← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
Colin Cowherd Podcast - Rory McIlroy Stories: The Masters Win, Historical Rank, Tiger Woods
00:38:20
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- [00:00]
Alan Shipnuk
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:02]
Colin
Guaranteed Human today's podcast brought to you by Ferguson Home, where it all comes together. Whether you're a homeowner creating your dream space or a pro managing multiple projects, Ferguson Home is where you'll find top products by brands like LG. Visit your local showroom or visit FergusonHome.com
- [00:22]
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- [01:58]
Colin
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- [05:45]
Alan Shipnuk
I think that's very fair. He certainly became more polarizing. But even as all that was happening, he still remained emotionally available in a way that very, very few athletes are. You know, Rory lets you into his heart. There's an impetuousness there. You see it on the golf course, you see in the press room. You see it in his love life, his business life. That's just who he is. And I think he shares that a little bit with Phil. He doesn't have the same kind of demons that Phil does. But it's ironic because Rory, you know, he venerated Tiger as a golfer. Tiger was. Was a very. He was averse to mistakes, and he was very buttoned up as a golfer. Rory plays a game a lot more like Phil. And so, yeah, it's funny how the paths diverge. But that's part of why I wanted to write a book about Rory, because I would say five years ago, he was sort of universally beloved. He was this cute little leprechaun character who everybody enjoyed, and he was kind of. Kind of had a sweetness about him. And he has gotten more interesting. He was at the center of the storm of this, you know, battle for the soul of golf between the PGA Tour. Yes, He's. He made it very personal. He was the biggest troll in the whole operation. He. He's taken on a lot of tough issues, whether it was the Olympics, whether it was the Ryder Cup. Like, Rory has just. He's not afraid to hold back. He. He tells you what he's feeling at all times now. Sometimes he will walk it back, he will regret it. But even that I give him credit for, because it's hard to say in public life, you made a mistake. And, you know, he'll do that. He'll say, I thought about it and I changed my mind. So you're right, he's become Spike here. But I still think he's a very appealing character. And I think the reason he resonates with fans is because there's an openness and unguardedness that's very rare and a stark contrast, you know, to Tiger.
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Colin
Yeah, I always think Tiger became even more likable. I think he was worshiped early, but Tiger's last Masters was the one that touched me because he was vulnerable, he was flawed. And I felt the same way when Rory 17th try won the Masters. I don't know if I've ever. Not only did I watch every shot, I canceled everything I had to do. For three days, I just lived in front of a tv. And Rory's so fascinating because there are those who would say he didn't win a major in his prime for, was it 11 years, yet he had four majors by 25. How do we categorize this morning, this afternoon, his career?
- [08:29]
Alan Shipnuk
So I, you know, I'm not a playwright, but I think there's three acts to Rory's career. And, you know, act one is. He's this phenom, he's this boy wonder. He's this prodigy, and he wins all his majors. Like you said, he gets a number one, and he has the world in the palm of his hand. And, you know, act two is this long, challenging quest to fulfill his destiny, to win the Masters, to be the greatest player of his generation, to find piece on and off the golf course, to wrestle with the complications of adult life. And, you know, him winning the Masters and then what happened to the Ryder cup, that drops the curtain on Act 2. And so to me, it's the perfect time to bring the book out because we can look at how we got here, and then there's this tantalizing, like, look ahead and projecting forward what we might see. And I think that Rory is very squarely in his prime and that some of his best golf is probably still in front of him because he has been so unburdened. And, you know, and I'm here in Augusta and watching him swan around Augusta national in his green jacket. Nobody's ever had more fun being defending champ. He's at the Women's Amateur. He's at the Drive, chip and putt. He's holding court on the balcony of the clubhouse. And there is a lightness of being to Rory that we've never seen here. He was always on a knife's edge, Masters week. And he looks so happy and so content. And I would not be the tiniest bit surprised if he goes out and shoots 62 in the first round. And because it's going to be the easiest round of golf he's ever played at Augusta national, it might be the most fun round of golf his entire life, because all the pressure is off. And he. He has fulfilled his destiny. He's a Grand Slam winner. He's done something only five other men have ever done. He's in the pantheon forever. And now you can keep chasing because Rory cares deeply about his place in history and he the crown jewels. He wants to win an Open at St. Andrews, he wants to win a U.S. open at Pebble Beats. And he does not want to be a one time Masters champion. There's a lot of those guys, whether it's Charles Schwarzel or Trevor Immelman or Danny Willett, they won the Masters and they never really did anything after that. That is not Rory's destiny. He wants to win multiple jackets, he wants to go back to back. Like he wants to put his stamp on this tournament forever. So he's not done. And I think it's going to be really fun to watch the fireworks for the next portion of his career.
