Page 39 - Golf World (February 2020)

It’s been a long, long time since we’ve had a decent
rivalry in golf. Tiger Woods’ dominance of the sport
deprived us of all that fun. You have to go all the way
back to Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson to find an
evenly-matched rivalry. Greg Norman and Nick
Faldo’s ‘spicy’ relationship gripped us but their head-
to-head encounters rarely ended well for the
Australian. Woods and Mickelson had potential but
Tiger had eight majors in the ba
before Lefty had even got off
Big Easy found it hard to get
head long enough to become an
a minor irritant to the America
Koepka and McIlroy, howeve
boxes. Both players have won fo
of a similar age. McIlroy is 30, K
are refreshingly open and hon
some nice contrasts, too. Mc
childhood phenom while Koep
bloomer who played satellite ci
earning his PGA Tour card. R
worldwide while Koepka’s relat
fans and media has been a slow
McIlroy’s resumé may be de
PGA Tour wins to Koepka’s s
Irishman’s fourth major, the 20
came before Koepka even joined
Koepkas was quick to remind
out here for five years. Rory h
major since I’ve been on the PGA
don’t view it as a rivalry,” he rec
It was the first time Koepka
publicly since he was defeated
by McIlroy down the stretch
Cup in Atlanta. “I wanted s
Memphis,” McIlroy said afterw
referring to their head-to-head
Jude Invitational a few weeks ea
shot 65 in the final round to w
the year while McIlroy stumble
followed up by telling the me
would have to “go through m
wanted to retain his World No
But a great rivalry is founded
than tit-for-tat soundbites. W
to see McIlroy and Koepka due
it out in majors in the years t
come. Until then, and until
McIlroy wins a few more, the
verbal barbs mean nothing.