Rory McIlroy is a global golfer. His passport is proof.
He spent a few weeks in California and Florida. He went to Ohio and Missouri. He has also played in the United Arab Emirates, Scotland, England, Ireland and India. A trip next month to Australia is also coming up. And all this is just this year.
But it is a global ambassador of golf?
“I think it’s an added bonus,” he said.
And on Wednesday, which started a defense of Scottie Scheffler. In his press conference ahead of this week’s Abu Dhabi Aldar Golf Championship, McIlroy said he has “seen criticism” of Scheffler’s American schedule – and believes it is wrong.
Scheffler, McIlroy he said, he has done enough.
“I don’t want to sit there on my high horse and say, ‘Ambassador,'” McIlroy said. “I do it because I love the ride. I went to India for the first time last year. I like to go to Australia. I love going back to the Middle East. …
“But people have their own decision and their own life, and I’ve seen criticism of Scottie Scheffler because Scottie doesn’t play – but it’s his decision. If he doesn’t want to, it’s his prerogative. I think that Scottie being Scottie is good enough for the world of golf, and he doesn’t need to travel all over the world because he leads his life, and he leads his life. travel, that’s all I’ve known.”
This year, Scheffler played in 20 events, and two of them were outside the United States – the Scottish Open and the Open Championship, which was played in England. (He’s also scheduled to play next month in the Heroes World Challenge in the Bahamas.) But should the world’s top golfer travel more? The question will be asked to the one who is a ° 1; Scheffler is no exception.
In September, the conversation restarted after a column Golf Monthly’s Nick Bonfield with a headline that read: “Time to start criticizing Scottie Scheffler for his aversion to leaving America… Is he doing enough as a global ambassador?” – the publication X opinion post it attracted 1.3 million views, 831 comments and 151 reposts.
As for Scheffler’s thoughts, he was asked at the Scottish Open if a potential fall international schedule interested him, and where he would be interested in playing.
“I’m definitely interested,” he said. “I’d like to see how he shapes up over the next couple of years. There are a lot of places I think I’d like to play.
“There is always just the time and the place for me. I am at a moment in my life where I have a young family at home and children. These are the times – the fall is a special time for our family. It is where we can really check and be together, and I get to spend a lot of time with my children. So I keep those moments quite sacred.
“But at the same time, I love golf and I would like to be able to play more internationally. Like Australia; New Zealand is a place we would like to be able to go. My wife has always wanted to go to New Zealand.
“But like I said, I love this style of golf, and I feel it’s quite unique here. But going to play the Sandbelt in Australia would also be quite special. Hopefully I can find the time. It’s definitely an intriguing part of the schedule, and yes, I’m definitely interested as well.”
On Wednesday, McIlroy said it’s all Scheffler’s choice.
“I’ve been traveling the world since I was 16,” he said. “I don’t know anything different. It’s just what I like to do, and it’s not because of a sense of responsibility to the game or trying to be an ambassador.
“It’s just because I like to do it.”
“>
