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Let it be known that Rory McIlroy did not care for the question I posed on Wednesday morning:
If you had to trade one part of your game—driving, putting, approach, around the green—with another current player, what part would you change, and with who?
A question like this depends on a player’s willingness to play along, and if they’re not up for it, it can lead to a cold exchange. And who can blame them? Some players might find it intriguing, but I will admit that in the context of a major week, it might be a seriously annoying question. McIlroy’s answer was quite blunt:
“I wouldn’t trade,” he said, fixing me with a look that said “don’t ask a follow-up.”
I asked a follow-up.
“What if you were forced to?”
Again, the answer was brief:
“But I’m not.”
Some laughter ensued in the media center, at which point a smarter person would have taken the hint and dropped it totally.
I did not drop it totally.
“If I asked you what part of the game you admired in somebody else, who’s somebody you admire putting, for instance?” I asked, looking now like a picture of desperation to Rory, all my colleagues and anyone watching on TV.
“I’m focused on my game,” he concluded, and only at that point did I manage to shut up. I’ll do something stupid three times, but never four.
Again, I thought McIlroy’s response was totally fair, and in some ways a perfect representation of his confidence and focus at this point in his career. Lucky for me, and for this story, the other players I asked were slightly more forthcoming, including World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.
“So today I played a practice round with Sam Burns, and I remember when we played the Presidents Cup here in 2022, it was like he was putting to a hole that was the size of a basketball hoop,” Scheffler said. “So I do a lot of practice rounds with Sam, and he’s a tremendous putter. I would trade that with him.”
Scottie Scheffler – Stephen Denton
Scheffler wasn’t done; he’s always looking at other players to see how he can improve his own game, and he went out of his way to compliment McIlroy in particular.
“You look at a guy like Rory, you’d be hard-pressed to find anybody that has drove the ball better than he has in the history of the game,” he said. “He might be the best driver of the ball that we’ve ever seen. You had a guy like Tiger who had a ton of speed, but Rory just has the accuracy [that] sets him apart, too. Not only does he hit it really far, he hits it really straight. Those are two little examples just off the top of my head of guys that I would trade with.”
And he still wasn’t done—he cited Jordan Spieth’s ability around the greens, Jon Rahm’s passion, and Tiger’s entire persona.
As for Rahm, the question seemed to stump him at first, and after saying it depended on the course, he took a long, contemplative pause before answering.
“Oh my gosh,” he began. “Based on the success he’s had here, you almost have to go with some part of Rory’s game. … I think the obvious answer for a lot of people probably would be his driving on this golf course, but I think, as a pretty good driver myself, I’m going to choose how well he’s been able to putt these greens.”
Rahm continued, name-checking Xander Schauffele’s putting and Scheffler’s iron game. When I asked what his answer would be if we separated it from Quail Hollow, he went historical, calling out Jack Nicklaus and Ben Hogan before settling on Tiger’s putting, especially in the clutch.
Justin Thomas was quicker in response, and also briefer, saying he’d take McIlroy or Scheffler off the tee. Jordan Spieth agreed on his choice of player, but not the part of the game.
“I’d probably replace approach with Scottie,” he said. “I think that probably would lend to the lowest score differential for probably most anybody … that would be my short, easy answer there. If you’re going to lead in approach at historic levels, you’re going to have a chance most every week.”
Bryson DeChambeau, unsurprisingly, took an analytical approach.
“I would probably take whoever the best wedger is right now from like 110 yards to like 60, 50 yards,” he said. “I feel like I’m pretty good from 40 yards in, but that area is where I’d trade it with somebody that’s really good in that area. I haven’t really researched that.”
Bryson DeChambeau – Ross Kinnaird
I researched it for him: The proximity leader this year from 100-125 yards is Scottie Scheffler, and the leader from 125-150 yards is Tom Kim, with Justin Thomas just behind him.
Xander Schauffele was the most on McIlroy’s wavelength in terms of what he thought about the question.
“That’s a weird question, considering we’re getting ready for a major where we’re just trying to be the best at all those things,” he said, although unlike Rory he was smiling. “If I’m nitpicking myself, I would probably give up my short game for someone else’s. There’s a big group of guys who are what I would call elite chippers. I don’t know, there’s probably five or six guys … that would probably take a little bit of stress off my putter at times.”
This year’s leader in SG/around the green is Matt Wallace, so even though Schauffele didn’t mention a specific name, we’ll give him the Englishman. Schauffele, however, made it clear that he’d prefer not to trade—he enjoys the challenge of improving.
In the end, the fascinating part of these answers was what it said about the players’ own games. Scheffler’s first response was about putting, DeChambeau’s about short wedges, Thomas about driving, and Spieth about approach—by strokes gained, each player’s worst category. Even Rahm answered strategically, realising that it would be a waste to trade out his own driving and opting instead for a Quail Hollow putting specialist.
And most of them referenced McIlroy. Which probably makes it appropriate that alone among the respondents, he had no time for the question. Why even entertain the hypothetical, when every part of your game is working so well?
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