Could Rory McIlroy Pick Up A Set Of Hickories And Beat Bobby Jones In The 1927 Open Championship?

To my mind, and I’m sure in Rory McIlroy’s mind, he should have won The Open at St Andrews by now.

The Northern Irishman has the perfect game for the Old Course. He bombs it miles, he plays with a draw, he can hit it sky high and bring it down softly on the palatial greens. He has a wonderful touch which is of crucial importance on the long putts a player inevitably faces as they navigate the Grand Old Lady of golf.

Rory made his first real mark as a professional in the Dunhill Links of 2007. On the Saturday in that event, he drained a 35-foot putt from the Valley of Sin to shoot 67.

He followed that up with a 68 that included some incredible shots – perhaps most memorably a 5-iron on the 17^th that towered over the Road Hole bunker, landed and stopped near dead just feet from the pin. I remember watching that shot and thinking – “that’s a little different.”

His third-place finish in the event secured his playing rights for the 2008 season and Rory was off and running in the paid ranks.

In 2010, Rory’s first round in The Open was one of the best ever seen around the Old Course – a blistering 63 in which he played his last 10 holes in eight-under-par.

After that round, Rory looked like he should cruise to victory. But bad weather on day two totally derailed him and he carded 80 to ruin his chances. Many might forget though that he battled back to tie for third at the end of play.

In 2015, he would have been a strong favourite had he not ruptured ligaments in his ankle playing football and been forced to withdraw.

Then, 2022. He led with 18 holes to go but just couldn’t find the birdies he needed on Sunday as Cam Smith putted the Old Course to death to sneak through and win. Rory shot 70 in that final round which, for him, was a huge under-performance.

I am certain that in 2027, The Open at St Andrews will be top of Rory’s hitlist. I think he will win it. I hope he will win it. I would love to see him loft the Claret Jug in front of the Royal and Ancient clubhouse.

But that’s a serious one for the future. Fingers and toes crossed. To distract Rory fans from the building nerves, let’s have a little diversion.

I’ve written a huge amount about the history of the elite game over the years. I’ve even co-presented a podcast on the subject, 18 Majors, together with GM Editor Neil Tappin.

I’m fascinated by the exploits of the great talents of the game over the decades and centuries. From Young Tom Morris to Tiger Woods, there have been players who have captured the imagination with their almost preternatural ability to play golf.

I would put Rory in that category – his natural ability is phenomenal.

Bobby Jones was certainly in that category too. His record at the very top of the game is second to none, given the short span of time in which he played in the majors.

The greatest ever amateur golfer, Bobby won 13 Majors in the space of seven years (1923-1930). That includes his US Amateur and Amateur Championship titles.

Between 1922 and 1930, he won the US Open four times and finished second four times. He travelled to play The Open Championship on just four occasions. He won three of them.

In 1927, Jones won at St Andrews. He opened with 68 and ended up winning by six from Englishmen Aubrey Boomer and Fred Robson. Jones was rather good.

But how good was he compared to the best of today? If Rory went back to 1927 and picked up a set of hickories, would he make Jones look like an amateur? (He was an amateur, of course, but you know what I mean.) Or would Jones dispatch Rory just as he dispatched nearly all other challengers at that time?

I enjoy writing these hypothetical pieces, but I frequently face criticism from those who say, “it’s pointless”, “the conditions, the equipment, the training… everything is totally different, you simply can’t compare them.” Why not? It’s fun.

Who would win a fight between Superman and the Incredible Hulk? If you gave Ghengis Khan, Napoleon and Alexander the Great exactly the same armies, who would win the war? Conjecture is an amusing distraction.

That’s that dealt with then – who’s going to win the 1927 Open with hickories? Bobby or a time-travelling Rory?

I think we have to consider two scenarios for this one – time travelling Rory with no hickory preparation and a time travelling Rory with hickory preparation.