- [11:02]
Colin
You know, Tiger, because of his upbringing was almost robotic socially. And then because of that he kind of sometimes inappropriately, oftentimes inappropriately exploded socially and did things that were just not all right with the sports world and with his family. Phil was the opposite. Phil lived large at Arizona State. Could I categorize Rory as a little bit of both? He had some of the robotics, the wrong word. A very, very aware of ascension, legacy and greatness like Tiger. And he wasn't going to let anything get in the way with it. But like Phil, he's a good looking guy, he's well built, he's got money, he liked to live the life that he's a little bit of a Tiger aspirational. Phil almost at times had so much fun. You worried about if he was throwing this thing at times away, was he really just throwing with risky play? I feel Rory's. Rory's more less emotionally remote than Tiger, but more under control than Phil. Is that a decent narrative? Yes.
- [12:29]
Alan Shipnuk
I like that it's easy to think of them together because there's no doubt that the most popular players of the last 30 plus years are Tiger, Phil and Rory. Now two of them have had their lives and their careers sidetracked by addiction, by scandal, by greed, by vice. And Rory has somehow he's wobbled a little bit, he's wavered a little, but he's managed to maintain his dignity and he's moved through the world with a certain ease and a certain grace. And that's why people are endeared to him, because he's not a maniac like Phil. He's not a robot like Tiger. You know, Rory likes the finer things in life. He has the jets and the, and the watches and his dad always has a fancy watch like, but you know, deep down they're a blue Collar family from a scrappy little town outside of Belfast, and they've never forgotten where they've come from. And you know, Rory, he's. He's close to his parents. He talks about their influence all the time. His closest friends are all guys he grew up with. Like, they keep it real for him and they love to take the piss, as they say over in Ireland. Like, they give them a hard time and. Whereas, you know, Phil could have these. He could be magnanimous and he could say and do the right things, but you never knew if it was real, if it was all an act. It was all puffery with Rory, you know, it's from the heart. And Tiger was an introvert. That was a source of a lot of his awkwardness. He didn't like crowds, people. Yes, he was never comfortable in that. This role that was thrust upon him. Rory loves people. He's an entertainer. When you see him at dinner, he's always got 10 people around him. He's always making them laugh. He'll always pick up the check. He's just good company. And so when you look at them as a trio, I think, you know, even though Tiger has all the trophies and, you know, Phil's won more tournaments than Rory, I think both of them would gladly trade lives with Rory, who is universally beloved and respected. And his body's not smashed up. He's not a victim of these large scale controversies. He hasn't been arrested, he hasn't been investigated for insider trading. Like, he's just. It's a life well lived. And in this, to grow up in the, in the white hot spotlight, spotlight, as he did. I think it's. It's the book, I think, has a feel good tenor to it. And that was honestly something I wanted because I don't want to write the same thing over and over. Like, the Mikkelsen book was super controversial. The follow up, Live and Let Die, was very overheated and bitchy. Like, I don't want to repeat myself. And that was partly, I think, why I was drawn to Rory, because it is a feel good story and I think it's okay to celebrate him and the way he's lived his life.
