Rory McIlroy's conduct has been assessed by a rival caddie, former NFL star Derek Anderson, who admitted he wasn't the biggest fan of the Masters champion. Anderson, who carried the bag for Tom Hoge and Kevin Chappell at the Zurich Classic team event, observed McIlroy's intimidating demeanour up close.
Impressions of McIlroy
Speaking on GOLF's Subpar podcast, Anderson compared McIlroy to Tiger Woods, noting the Northern Irishman's confident and purposeful approach. 'It's just different. The sound's different. Kind of the way he goes about it,' Anderson said. 'I kind of was never a huge Rory guy. I've always liked him and been impressed with his game, but the way that he carries himself, what he's doing on the golf course, there's an intent.'
Anderson added: 'You can see [him thinking], "I'm the guy, my bag goes here, I'm gonna whack it," and he wants to have some of that Tiger intimidation. But he doesn't act like it. He's confident in what he's doing. Just kind of the way he goes about it, the way he hits it.'
Resilience Under Pressure
Another standout aspect for Anderson was McIlroy's robust response to setbacks. 'A lot of guys will go out there, whack it and [makes frustrated squawking noise], you know. He hit one in the lake, Shane hit one in the lake. Nothing changed; they kind of just went about it and kept going,' Anderson recalled.
'That's what I thought was most impressive. Like, all the guys we saw out there hit bad shots. I hit a lot of bad shots, I get p***** [and] by the time I get to 13, I'm like, "I want to go in." You know what I mean? And these guys just keep going. It's just different, the consistency is different.'
Etiquette Blunder
Anderson also revealed an etiquette mistake that annoyed McIlroy during the match. He inadvertently walked behind the green while McIlroy was chipping, causing a distraction. Anderson joked that he felt '5'1 tall' after the error and apologised 'five times' throughout the round.
McIlroy, who successfully defended his Masters title last month, is currently competing in the PGA Championship, the second major of the year.
