Rory McIlroy admits Spieth's Masters win inspired him "to have a little intensity, a little edge”
The cover of Sports Illustrated after the Masters resonated a little as it was similar to the cover they ran after McIlroy's 2011 US Open victory
Rory McIlroy is a big fan of the Dan Patrick Show, a US sports radio show hosted by (correct) Dan Patrick. The world No 1 reversed the charges from London, where he made an appearance at Nike Town following his arrival from his record setting 11th PGA Tour win in the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow on Sunday.
Patrick tried getting McIlroy to say 33rd, looking for laughs after Pádraig Harrington Dublin pronunciation. McIlroy, who loves his THs and can even remove them entirely from a word like "sixth", obliged.
Rory McIlroy on the cover of SI in 2011
He also answered questions about fitness, how much he can bench, the last time he bought a beer and what he thought when he saw Jordan Spieth on the cover of the post-Masters Sports Illustrated.
That was an interesting exchange, which began with a McIlroy laugh (about the Jordan Rules cover):
"I didn't like not being in that position," McIlroy said.
"I practiced hard and I prepared as well as I possibly could and just came up a little short."
On the rivalry, he said:
“If you look at some of the other sports and some of the other rivalries Rafa and Roger … they made each other better. Phil made Tiger better. It inspired me to see what Jordan did at Augusta. It inspired me to have a little intensity, a little edge.”
Two wins since the Masters says all you need to know about McIlroy's thoughts on the SI cover.
It's taken a month but McIlroy has also started embracing Periscope, the twitter broadcast service. He was on live from his jet following his Quail Hollow win, as Golf Channel reported:
Rory and a friend (looks like Mitchell Tweedie)
Fans could send messages and ask McIlroy questions in real time, and he was happy to take song requests as music played in the background on his jet. (McIlroy politely declined a request for Miley Cyrus' "Party in the U.S.A.")
Most of the questions were pretty mundane and a few were not suitable for print, but it was fascinating to see one of the biggest sports stars in the world literally taking fans along for a ride in his amazing life.
Also surprising was a good portion of the questions and comments were directed toward McIlroy's caddie, J.P. Fitzgerald. One fan was disappointed to see Fitzgerald without his now signature aviator shades. He obliged and put them on.
Another commenter asked McIlroy if he pays his caddie well. McIlroy sat next to Fitzgerald and said, "This man made $140,000 today!"