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Colin
Yeah, I mean, I. There's a moment where his dad calls Jack Nicholas Jack, and he's like, it's Mr. Nicholas. Like, there's a reverence toward the history of golf, but there is also a moment where you're on the driving range. And this is where I was startled. I was like, okay, I don't like Rory. What is. He's. He's screaming at my guy, Allan. And so. And again, it's. It's a moment in time where you're just off, I think, if I recall, with his agent or. Who were you with? Yeah, it was his agent. And he sees you, and he just comes over and drops the expletive. Take. Take the audience to that and the healing and you and Rory's relationship now. Because it was. I mean, I read that, and I thought, wow, I could picture it. I was just recently at a live event, and Brooks Koepka came over and said something nice to me, and I'm like, oh, it's so personal. I thought golfers liked us to watch them. So take the people who haven't read the book yet to that, because before
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Alan Shipnuk
the second round of the US Open at Oakmont. And I've been working on the book for over a year. And so, of course, it's getting back to Rory. I'm interviewing all these people. I'm in his hometown. I'm doing this, I'm doing that. And it had just gotten in his head. And so he. And this was.
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Colin
We all saw.
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Alan Shipnuk
After Augusta, he went through this existential crisis. You know, he. He'd been chasing this thing for so long, he finally had it. And he looked around from the top of the mountain and he said, you know, what do I do next? And he was kind of struggling there, and. And so that was part of it as well, But. And he said, yeah, he looks back and he sees me, and this is 30 minutes before he's going to play in the United States Open, and he's getting this beat with me, and I let it go in the moment, but I waited for him two days later in the parking lot because I wanted to have a philosophical discussion. And I basically was like, bro, what was that all about? You know, why are you so mad? And, you know, he told me, it pisses me off you're making money off my name. But it's not about money. He has plenty of it. And book. There ain't much money in books. It was just. It was a matter of control. He controls every aspect of his public life, and he knew he had no such control over this book. And that's very unsettling for a guy in Rory's position. And so that's why he was pushing me away. But there is a happy ending, Colin. So I, you know, I live in Northern California. I went to the tournament at Pebble Beach a couple months ago, and I gave a couple copies of the book. To Rory's manager. And I told him, I wouldn't give it to you this early if I thought you guys were going to hate it. I said, if you can read it with an open mind, you'll see that there's a lot of affection in this portrait. And despite the way Rory treated me, I'm such a consummate professional that I wrote it with good intentions. And so later that afternoon, Rory came into the press room and walked right up to me, shook my hand, said, hey, thanks for the book. Looking forward to reading it. And I said, I think you'll like it. He's like, you know, I'll tell you if I do. And I think that was his sort of public gesture because it's in front of the whole press corps, tournament officials, PGA Tour officials. Like, I think that was his way of apologizing for what happened at Oakmont in his own way. And then now you fast forward a few days. It's Sunday night, Tournament's over. I write my story. The whole place is cleared out at Pebble Beach. Now. I'm walking to my car. It's dark, it's misty, and I bump into Rory, who's going to the Tap Room to get a drink, and, you know, make a joke about, of all the gin joints, you're going to run into me. And. But he said, you know what? I read the first chapter of the book. He's like, it was funny. It made me laugh. And that has some of this very spicy material you're talking about. And so.
- [18:55]
Colin
Oh, yeah.
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Alan Shipnuk
So I think I'm in a good place with Rory, and on a human level, I appreciate that. But as a biographer, he's not my audience. I don't really care if he likes a book or not. I write it for the fans, and my job is to be an honest broker with the reader and just tell it the way it is and capture the totality of the subject. And, you know, you talked about your feelings reading the fill book, and it was interesting because there was a. There was quite a schism on folks who read it. A lot of people had your reaction, like, he's more real. He's more human to me. I like him more. Yeah, he lost fans, too, who said, you know, they resented the way he treated his. His caddy and all the gambling and this and that and.
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Public Ad Announcer
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Alan Shipnuk
And so that told me I might have done an okay job as his biographer, because I just laid out a very complex and let the reader decide. And that was always my goal with Rory. And I told him I said, I have no agenda. Like, I'm not trying to, to win or lose fans for you. I just want to tell your story and let the readers decide. And so I think in the final analysis, it's a feel good story because he has this redemption as a player to win the Masters. He goes to Bethpage. It's kind of redeemed as a family man, as a husband, as a human. And we've been along for this whole journey. And so I'm happy if he enjoys it and if he has good feelings around the book. But I care much more about you and the people listening at home because that's what I'm writing it for.
