There is an old saying that ‘a bad workman blames his tools,’ many would say that this also applies to sportsmen or women who blame their equipment for a loss of form. In which case Irish golfer Rory McIlroy would fall into this category.
Following an impressive amateur career McIlroy made the progression onto the pro circuit relatively easily and aged 24 had 5 European Tour victories and 6 PGA wins including the PGA Championship and US Open, the latter setting a record score of 16-under-par on his way to an eight-stroke victory.
In January of this year McIlroy switched club sponsors from Titleist to Nike in a deal worth GBP155million.When one considers the sacrifices his parents made on his behalf it looked like everything had paid off; his mother Rosie McIlroy having taken on a third cleaning job and her husband Gerry supplemented his meagre earnings as a golf club steward.
A change of club manufacturer in this age when they are all made to a high specification should have proved a walk in the park, but McIlroy who just missed his fourth cut of the season, has put his loss of form down to “inferior” equipment, in particular his driver.
“The driver hasn’t been the best club in my bag this year, to be honest, its been a bit of a struggle off the tee.” He said and was due to meet his sponsors at the end of this week to discuss this issue and have their R&D guys help him out.
Time will tell whether its the clubs or the player but one does have to question an athlete receiving so much sponsorship money turning on his supplier.
