Rory McIlroy Left in the Dust By Former Ally With Ruthless Brooks Koepka Warning

Brooks Koepka has won five major championships in the last eight years. Whereas, the last time Rory McIlroy won in a major event was 10 years ago, at the 2014 PGA Championship. Yet, when it comes to the chances of winning the 106th PGA Championship in Valhalla, Koepka has been ranked fifth, while McIlroy is second, following Scottie Scheffler.

The differential treatment of Koepka despite being the 2023 PGA championship winner didn’t sit well with his short-game coach, Pete Cowen, who once coached the Northern Irishman too. In an exclusive interview with The Telegraph, Cowen indirectly dismissed McIlroy for being put ahead of Koepka as the winner of the PGA Championship. The veteran coach could understand Scheffler’s being ranked first as he won in his last four starts, including the 88th Masters, and was a runner-up at the Houston Open.

But he couldn’t understand McIlroy’s pick as he has not yet won an individual event and it has been 10 years since his last major victory. Cowen said, “You can’t tell me there are three others with bigger hopes than Brooks. He has won three of the last six [US] PGAs, has finished runner-up in another, won it last year, and also prevailed on his latest LIV appearance a few weeks ago. So he’s in form and has five majors to his name. What more evidence do they need?”

Additionally, Cowen expressed that people are underestimating Koepka’s potential, which would in turn push him to do better, as he is best when his skills are questioned. Cowen said, “Brooks is at his best when he thinks he has something to prove. You tell him he can’t do something, then he’ll say to himself, ‘I’ll show ’em’. That edge is part of what defines the likes of Brooks from the others out there.”

The 5-time major winner declared after winning LIV Golf Singapore that he can lock himself out and go somewhere else when he plays on the green. The interesting quality makes him different from others, and thus, he deserved to be ranked at least after Scheffler rather than Rory McIlroy.

Although Cowen preferred Koepka over the Northern Irishman, he still believed that the four-time major winner would be a perfect rival to Brooks Koepka.

Pete Cowen wants to see Brooks Koepka and McIlroy go head-to-head

In an exclusive interview with EssentiallySports in November 2023, the 73-year-old coach talked about his decades-long career of teaching golf and taking numerous golfers under his wing. Two of them, Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka, know exactly where their strengths and weaknesses lie.

Although he mutually parted ways with McIlroy in 2021, Cowen still believed in him, so much so that he thought McIlroy could be the better rival against Koepka. When Cowen was asked if McIlroy would follow Tiger Woods’s path and win his fifth major after a 10-year gap, he said that McIlroy has been one of the best golfers. And he did have the possibility of conquering another major. However, he might have to pass through Koepka, as he is the trending player.

But despite all that, Cowen would love to see them battle it out. He said, “It would be nice to see them go head-to-head, Rory and Brooks, at some stage in one of the majors.” The two couldn’t be against each other at the 88th Masters, as McIlroy was T22 and Koepka was placed T45. But at the 106th PGA Championship, where Koepka is the defending champ and McIlroy is coming to Valhalla with his restructured form, the two might meet for a fierce showdown!