No preparation

If Rory appeared in 1927 and walked straight onto the first tee with a set of hickories slung over his caddie’s shoulder, he would have no chance.

I’ve played hickories a couple of times and (even as a relative chopper) I can see the totally different technique that is required to get the most from them. The swing must be slower, willowier and more rhythmical. The best exponents of hickory look as though they’re putting in very little effort, using lag to generate speed at the ball.

But Rory has incredible feel for the golf swing. I’ve seen Rory play hickory golf in a couple of promotional events over the years and he seemed to grasp the different type of action that was required more quickly than some of his fellow professionals.

He will hit the ball beautifully with whatever clubs he uses. But, without any practice, he wouldn’t have enough experience or knowledge of how shots react to be competitive with the best of 1927 through 72 holes of Open golf.

I think the putting is where he would struggle the most. The technique for putting in the 1920s was so different to today. The players used narrow bladed putters and made more of a stabbing action at the ball to give it a little more impetus to get going on the rougher, longer surfaces they were playing over.

Rory would, without preparation, not adequately deal with very different course conditions to those he faces in Open golf today. Everything was rougher and less predictable.

Without preparation, Rory McIlroy would not be able to pick up a set of hickories, walk straight onto the tee and beat Bobby Jones in the 1927 Open at St Andrews.

With Preparation

This is a different kettle of fish. Let’s say Rory appeared in 1927 a month before the Open at St Andrews and was given four weeks to practice on the links with a set of hickories and a wound-rubber ball.

He is one of the most gifted players ever to swing a club so I have no doubt that, even with just one month of prep, he would learn how to play all the shots and how to putt using a different technique.

With preparation, and with Rory fully adept with the hickory sticks and the willowy swing, we then have the most talented golfer of the 1920s against, arguably, the most talented golfer of the 2020s. Who wins?

Well, I think in the 1927 Open we could say that it would be a head-to-head duel. The other participants in that event weren’t really at the races in comparison to Jones.

Look at Jones’ scores – 68 in the first round! That’s an incredible knock around the Old Course at a time when the ground would have been far rougher and the greens considerably less true.

The course was shorter than today. But it was still 6,569 yards… That’s pretty long when you consider the top players were hitting the ball some 75 yards less from the tee than today’s stars.

Rory would have the distance advantage over Jones. His physicality would work in his favour once he mastered the hickory technique. But I think Jones, with his famous consistency, would not have been overawed by that.

And I think Jones would have frustrated Rory by playing first and continually applying the pressure.

Jones had an exceptional ability to win. During his “seven fat years” as the writer O.B Keeler described them (1923 – 1930), Jones won a ridiculously high percentage of competitions he entered. A bit like Tiger in his prime, it was a shock if Jones didn’t win.

He had the mental edge over his rivals. Only Walter Hagen could challenge his dominance of the elite game during that brief spell. If Jones was in the hunt, he invariably closed the deal.

Rory, on the other hand, despite his prodigious golfing ability, occasionally seems to have a canny knack of missing out on winning. Yes, he has won prolifically, but I don’t think anyone would argue against the fact that he should have won more.

Over the years, he has conspired to lose many tournaments he might have won, majors and others. I feel that if it came to a battle of mental fortitude down the closing stretch at St Andrews, it would be the long-dead American amateur who would come out on top.

I think the duel between Jones and McIlroy would have been a very close one. I think it would have come down to the wire with both displaying skills of the highest order.

A few key putts would settle the contest and, in my thinking, Jones would be the one to hole them.

I can see the pair being tied through 17, with Jones holing a clutch par putt on the Road Hole to stay level with one to go.

Then, on the last, Jones would play just over Granny Clark’s Wynd. Rory would hit a history-making tee shot into the Valley of Sin. Jones would play a fine approach, and Rory would putt up reasonably.

Both would have 10 footers for birdie. Rory would play first and graze the edge of the cup. Jones would compose himself and knock his in to keep the history books as they are. Jones wins.