’s going to be stuck on five, but we couldn’t believe he was stuck on four for so long. So you just never know with this guy, but his game has gone to a different level.” When the host suggests that “so, double digits is not out of equation,” Shipnuck just shrugs. For a quick comparison, Woods boasts 15 major wins, 10 more than Rory McIlroy and 9 more than Phil Mickelson. So, is Alan Shipnuck correct in his assumption? Well, only the coming years will tell us so, as Shipnuck himself says that there never is a cieling as you will always want more, and as long as that is there, you will continue to endure. Given the fact that he shares more similarities with Mickelson than with Woods, which definitely makes his achievements different.
Nonetheless, this isn’t the first time the golf world has discussed Woods and McIlroy in the same sentence. In 2024, former pro golfer Wayne Riley called McIlroy “box office,” and elaborated, “At the end of the day, we saw a great player in Tiger Woods and he was in a different stratosphere and they expect Rory to be like that. It isn’t going to happen.” Despite all these comparisons between the two Grand Slam winners, the PGA Tour pro, Arron Oberholser, had once seen McIlroy pull off a move that only Tiger Woods had done.
The one move an amateur Rory McIlroy pulled at The Open 2007 at Carnoustie
During The Open Championship 2007 at Carnoustie, Rory McIlroy’s playing partner Arron Oberholser was impressed by his skills. The former pro, Oberholser, speaking to the Guardian in 2017, recalled watching McIlroy hit a remarkable shot during the third round. Specifically, at the fourth hole, Oberholser hit a driver and seven-iron into the green, while the 18-year-old McIlroy hit his driver and was 15 to 20 yards past Oberholser’s drive.
Oberholser was struck by McIlroy’s iron play, particularly a nine-iron shot from 145 yards out into the wind. McIlroy had been asked if he wanted to hit a soft eight-iron but opted for a nine-iron instead, putting the ball back in his stance. Oberholser described the sound of the shot as “one I’ll never forget,” saying: “He just hit it so clean, so crisp and there was so much effortless speed at the bottom of the swing.”
Oberholser compared McIlroy’s shot-making ability to that of Tiger Woods, saying: “He took the nine, put the ball back in his stance and the shot made a sound I’ll never forget. At that point I’d only ever heard one player made that sound with their irons: Tiger Woods.” Oberholser then added, “The way he compressed the ball was unlike anything I’d ever seen apart from Tiger.”
Despite a strong start, McIlroy’s tournament didn’t quite live up to expectations. Friday’s round of 76 dashed his hopes of winning the Claret Jug, but he still managed to secure the Silver Medal as the only amateur to make the cut. But now the question remains: does Rory McIlroy need to be Tiger Woods-like at all to achieve more greatness?
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