Rory McIlroy currently sits on five major championships, four adrift of Gary Player’s career haul.
Player is one of the most successful golfers in the history of the game and in 10 years’ time, we will undoubtedly be talking about McIlroy in the same breath.
The South African has always been a huge supporter of the Northern Irishman.
Back in 2015, Player said McIlroy was the current generation’s best golfer and backed him to win many more majors.
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The nine-time major champion has also fought the 36-year-old’s corner on numerous occasions.
Player defended McIlroy after his workout regime was criticized by Sir Nick Faldo back in 2015.
The legendary South African is clearly a very big fan of the five-time major winner, and he had something really interesting to say about him back in 2017.
Gary Player’s 2017 prediction about Rory McIlroy now looks very interesting
Player is incredibly knowledgeable about the game of golf.
He has experienced first-hand what it feels like to be one of the best golfers in the world, so he will be able to relate what McIlroy goes through on a daily basis.
Eight years ago, Player was asked by the Daily Mail to share his thoughts on the current state of the professional game.
And he made a fascinating prediction about McIlroy.
“If Tiger were around, it would be 20 per cent better,“ he said, “but 80 per cent is not bad.“
“It would be my instinct that Rory will establish himself as No 1, but I don’t know what his passion is. I don’t know what his dreams are.
“If he has the passion, if he has the desire, if he is prepared to make the sacrifice. There are so many ifs.“
What a great point that was from Player.
People got far too carried away when McIlroy won the Masters.
Rory McIlroy needs to find his spark again
Golf fans and journalists alike were predicting that he would go on to win at least 10 majors after getting the monkey off his back at The Masters.
However, nobody seemed to realize at the time that McIlroy’s motivation to work hard on his game and compete could diminish due to the fact that he had achieved his lifetime dream.
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That’s exactly what happened and McIlroy admitted that himself.
In June, the Northern Irishman said: “The last few weeks I’ve had a couple weeks off, and grinding on the range for three or four hours every day is maybe a little tougher than it used to be.
“You have this event in your life that you’ve worked towards and it happens, sometimes it’s hard to find the motivation to get back on the horse and go again.“
After winning the Masters, McIlroy’s main reason to get out of bed and practice evaporated.
Since then, he has reset his goals and many expect him to come out firing on all cylinders in 2026.
Player’s word of warning about McIlroy back in 2017 has proven to be eerily correct. Hopefully McIlroy doesn’t struggle with motivation issues moving forward.
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