Rory McIlroy reflects on significance of winning the 2024 Arnie Award | Golf Central | Golf Channel

Rory McIlroy discusses the “great honor” of winning the 2024 Arnie Award, the meaning of his kickoff 2024 PGA Tour event at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and how he is maintaining his “groove.” #GolfChannel #GolfCentral #RoryMcIlroy
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Rory McIlroy reflects on significance of winning the 2024 Arnie Award | Golf Central | Golf Channel
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Rory will be honored with a very prestigious award he will be given the Arie award which is an award that is given by Golf Digest to the player that gives back like Mr Palmer did and there you see him on the cover of Golf Digest and he is replicating a cover shoot with

Mr Palmer and that same outfit that Mr Palmer wore for his previous cover shoot on Golf Digest by the way this award will also give $50,000 to the Arnold Winter Palmer foundation and 50, to the monter peninsula Foundation I caught up with Rory we talked about a number of things today including the

Honor of receiving this award associated with Mr Palmer yeah it’s uh it’s a great honor especially you know winning an award that has Arnold’s name on it and what he meant to the game of golf and um sort of how he paved the way for honestly for

All of us to be out here and doing what we’re doing you know he uh I think he popularized the game of of golf especially professional golf in America more than probably anyone but Tiger Woods I would say in the last 100 years so um you know he he made a huge impact

On the game and I think he lived his life the right way and treated people the right way and um you know to to be a recip recipient of an award that has his name on it uh it means a lot to me you’re kicking off your PJ tour season

Here it’s a signature event and it’s at Pebble Beach how special is this week for you yeah it’s very cool I think um you know pebble is one of the most iconic places that we play golf uh and I think to get all the best players in the

World here um this week is amazing uh I think it’s going to be you know it’s it’s a it’s going to look a little different than what the the the Pebble Beach prams looked before um but I think that’s a good thing you know I think it’s going to be obviously ultra

Competitive there’s so many of the so many great players here and um you know excited to be back I haven’t been here since the US Open in 2019 so uh excited to get back here you and you come here in formed too coming off a win what’s

The special sauce you found early in your game in 2024 uh I think just a continuation of what I was doing at the back end of 2023 uh felt like I I F my groove sort of in the summer and and into the fall uh and I’ve you know it’s it’s been

Nice to have a bit of free time to work on my game and focus on some things and um I’ve done some good work with my team over the last couple of months and thankfully um you know it paid off over in the in the desert in Dubai the last

Couple of weeks and uh hopefully it’s it’s traveled with me over the Atlantic and um you know hopefully I can put up a good performance here and um you know get myself you know right into the thick of things in the PJ tour season and and

Get off to a good start over here too okay and final thing looking at your schedule you’ve had some some some events you normally don’t play Valero the cognizant what what is your theory in playing these extra events yeah I I just um I mean I’m a professional golfer I play golf it’s

Sort of what I do so uh and I think as well I I just don’t want to be you looking at the schedule like I could have designed it in a way that was very stop start for me and I just don’t think that’s been the the way to get the best

Out of myself um you know looking at the at the stats over the last few years I definitely play my way into form so playing 3 weeks in a row four weeks in a row four we sometimes maybe feels like a little too much but definitely I’ve had

Some really good three- we stretches um over the past few years and I think that’s to me the formula to really feel sharp and really feel like I’m I’m ready to perform so to follow what R was talking about if you look at when the Tor moves to Florida he’s going to play

The cognizant in Palm Beach and then from there move north to play the Arnold Palmer Invitational which is a signature event and then he thinks that’ll have him ready for a prestigious event the players the following week and he will play the Valero Texas open which is the

Week before the Masters and this year will mark his 10th attempt at trying to win The Masters which of course would mean the career Grand Slam for Rory guys all right Todd thank you and I love that cover shot of tiger as Arnold Palmer same sizable biceps the guns as Arney in

The early 60s and if you notice the little bril cream twirl I don’t know if you remember Brill cream Brill cream twirl with the hair on the front he looking very good uh you had a nice I don’t know what 45 minute chat with rur on the Range yesterday how’s he doing

Sounds great yeah yeah he is good um obviously you know he’s very consumed still even though he’s not on the board with what’s going on behind the scenes and uh is very much uh obviously still involved and well briefed on that um but his game’s in a good spot I agreed with

What he said there I think his game La end of last season uh was really good I think the last couple of years have seen the best we’ve ever seen of Rory maoy I know that hasn’t culminated in major championship wins but all the under underlying statistics in his game have

