Rory McIlroy and a major win. Both seem to elude each other like a plague, don’t they? It was truly heartbreaking for the McIlroy fans to see the 35-year-old fail to clinch the U.S. Open title even after coming so close at Pinehurst. But now, fast forward a bit but to another sport this time, Tennis! It seems that the talks about him and the majorless run sure don’t seem to escape the Northern Irishman wherever he goes. And this time, it’s all thanks to John McEnroe!

A tweet was shared by Shane Beacon, a golf writer, on his X handle mentioning the same. He divulged how the first thing McEnroe, a former Tennis player, and a current television announcer, said after spotting McIlroy at the event was that it has “been a long time.” What has been a long time? Well, the veteran of the sport was seemingly alluding to how the golfer hadn’t won the majors for quite a while now. Makes you wonder and almost agree with Beacon when he asks, “Dude can’t escape that discourse, can he?”

Sounds almost poetic, to be honest. For the 4-time major champ missed out on his fifth major title despite leading the scoreboard at Pinehurst on the final day of the U.S. Open. And now, he receives a jab from a former tennis player as he attends another event with the same name. But the fans weren’t so tolerant of the remarks made, mind you!

Golf fans sent into a frenzy after John McEnroe’s Rory McIlroy jab

Remember Andy Roddick? Yes, you guessed right. He was the last American tennis player to win a Grand Slam title in Tennis. But he did that back in 2003, in the U.S. Open, interestingly so! The athlete had, back then, defeated the likes of Carlos Ferrero with figures of 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 to win the only Grand Slam Title of his career. And back then, the now-35-year-old Rory McIlroy was just 14. See where we’re going with that? Well, a fan sure did, for they commented, “US hasn’t won a grand slam since Rory was 14.”

The love that the Northern Irishman has for the sport of tennis is known by all. Aside from his obvious past as a player of the game, the golfer has, many a time, been spotted watching the sport over the years. The 26-time PGA Tour champ, his wife, and Shane Lowry had, at the recent Paris Games, been seen watching the match where Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal lost to the American pairing of Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram. Hinting at his love for the sport, a couple of fans wrote; “Hopefully he’s just enjoying the tennis (and the wine) and not listening to non-golfers blather on about his game”. Soon, another fan came to the rescue. They wrote, “Dude is just trying to drink some pinot noir and watch a little tennis on a beautiful Friday night in New York and then bam, major drought talk.”

At the major in Pinehurst this year, McIlroy missed two crucial putts on the par-4 16th and par-4 18th. As a result, he missed out on yet another major title for the 11th time since the 2014 PGA Championship, despite finishing inside the top 5. The pressure he faced owing to the same wouldn’t have been that of a small one. A couple of users on X said the same as they responded, “Dude lives with a ton of pressure.” Another follower issued a jab at the country’s media as they remarked, “The antics and level of pressure American TV and social media personalities have thrown upon Rory is deplorable. They then turn around apparently mystified and ask why most root for anyone not from America in any given sport. The answer is right there before their eyes.”

Although the tennis veteran might just have been giving a passing comment on the golfer, it sure did rake in a huge outcry among the golfing audiences. What do you think? Will Rory McIlroy be able to rise to the occasion next year and grab a major win? Will he continue the drought? Let us know what you think in the comments below.