There certainly isn’t much love lost between the world’s second and eighth placed golfers. Lee Westwood was unmistakably verbal about Rory Mcllroy’s meteoric rise to the top of the leader board at the US Open, and not in the way you might think. He was quoted as saying in reference to the eight stroke lead held by the Northern Irishmen “They don’t give trophies away” followed closely by “He had a big lead in a major and didn’t deal with it well before.”

This is in stark contrast to the hunky-dory picture of friendly bliss painted by Chubby Chandler, agent to both men. The spin-doctor enchanted the media with stories of scheduled dinners, which apparently both the former Ryder Cup teammates were extremely keen to attend.

So why this sudden surge of bad blood between the two European Tour aces that has them chucking snide remarks back and forth on social networks? Could it have something to do with the fact that like Mcllroy the Englishman also has had his fair share of major misery on past occasions? For nearly a decade Westwood was seen by many as an “also played” contender, never really shining when the moment demanded it. His recent dominance in Europe and short-lived stint at number one ranked golfer in the world propelled Westwood to a dinner table conversationalist’s buzzword.

A leaner, meaner Lee came to the fore and gone were the days where he listed his favourite treats as a pint and a pie!
Some might argue (and rightly so) that his dismissing of curly haired kid as a “choker” is in fact a direct result of fear. It’s must be a scary thought that Mcllroy is fast becoming just one more in a long list of players to usurp Lean Lee as the next best thing. A certain school of thought still maintain that the Englishmen looked quite fetching in green, not the green of a Masters jacket mind you, but rather the emerald-eyed monster variety.
While on the topic of the Masters, it may very well have been the single biggest blunder of Mcllroy’s career up to now. Squandering a monstrous lead to implode in spectacular fashion and eventually bow down to South African and all-round nice guy, Charl Schwartsel. Could this be the reason Westwood is in two minds about Mcllroy’s ability to win at the death? It’s certainly possible, but the first explanation is far juicier and will go a long way to keep the banter alive and well.
So in conclusion, whether Lee hates Rory or the other way around, all the mud slinging will be for nothing if Mcllroy produces the goods at The Congressional Country Club come Sunday evening. However that remains a big “if” and as Westwood stated so brusquely not too long ago, “You don’t know how he’s going to deal with the big lead.” Should make for interesting Twitter feeds.

Anfred Waldeck

Pic: nytimes.com