- [20:19]
Colin
Does he have a chance to win this weekend? How are his last three rounds? Four rounds?
- [20:25]
Alan Shipnuk
So he tweaked his back in the gym. He hasn't played in three weeks. He comes in a little rusty and people have been kind of writing him off. But watching Rory at Augusta national these last few days, he is having the time of his life. And he just looks so unencumbered. Like, I really feel like he's gonna mount a very spirited defense and he's gonna be carried along by the goodwill of the fans. You know, he, he played the hardest round of his entire career last Sunday at the Masters. And I think he's going to step to the first tee and feel so much freedom and so much joy and so much pride that he did it. I mean, in my mind, he's almost made himself the favorite with just this, this, this jauntiness that he's carrying himself with. So, yeah, he absolutely has a great chance to, to win. I would actually be surprised if he's not there late on Sunday.
- [21:24]
Colin
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- [24:04]
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- [24:07]
Colin
Huh.
- [24:07]
Alan Shipnuk
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- [24:17]
Colin
Actually, too broad. How about software that's already profitable? Companies that beat the last five quarters?
- [24:24]
Alan Shipnuk
Oh, and I want founders who are marathon runners. That's discipline. Yeah, let's see what that looks like.
- [24:32]
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- [25:14]
Colin
plumbing or H vac company isn't easy. You're driving revenue, managing payroll, coordinating marketing, juggling projects and keeping customers satisfied all at once. You need software that keeps up. It's time to upgrade to Servicetitan, the all in one solution built to help companies like yours run smarter, grow faster, and scale with confidence. See how the most successful contractors are doing it today with ServiceTitan. Visit ServiceTitan.com to learn more. That's ServiceTitan.com we're lost and kickoff's coming up. I don't want to miss the lineup.
- [25:49]
Alan Shipnuk
I'm gonna ask that man for directions.
- [25:51]
Colin
Hi there. We're trying to get to the stadium.
- [25:54]
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- [25:58]
Alan Shipnuk
Nah, I'm just kidding.
- [25:59]
T-Mobile Ad Announcer
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- [26:00]
Colin
How is there signal out here?
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Colin
to a T Mobile store?
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- [26:49]
Colin
When you're on the outside looking in, you think it's a perfect world. You know, dating stars Rich. There's a moment in his teen years when he breaks down and I Think it's poignant and it's telling about kind of who he is?
- [27:07]
Alan Shipnuk
Well, yeah, I mean, there's so much there, that homesick moment that, that was really his rookie year on the European Tour and He was only 18 years old, and so he went to Malaysia, he went to Korea, and these places felt so alien to him. And he's actually sitting on the edge of his bed eating, you know, Pringles and crying because he misses. Like, it's very poignant, you know, because, yeah, it does seem like a glamorous life, but it's not, it's not easy. And it's part of why his caddy is, is his best friend because it gives him comfort. You know, nobody's Gonna tell Rory McElroy how to play golf. He doesn't need some strategist or some hard ass old guy to tell him what club to hit. Like, that's not what he's looking for. He's looking for comfort and ease and, and a friendly face as he's traveling the world. And that's why that partnership with Harry diamond has been so impactful. But yeah, I mean it. This is a question for a biographer, like, how much of a, of a person's, you know, private life should be in the book. And you'd like to say even a public figure deserves a little privacy. That's probably an old fashioned notion, but, you know, when he's 21, he starts dating Caroline Wozniacki, who's one tennis player in the world, total babe. And it's like this match made in tabloid heaven. And, you know, Rory's going from his tournaments to her tournaments to corporate outings to his tournaments to her tournaments. And he talks about losing his center, losing the sense of where he's from and who he is. And he starts playing the worst golf of his career. And he comes to this ruthless determination that it's either his, it's either Caroline or it's golf. And he chooses golf, which is his real first love, right? And he, the invitations for their wedding have already been mailed out and he breaks her heart. He ends, he ends the marriage and, and then he goes on this historic tear and plays the best golf of his life. So it would be a dereliction of duty as his biographer not to get into all of this. There's a straight line from ending the marriage to winning major championships. And so when the, when the, the private life spills in between the ropes, when it affects the golf, you can't ignore it. And so that was really the first crisis of his young life. And I'm sure he has some misgivings about the way he handled it interpersonally, but in the final analysis, he probably made the right choice. You know, same thing. You know, he has these. These busts up in his business life that, you know, one of them gets extremely contagious. There's lawsuits, recriminations. He has to basically pay his old agent $20 million to go away. And is Rory, to your question, is Rory going to like the book or not? He's not going to love reliving that, but it's fundamental to who he is, how he got here. He's reorganized his entire business life in an extremely effective manner. He's making so much money away from golf, he probably forgets to pick up the checks after he wins because it's just a drop in the bucket. And so, like, right, this has to be part of the story. And so, yeah, he's faced setbacks, and that's what makes him interesting. You know, if he was just this boy wonder who won everything and had this linear life, they wouldn't make for a very good book. But it's the challenges, it's the humiliations, it's the heartbreaks, it's the regret. That's what gives the book a beating heart. And it sets up the triumphs and the victories and the satisfaction and the joy. And you can't have one without the other.
