Rory McIlroy's Real Career Challenge Will Not Come on the Golf Course

The main threat to Rory McIlroy’s success as a golfer will not come on the golf course.

McIlroy’s biggest career challenge will come from the fame, fortune and intense scrutiny he will receive off the course, and if you’re not buying into that, just ask a man by the name of Tiger Woods about dealing with fame, fortune and the media’s prying eyes.

McIlroy has now missed three consecutive cuts and has failed to break par in any round since the Quail Hollow Championship. Heck, McIlroy has posted a score lower than 74 in just one of his last six rounds.

The kid is in a slump, and it’s likely the result of his activities off the course more than his ball-striking or putting ability.

Following his dominant eight-stroke victory at the 2011 U.S. Open, McIlroy was on top of the world.

He had a major championship under his belt by the age of 22, he was a millionaire many times over and he was dating an international tennis star by the name of Caroline Wozniacki.

At the time, this was all new to McIlroy. He was like a kid in a candy shop when it came to the traveling on private jets, the fast cars, the mansions and of course, the adoration of the entire golf world.   

The television commercials and photo shoots were likely fun for McIlroy in late 2011. After all, when you’re 22 years old and have spent your entire life working to become the best golfer in the world, all of the attention you are finally getting for your accomplishments is kind of cool.  

The media even took to the kid because, unlike the game’s last international superstar, McIlroy wasn’t afraid to actually answer their questions.  

Fast forward 11 months, and you now have a kid who is still traveling the world on private jets, is still making boatloads of money, still has the international tennis star under his arm and still has all of the promotional demands on his time, only now, the adrenaline has worn off.

Whereas 10 months ago, jetting to Asia for a tournament, then back to Europe to spend a few days with Wozniacki, before jetting back to Asia for another tournament and then on to California for a commercial shoot was all new, fun and interesting, it’s now likely starting to become a burden for McIlroy, and it’s taking a toll on his golf game.

McIlroy’s game was in peak form for much of 2011 and the early part of 2012, so it wasn’t a big deal to skip a few practice sessions here and there. His game was in good enough shape to be pushed to the back burner for at least a short period of time.

But the thing is, if you are hosting a barbecue and leave a fillet steak on the back burner for a few minutes while you attend to the rest of your food, it will still be perfectly fine to eat. However, if you attend to the rest of your food for two hours while that steak is sitting on the back burner, well, it will eventually begin to burn.  

The golf game is very similar. If you’ve worked hard and are on top of your game, your success may last for a little while even if you spend less time practicing. However, the longer you lay off the practice sessions, the more likely it is that you will begin to lose all of those gains you had previous made.

McIlroy is in the process of finding his way as a superstar in a global game.

He’s obviously realized that playing events on one side of the world, jet setting to the other side of the world to spend 36 hours with Wozniacki, then jet setting back across the planet for another event before traveling halfway across the world again for a photo shoot is probably not the best strategy for his physical or mental health, not to mention his golf game and potential longevity in the game.  

There’s, of course, more to life than just golf, and if McIlroy wants to relax and enjoy his fame and fortune, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. He’s earned everything that’s been given to him, so he’s entitled to do what he wants with his time. However, McIlroy must also accept that if he puts the traveling, the relaxing with Wozniacki, the photo and commercial shoots, etc. before practice, his golf game will inevitably go stale, as it has over the past month.

McIlroy’s eventually going to have to make a decision.   

If he’s really driven to become one of the game’s all-time greats, he’s likely going to have to give more attention to his golf game and less attention to all of the other demands on his time.

If he’s OK with being a really good player while also enjoying life, that’s fine too.

But having both is all but impossible.   

In this modern day and age of professional golf, while McIlroy is spending 15 hours flying to a photo shoot then spending another 12 hours flying to Europe to spend time with Wozniacki, other hungry young players are hitting the range and weight room for those same 27 hours, and as talented as McIlroy is, that lack of focus combined with the intense focus of others will eventually catch up to him.

As with many professional athletes, the path McIlroy decides to take off the course will greatly affect his level of success on the course.

Making a decision as to which path to travel will be the real challenging part, and that is what McIlroy is currently struggling with.

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