Have never been stronger you know his his chipping his putting you know his wedge play all things that potentially were weaknesses in the past have all improved so he’s in a good place um winning and playing well in Dubai I take that with a pinch of salt that style of

Golf is something where he’s always played well he’s won six times over in Dubai that style of golf course over there really suits him he dominates off the tea the tournament that he won there the Dubai classic which he’s won four times uh by the way you know the first

The first three rounds he was 11 under power for the 12 power fives you know he dominates off the te takes those those holes apart and that was the foundation for going on to shoot 1400 and and winning by a shot um so it’s it’s a little bit like Palm Springs but a

Little bit more wind and a little bit tougher setup conditions so it’s quite steroid conditions but he seems to Revel in those so all in all game in good shape a first and a second coming out of the Year going to be tough for him this

Week this is not the style of golf that he normally plays well in we’re going to have pretty gnarly weather we’re going to have small spinny greens we’re going to have very bumpy greens interesting to see how he’s going to equip himself to this test I will say he has had success

On soft golf courses you think about Congressional in the US Open runaway his and well there’s a reason there’s a reason Rich he hasn’t come back here since 2018 inp yeah but that has his I think for so many of the players had as much to do with the sixh hour rounds

Over three different golf courses and the crazy weather and I will say with respect to win Rory hit what I thought was the shot of the year in 2023 the the belt High two iron from 205 at the Genesis Scottish open to win the tournament so yes I think he can play in

The win but we’ll we’ll see you’ve seen Improvement where wedge game and when you look at this golf course uh as Paul alluded to very pitched small greens and when they’re soft Paul you know it’s impossible to throw a wedge in with full Spin and not have it come all the way to

The front or even off the green and the things I’ve been noticing in Rory’s game lately since the memorial he put four wedges in play he’s been working on that off speed shot so to speak and I looked back at the Dubai Invitational and he hit wedge after wedge that were just

Perfect he and even laid up on a couple par FS we look at 11 on Sunday he took that weapon out driver played it way up there next to the green 50 yard pitch firm conditions but he showed tremendous uh ability to land it where he wanted

With the right spin we move up ahead on Sunday to 13 he was 230 yard out from the center of the Fairway On a par five and he laid up to 75 yards a perfect number for him to take the spinoff and just dial it in to Perfection he did

This all week long and seeing Rory mroy have that kind of control of his wedge game I’m really interested because I don’t think there’s a tougher test with the wedges I bet there’s eight wedg holes out here not including the par fives for him and to those back pins if

He’s on he’s got a chance but if he’s not as you know going over the back of these greens is brutal and spinning them to the front leaving those long lag putts is even harder absolutely all those greens pitch from Back to Front as well Johnson so it’ll be interesting to

See how he’s going to do I agree you know he’s a far better player than he has ever been before I really am very boyed with the with the with the uh the form that he’s shown and underlying statistics in the last two years I think he’s better equipped to face this test

Than he’s ever been before uh he’s in he’s in a good spot I think there’s a bit of inspiration coming from all the talk with Liv going on too you know I mean when Rory’s heart is engaged in something as we saw at the rder cup

That’s when he’s at his best and he’s certainly engaged at the moment H in the game and I think the live narrative has got to has played a big part in that so all all I think Rory is probably better equipped to win uh the big one in uh in

April that he’s ever been your point of view go ahead guys in in what ways doeses he embody a little bit you know of of the spirit of Arnold Palmer who by the way helped to restore Pebble to all of its uh lusterous part of the

Ownership group here but in what ways do you think he embodies a little bit of Arnold’s Spirit Well I think Rory maroy in interviews is so he’s he’s very generous he he he tells you how what he’s thinking how he’s thinking you look at at a Tiger Woods that was very

Guarded and a lot of players are that way I think Rory has always been very forthcoming with his thoughts and I I didn’t experience Arie in his prime but I envisioned he was that way as well there’s a lot of synergies with what Arie did and how Arie conducted his

Business you know Rory is a very smart and Savvy business man for the start just like Arie was um I think he plays in that swash bookling way that Arnie did I think he’s got the appeal of the fans in general they really they love Rory all the kids love Rory just like

They loved Arnold Parmer so there’s a lot of synergies in in Rory maro’s status as a professional uh that that is very much correlated to Arnold who Arnold Parmer was I think you know whether it’s uh with the media or with the fans I think like Arnold he has sort

Of a generosity of spirit not perfect not you know everybody loves that you know Rory’s weighing in on every single topic but but he there’s a real you know desire desire to open himself up and be professional not just in the way that he plays the game but in the way that he

Treats the media and the fans and that’s the way it’s supposed to be uh at this level of the game