Rory McIlroy's putting coach on criticism of Rory: It bugs me to no end

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Brad Faxon, Rory McIlroy's putting coach, has come to the Northern Irishman's defense following criticism of the Majors and the fact that it has been a long time since Rory's last major. Faxon believes that there is no reason for Rory to be criticized, given that he is generally one of the best players in a large number of tournaments.

“The noise that he gets. You know, he had just won the Scottish Open which sometimes could add more pressure to play the next week, certainly in Rory’s respect, puts more pressure on him, he’s obvious favourite to win there.

He didn’t have a great putting couple of days but he had a great final round and a great putting week and you know, when Rory McIlroy finishes fifth in a Major, tied for sixth in a Major, the world is going to end according to some of the media.

The guy is a hell of a player. He hasn’t finished out of the top 10 in a tournament it seems like the last seven events. He’s played very well in Majors except for The Masters this year. ”- he said on The Golf Channel's Golf Today show, as quoted by golfmonthly.com

Brad Faxon on critics

It is difficult for Faxon to understand why Rory is being criticized so much by so many people.

This popular coach is disappointed with the reaction of the media, individual golfers, and fans who cannot understand what a golfer thinks about and what challenges he has in his career. “It bugs me to no end, and what particularly bugs me, and I hope whoever posted this one is listening now, because when other instructors want to criticise Rory’s stroke or Rory or potentially me, when they don’t know anything about how a player thinks and what motivates them, what drives them, it’s beyond reproach." According to Faxon, Rory's second-place finish at the US Open was a great accomplishment.

In his opinion, it is safe to assume that most golfers would have won the title under such circumstances and with such a performance as this one. For success, however, it is sometimes necessary to have a bit of luck. “He knows the history of golf well enough to know that his second-place score at the US Open LACC would have won a lot of other US Opens, maybe every other one except for Koepka’s at Erin Hills, and the great play of Wyndham Clark, the chip shots that he made on the back nine to get up and down.

Sometimes those things get stolen away from a player and Rory really didn’t have to hang his head on anything there and this is going to make him come out even stronger and better in my opinion”.