Golfer Rory McIlroy has reached the pinnacle of his sport, so he can appreciate what it takes to become a Super Bowl champion.
Even if he doesn’t particularly care for so-called American football.
As he prepares to defend his title at this week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, McIlroy was asked what he thought about the spectacle surrounding this year’s Super Bowl played in nearby Santa Clara.
‘I’ve tried really hard with football,’ McIlroy told a group of reporters on Tuesday, Feb. 10. ‘Like, really hard. I appreciated the Super Bowl because of the defensive capabilities of both teams, and especially the Seahawks.
‘I could watch a game of cricket for five days and be mesmerized. I just didn’t grow up with (football), so that’s why I maybe don’t take to it quite as naturally.’
That said, McIlroy acknowledged ‘there’s certainly a lot to be learned from the NFL’ in terms of the way it markets the sport.
‘It’s a short season and then once it goes away, people miss it,’ McIlroy said. ‘From a marketing perspective it’s genius, right? They drip-feed things. It’s the (NFL) combine, then it’s the draft, then it’s preseason. The season is short but they drip-feed just enough to keep you really interested the whole way through the year.’
McIlroy’s comments are particularly interesting, considering how he and several other prominent golfers have suggested the PGA Tour shorten its season to make tournaments more meaningful.
McIlroy won the Pebble Beach Pro-Am last year for the first time in his career, and it helped propel him to victories in the Players Championship and the Masters.
He’s currently ranked No. 2 in the world behind leader Scottie Scheffler.