- [30:34]
Colin
As you noted, he was the face of anti live golf. Is that his childhood telling him to do that? Is it a handler? Is it just at his soul, what the PGA means to him? Because it was. It was certainly not a courageous stand, but it was a really defiant stand and one that other notable golfers did not make.
- [31:01]
Alan Shipnuk
Where does it cost? Yeah, Rory has a very strong moral compass, and he was raised, you know, his parents, they recognized they had this special talent, but they never let get out of line on the golf course, in the classroom. Like, his parents were tough on him, and at the same time, he was surrounded by love and support. And so he's just had always been a kind of a black and white character. There's right and there's wrong. And at the same time, he. He's a traditionalist. You know, he was raised in a different culture.
- [31:30]
Colin
He.
- [31:31]
Alan Shipnuk
There. There's obviously the European Tour, they venerate the players who have come before them. And the institution of the European Tour, the institution of the PGA Tour mean a lot to Rory. And it. It has. His legacy is built on these platforms, and he has veneration for the old tournaments, the old courses, the old time golfers. And so Liv Golf came in and tried to tear all that down. And he was offended and, and yeah, you know, he had even three years before Liv arrived. That was when the Saudis first began their incursion in, into, into professional golf. It was this European Tour event called the Saudi International. And the first one was held in, you know, the winter of 2019. It was only three or four months after Jamal Khashoggi was assassinated and dismembered by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. And the entire Western world was distancing themselves from. From the Saudis on a business level, on a professional level. The only friends they had turned out to be in professional golf. The European Tour did not cancel the tournament. And that meant so much to this culture where saving face is so important. And that helped create this momentum that ultimately led to Live Golf. And to make that first tournament success, they paid unheard of appearance fees. And Brooks Koepka went and Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed and Bryson Dechambeau and Phil Mickelson, like all the guys who wound up on live have played in that first tournament. And they offered Rory millions of dollars. And he said no. He said, there's a morality to it. I don't want their money. I don't want their blood money. And that I want to be on the right side of history. And so he saw it in very stark terms. He never wavered. And they would have given him half a billion dollars or more to come to live golf, but he was never even tempted because he just felt like they were trying to destroy what his heroes had built. And he wanted to carry that legacy on. And it will be a part of his story that Rory helped save the PGA Tour. He deserves that. He earned that with his advocacy, with his diplomacy, and the way he reshaped the tour into a much leaner and much more competitively interesting platform. And they made it more star driven. They funneled a lot of money to the top players, and it stopped this exodus of guys to live golf. And that was Rory's vision. And he made it happen with his political capital. So, you know, he just, like Nicholas and Palmer, birthed the PGA Tour in 1968. You know, Rory helped save it. And that, that has meaning to him more than a bag full of money.
- [34:07]
Colin
All countries are provincial. Canadians want to see Canadians win when they watch the CBC Olympics. But I felt, watching, and I felt this more than once watching Rory, that he's the most popular golfer on the golf course in America at A major Is that historically rare? Has there ever been anybody else from overseas that the American crowd views as an ally? And at that Masters, it was obvious America, Augusta was rooting Ferrari in your life covering golf, is that a distinction that's singularly Rory's?
