Paul McGinley predicts what will happen to Rory McIlroy when he reaches 40 as he makes comment about Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods

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Rory McIlroy heads into The PGA Championship at Quail Hollow this week as one of the two leading favourites to win.

Paul McGinley has been speaking about McIlroy‘s chances ahead of The PGA Championship, and he made differing comparisons with Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.

McIlroy recently spoke about how his life has changed since winning The Masters, with golf fans seemingly forgetting just how many other big tournaments he has won.

The Northern Irishman will be determined to win this week at The PGA Championship, in order to firmly cement his place at the very top of world golf.

1996 PGA champion Mark Brooks suggested on Monday that Scheffler’s ‘A’ game beats McIlroy’s.

With The PGA Championship set to begin on Thursday, both players head into the tournament as red-hot favourites to win.

Paul McGinley predicts what will happen to Rory McIlroy when he reaches 40

McGinley has been an outspoken critic of McIlroy at times.

Back at The Masters, McGinley caused a stir by saying that McIlroy ‘isn’t everyone’s cup of tea’ – comments that he later retracted.

And now, with The PGA Championship on the horizon, the Irishman delivered his verdict on the Masters champion’s chances of going on to win more majors.

He said, “That is the question. Has he climbed Everest in his own head now as a Grand Slam winner. Will the motivation remain the same? Or is he going to come and knock some of those guys off their perch that were ahead of him, European players. I know certainly that Nick will be in his sights at six majors and try and get to seven.

“I personally think he will keep going, I do think he will get to seven plus. But history shows us – Jack Nicklaus won six times from Rory’s age onwards, Phil Mickelson won five times. But then on the other side Arnold Palmer did not win any, Tom Watson did not win any from 35 onwards and Tiger only won once.

“Who is to know what is inside that heart of Rory’s. I personally think he will go forward. I think his game is equipped to go forward. As you get towards 40 you lose a little bit of distance and maybe five per cent or so will come off with old Father Time catching up but he has got so much in reserve in that regard that I don’t think it is going to affect his game, he is still going to be one of the biggest hitters in the game. He has a game which has longevity in it. If the motivation remains the same there is no reason why he can’t keep driving forward and be the winningest European player ever and certainly overtaking Nick in the modern era with six, is probably somewhat of an immediate goal.”

McGinley is spot on there. Just not many players in the history of the game have continued to win majors after the age of 40, aside from Nicklaus and Mickelson.

Players who’ve won majors at 35 and older as McIlroy looks to make history

Since the turn of the century, the simple fact of the matter is that there just haven’t been that many golfers who’ve won multiple major championships past the age of 35.

Here’s the list of the players that have managed to keep winning into their so-called twilight years:

So if McIlroy is to reach double digits, history is certainly not on his side.

That said, golf is a different game now. Players are maintaining their fitness levels well into their late 40’s and beyond.

And it would not surprise me one little bit to see McIlroy at least get close to the 10-major mark.