Two Months, Two Questions: Rory McIlroy and Speed vs. Iron Play

Is Rory McIlroy the last of his kind?

Rory McIlroy’s start to the 2026 season – and, more broadly, the totality of his career – shouldn’t get lost in Scottie Scheffler’s reign of dominance. From a longevity and consistency perspective, McIlroy continues to occupy uncharted unicorn territory.

His two DP World Tour starts in the Middle East were forgettable by his standards, a T-3 and a T-33. Since then, however, he has swiftly returned to his typical elite level. Over the past two weeks, McIlroy has played two PGA Tour signature events, finishing T-14 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and T-2 at the Genesis Invitational. Jacob Bridgeman (-36, 536) is the only player to post a lower cumulative score than McIlroy (-34, 538) across those two events. After a historic 2025 season spent traveling the globe, a sluggish start would have been understandable, perhaps even expected. Instead, McIlroy is right back near the top of the leaderboards in his 19th full season as a professional golfer.

Currently No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking, McIlroy has held a top 10 position for at least part of 18 consecutive years, dating back to 2009. By my count, here are the players with the most years featuring at least one week inside the top 10 since the OWGR’s inception in 1986:

1. Tiger Woods – 20
2. Phil Mickelson – 19
T-3. Ernie Els – 18
T-3. Rory McIlroy – 18
T-5. Jim Furyk – 16
T-5. Sergio Garcia – 16
T-7. Davis Love III – 13
T-7. Greg Norman – 13
T-7. Justin Rose – 13
T-7. Adam Scott – 13

(Aside: Is Jim Furyk the most underrated golfer of this century?)

Not all of the above totals are consecutive. For example, Woods exited the top 10 in late 2014 before returning for a stretch in 2019 and 2020. Mickelson’s and Els’ runs were consecutive, as is McIlroy’s. Two more years of solid play from one of the modern era’s best players would make McIlroy the first player to spend at least part of 20 consecutive years inside the OWGR top 10.

Looking ahead, will anyone ever match McIlroy’s total years with at least one week inside the top 10? It seems highly unlikely.

McIlroy first cracked the top 10 in November 2009 at age 20. In today’s game, we rarely see players 25 and younger break into the top 10, let alone at 20 years old. Chris Gotterup (26) and Jacob Bridgeman (26) are the only golfers currently under 27 and ranked inside the top 20 in the world. For context, Scheffler is 29 and has spent five years in the top 10. To reach 20 –  a total McIlroy may very well surpass – Scheffler needs 15 more years of uninterrupted excellence.

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How likely is it that a player bursts onto the scene, breaks into the top 10 around age 23 or 24, stays healthy, and sustains elite performance longer than McIlroy has? Very unlikely.  

Year in and year out, form comes and goes for top golfers. Yet year after year, McIlroy reminds the golf world that his talent – and his staying power – are rare. If the past two weeks are any indication, 2026 appears poised to deliver more of the same.

Are high ball speeds and strong iron play incongruous?

Through six completed events on the 2026 PGA Tour calendar, Jake Knapp leads the Tour in top-10 finishes with four in five starts. His lone result outside the top 10? A T-11 at the Sony Open in Hawaii.

Is Knapp evolving into one of the top players in the world?

The smooth-swinging 31-year-old is one of the most powerful drivers on Tour, routinely touching the high 180s in ball speed with ease. Additionally, dating back to the start of 2025, he has somewhat quietly become one of the best putters on the PGA Tour, ranking 14th in Strokes Gained: Putting last season and 11th in 2026.

The biggest question is his iron play.

Now in his third season on Tour, Knapp has failed to rank inside the top 100 in Strokes Gained: Approach in either of his first two seasons. Early improvement in 2026 – currently 41st in SG: Approach – has fueled five straight impressive finishes. The question is whether that progress will persist or regress.

Beyond Knapp: Can players who operate at such a high speed develop the technique and skill to cover wide yardage gaps and become consistently above-average iron players? Sure, they can. But we don’t see too many combinations of high ball speed and solid iron play. Not only do high-speed players have larger gaps in their irons, but the technique that helps a player generate speed often impairs the ability to control irons.

In 2018, Bryson DeChambeau ranked 12th on Tour in SG: Approach. By 2020, he’d fallen to 119th, a period that coincides with his pursuit of speed. Inconsistent iron play still limits DeChambeau’s ability to win, as seen at last year’s PGA Championship at Quail Hollow.

This isn’t to suggest that speed is bad, or that players can't be both speedy and proficient with their irons. Rory McIlroy is. Adam Scott is. Xander Schauffele generally is. Dustin Johnson was. However, many of the game’s speediest up-and-coming talents struggle to manage both their speed and iron play. Min Woo Lee. Aldrich Potgieter. Elite speed? Yes. Quality approach play? Not so much.  

Knapp’s start to 2026 has been one of the hottest in professional golf. If his name begins to receive buzz in major championship conversations, keep an eye on his iron play. He won’t be lifting any trophies without it.