- [34:47]
Alan Shipnuk
Yes. And that. That's insightful. I mean, I would say the only non American who. Who might threaten that, and it's a smaller window, is Greg Norman. You know, he looked like a Bond villain. He had this charisma. He lived large. He played the merch. He had the swagger.
- [35:09]
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But.
- [35:09]
Alan Shipnuk
And I think Norman was probably that guy for a few years. But then he tried to create this world tour funded by Rupert Murdoch to compete with the PGA Tour, and he became a pariah, and he just sort of set himself on Fire in 1994, and he. He ended that adoration because, like Liv Golf, he tried to. He tried to burn it all down. And so definitely no one's ever had it as long as Rory does. And, you know, Sevy Ballesteros was this amazingly charismatic figure, but he was battling the PGA Tour. He was raging against the machine, and. And he was. He had. He burned hot. He had this spikiness, and you. He just radiated this. The seething intensity that I think fans could appreciate the genius, but they never felt the connection like they do with Rory. It's because Rory's flawed. And there's a fragility there that I think makes him so compelling, because, you know, when Tiger had a lead at a major, he just snuffed the life out of it.
- [36:09]
Colin
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But. But Rory's blown a couple, and we
- [36:12]
Alan Shipnuk
love the high wire act while he's juggling chainsaws. And when you saw that. That final round and he had. He shot. People forget he shot the low round of the day on Friday and Saturday last year. He was playing literally the best golf of his life. He was in total command of his golf ball. And then the weight of history and, you know, as his putting coach, Brad Fact called the angels and demons on his shoulder, like it was a metaphysical battle and everyone was along for the ride. And you could see the strain and the stress and the pressure. It was written on his forehead. And he hit some of the worst shots in Masters history and also some of the best. And it was just this incredible. It was about. It was not about golf. It was not about birds and bogeys. It was like the human condition. And that's why it was so riveting, and that's why the impact of it People were not crying on their couches because he won the career grand slam. Like, that's cool. That's a nice bit of history. But it was that he had conquered his demons, and it was a much more relatable thing. Like, that victory was about not giving up on your dreams, about not quitting, about believing in yourself. And that's stuff that. That you and I and everyone can relate to you, no matter what we do for a living. And so that's why people were so moved by. Wasn't because of, you know, it was his fifth career major. Okay, that's nice. But it was the human element that made that master so unforgettable.
- [37:41]
Colin
Rory's obviously thought about his place in history. You write about it. Final chapter. Where is he all time?
- [37:49]
Alan Shipnuk
Yeah, I mean, I lay this all in the last chapter of the book. I mean, he's already clearly one of the dozen greatest players of all time. And even there's. There's three legends in front of him with six majors, and Rory has five. It. It's Faldo, it's Mickelson, it's Lee Trevino. But in my mind, he's already surpassed them because of the scale of what he's done. Yeah, you know, Phil never got to number one. He never won a money title. Rory's won three money titles in the US and seven in Europe. He spent, you know, many, many weeks at number one. He. His global impact. He's won everywhere. I mean, he's the greatest global golfer since Gary Player. And it's in a much different media era. Like, Rory's impact is far beyond Nick fo only won four times in the U.S. now, three of them are masters. But, you know, he. And so he's in very rarefied air. And there's a cute bit, because I asked people that, and I asked P. Harrington, who's Roy's friend and mentor, and went to. And he said, oh, I know the answer. Because on Rory's wedding night, after he had a bunch of wine, I asked him what he was chasing. And Rory said, you know, the number he's always had in his head is nine major championships. And there's a strange power when you speak that into existence. And by that metric, he's barely halfway there. And if Rory gets to nine, which I think is very doable given his longevity, he's one of the five greatest golfers of all time. There's zero doubt. And so, you know, he's. He's ascending up, you know, Mount Nicholas to this. This role as one of the all time greats and he's most of the way there. But it's tantalizing to think about because, you know, Rory's longevity. He's been in the top 20 of the world ranking for over 850 weeks. Like it's, it's unheard of. You know, Phil was the gold standard. He was in the front ranks, the game for 30 years. But