Tranlate this title Sir Nick Faldo explains why Rory McIlroy’s secret visit could never stay hidden in spanish

Rory McIlroy is currently playing in the Genesis Scottish Open, which is being held at The Renaissance Club in Scotland, and this performance serves as a direct preparation for the prestigious The Open Championship, which begins on Thursday, July 16.

How seriously he takes the upcoming major is shown by the fact that at the end of June he skipped the Travelers Championship on the PGA Tour in order to go scouting and do early training at Royal Birkdale, the host of this year’s Open Championship.

In order to better acclimatize to specific European «links» courses and demanding playing weather conditions, McIlroy temporarily moved from Florida and has been staying in Wentworth, England since mid-May.

Today he is playing the final round at the Genesis Scottish Open, where he started the competition very well by sharing first place after the first round, and he arrives at the upcoming The Open Championship as one of the main favorites alongside Scottie Scheffler, especially after he already won The Masters in Augusta in April.

Secret mission at Royal Birkdale

Rory McIlroy went on a secret scouting mission at Royal Birkdale, using exactly the same early preparation formula that helped him win The Masters title in April.

At the end of June, McIlroy deliberately skipped the Travelers Championship on the PGA Tour and paid a withdrawal penalty in order to practice in complete privacy and get to know the changes at Royal Birkdale.

The plan failed when he ran into golf legend Sir Nick Faldo on the course, who immediately recorded a video of their meeting and posted it on social media.

At a press conference ahead of the Scottish Open, Rory laughingly complained that it was supposed to be a private scouting mission, joking that «Faldo just couldn’t put his phone away.»

“Birkdale was definitely just a scouting trip for The Open for sure,“ he said.

“I would have liked to not have it known that I was there, but Faldo couldn’t put his phone away, so, (laughing.)

I love Nick. In fairness, he’s great. I had a good time with him. He walked a few holes with me.“

Not long after, legendary golfer Nick Faldo reacted and in an interview with Today’s Golfer commented on Rory McIlroy’s statements that he was the one who revealed his “secret” visit.

Sir Nick Faldo pointed out that McIlroy could have simply told him to post the footage later, but since he didn’t, he decided to share the video. The legendary golfer is also aware that almost no visit by Rory McIlroy to a golf course can go unnoticed due to the great public interest.

“He should have just said to me, ‘Oi, I’m here secretly. Can you put this out later?’ Of course I would have done that,” the Englishman said.

“But he didn’t, so that’s why I put it out; because everybody wants to know everything. I mean there’s no way he can have a secret visit anywhere.

A member will see him and say, ‘I say, I just saw… was that Rory McIlroy?!’” he said.

Rory’s goals

Rory McIlroy’s ambitions at the upcoming The Open Championship are focused on winning his seventh major title in his career, while bookmakers and experts assess his chances as extremely high, placing him at the very top of the favorites to win.

After defending his title at the Masters in April and completing the career Grand Slam, McIlroy admitted that he feels completely relieved, but his desire for new success on the Southport links remains huge, because by winning the seventh major, he would equal Harry Vardon as the most successful British golfer in history, and at the same time he would win his second Claret Jug.

His chances at the Royal Birkdale course have been boosted further by the world bookmakers where he has now broken into the top favorite at +650 odds, pipping Scottie Scheffler after the American missed the cut in Scotland.

This role of favorite is justified by his great consistency at the Open, where he has recorded three top-7 finishes in his last four appearances, as well as his excellent history at Royal Birkdale itself, where he finished tied for fourth place in 2017.

In addition, McIlroy has a great tactical advantage because he has been in Great Britain for two months to acclimatize, and through early, secret training he has already studied all the changes on the field in detail before his biggest rivals even arrived at the location.

We know that this experienced golfer has everything it takes to take on big challenges, from calm and focus to top golfing qualities that could make the difference again. This tournament carries enormous prestige, which is why Rory McIlroy and his competitors will put in maximum effort to win the trophy.