European Ryder Cup player makes strong claim about Rory McIlroy after his Masters title win

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So much has been said about Rory McIlroy winning The Masters that with the Zurich Classic coming this weekend, it’s easy to forget there’s the rest of the season to continue on with.

McIlroy’s playoff win over Justin Rose to finally snatch the green jacket was huge for the sport of golf and it will be interesting to see if McIlroy now goes on to win more majors.

Of course, with winning a grand slam comes plenty of praise and among that praise can come comparisons to the greats of the game.

Indeed, Sir Nick Faldo believes only a few are better than McIlroy and going along those lines of praise, his European Ryder Cup teammate Bob MacIntyre has now spoken of just how highly he sees McIlroy.

Bob MacIntyre makes claim about Rory McIlroy after his Masters win

For those who have watched golf for the last 30 years or so, Tiger Woods is without doubt the best player to have graced the sport.

However, beyond Tiger, the argument for second is wide open. Players like Phil Mickelson can make a case, while in the modern game, Scottie Scheffler is pushing to be in the conversation too.

But for Scottish star MacIntyre, after Tiger Woods, it’s all about Rory McIlroy.

Speaking ahead of the Zurich Classic this weekend, the Scot spoke on McIlroy and had high praise indeed for the Northern Irishman.

“I think it was incredible for Rory to win The Masters. The one he’d not got and to be honest he probably deserved it before now,” MacIntyre said.

“It was incredible to see him finish that grand slam off and look, as much as he’s a playing partner in the Ryder Cup, I still look up to the guy. Yeah I’m 28 and a multiple winner but he’s the best for us to ever do it after Tiger, for our generation. I think he’s the best”.

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What PGA Tour players are saying about Rory McIlroy after his Masters success

There’s no doubting Rory McIlroy is one of the most popular players on TOUR, despite his big name status and clear favouritism among the media.

Nevertheless, it appears his fellow players are more than happy for him to have the success he’s had.

Indeed, Golf analyst Todd Lewis revealed that McIlroy’s Masters win has gone down very well on the TOUR.

“The biggest thing is that, from a players’ perspective and I guess a fans’ perspective too, I’ve heard a lot of players tell me that they’ve never seen another player work so hard to win a tournament as they did watching Rory McIlroy trying to win The Masters,” Lewis said.

“In essence, that was so great for the game. Let’s think about this, if Rory had won by six, it still would have been a great story, I’m not diminishing that at all, but the way he won and starting on the 10th tee with a four-shot lead and not having to battle anybody but Augusta National and himself, that was quite dramatic, quite relatable, and obviously for him to overcome and do it was great.”

Clearly, McIlroy is a player who many on the TOUR admire and with the monkey off his back in terms of that 5th major and Masters, he’s now got a clear line of sight to aim for double figures.