Rory's basically two thirds of the way there and, and he's not slowing down. He, he takes great care of his body. He's got one of those long swings that kind of hold up like a Phil, like a Sam Sneed. And you know, it was a big deal when he won the Irish Open because he'd had that summertime swoon and that the Irish Open last at the end of the summer kind of rekindled Rory's joy and his passion. And I thought his comments were so important because after he won, he didn't say, this means so much to me and, and this is so important to my career. He said, it just, it's so gratifying to win this for all these fans and to give them what they wanted. And I think he knows now that he, he's playing for something bigger than himself. Like he carries the hopes of and the dreams of many golf fans. And as he's become their tiger and even these young players now, they grew up idolizing Rory and he feels the weight of that. And he doesn't want to let people down. He wants to keep going and he wants to keep thrilling them. He's a bit of a ham and a show off. He wants to hit the great shot and that's what he cares about. And I think when, if you're chasing this large, larger purpose like he wants to inspire kids on the Irish island, I think that helps you get up and practice. When he doesn't, he wouldn't really need the motivation. He has nothing left to prove. He has the money, he has all of it. But this sense that he was born with this gift and he was put on this earth to thrill the rest of us, I think that propels him forward. And I really think that a lot of Rory's best golf is of them. And it's fun to think about that when you're.
- [41:11]
Colin
And often when people cover golf, they're in the tent because you have to see the entire tournament. But the rare times that you've got the opportunity to walk alongside him, buy a gallery, be around him, buy a gallery. What do people say? What do they yell at Rory, I
- [41:27]
Alan Shipnuk
mean, part of it is just there's the, the experience when Rory hits driver. You can feel it around fans. You know, it starts, it starts with awe and it turns to laughter once the ball propelled and it's like it's at its apex. People laugh because it's so impossible. The guy's 5 foot 8 inches tall. He weighs maybe, you know, a buck 65 and he's carrying it 350. It's just superhuman what he does to a golf ball. I mean, Dustin Johnson is six four. Phil and Vijay were six' three. Like Ernie Ells was six' four. Like these guys had these imposing physical presences. You know, even Tiger with all the muscles and he was shaped like a martini glass. Like, you know, but what Rory can do, I love that laughter. I love to hear it because I know it's coming. I've been seeing it now for almost 20 years, and it's just disbelief. And that's part of his superhuman quality because he, he, he's not this hulk. And so I always look for the laughter. But also, you know, there's a common touch to Rory when people shout out, hey Rory, I love you. Like they'll give him a little wink, he'll give him a nod. Like he, Arnold Palmer was really impactful on Rory. And you know, Arnie was the king of eye contact. And that's. He made people feel special, you know. And Tiger had that thousand yard stare. He was, it was like he was performing on stage alone. He didn't need the gallery. He didn't care about the gallery. He didn't want to, he didn't want to acknowledge the gallery. Rory is like Arnie, like he's doing it for the gallery. And so there is a fun little connection there. And you know, he, he's just always so kind to people. They'll always find a kid in the crowd to give a golf ball. He'll, when he's walking the next heel, pat him on the head. It's just these little gestures that, that take a millisecond, but like, it means so much to the, the kid, to all the adults around them. And he just has a common touch, you know, and it's. If you go to Ireland to play golf or just, just as a tourist, you know, it's a very warm culture and he just carries that with him. And so, yeah, it's fun to be in Rory's gallery because there's more of a sense of joy. You know, Tiger was revered, I would say. Rory is beloved. And it's a different feeling.
- [43:44]
Colin
Great stuff, Alan. Thank you. I know you're busy. This was great for me and I hope it was as great to the listeners.
- [43:50]
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Thank you.
- [43:50]
Alan Shipnuk
Well, I always have time for you. Colin. I appreciate you, thanks for the platform and I'm I'm glad you enjoyed the book and you know I'm always happy to come in and talk to you anytime you need me. Love all you shoot your shot get
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Colin
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Colin
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Colin
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Alan Shipnuk
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