Meet the golfer Rory McIlroy called “unbeatable” - All you need to know about Philip Francis

PGA Tour veteran Rory McIlroy was recently part of a Q&A session with Kyle Porter, which was published in the latter's newsletter titled "Normal Sport." In part 2 of this Q&A, McIlroy made an interesting revelation.

Porter asked McIlroy when he was coming up on the golf scene if he ever came across a golfer who was unbelievable, but wasn't able to make it. McIlroy named an American golfer by the name of Philip Francis. In his statement to Porter, McIlroy had a lot of praise for Francis.

The 2024 Wells Fargo Championship winner said:

"Philip Francis. He was from Scottsdale, Arizona. I finished second and third to him all of my teenage years. Like, just could not beat this guy. He went to UCLA. He won the U.S. Junior, I think. He won the U.S. Junior Am. And I thought this kid was unbeatable. That's probably the biggest one, I think."

Rory McIlroy's assessment of Francis isn't inaccurate. Born in Las Vegas, Nevada, Francis was a big name on the junior golf scene. As a matter of fact, in the year 2007, Francis was ranked the top junior golfer in the country, and he had won more than 140 junior events, including the U.S. Junior Amateur Open.

As a junior, Francis also broke Tiger Woods' record by winning four consecutive Junior World Golf Championships. However, he was unable to make it big as a professional. In an interview, Francis revealed he lost passion for the game when he was in college.

Francis played college golf at UCLA for two years before transfering to Arizona State University in 2009. He took part in various events around the world after turning professional in 2011.

After Francis failed to qualify through Q-School in 2015, he completely gave up on golf. Currently, he is pursuing a career in finance in Chicago. However, it's important to note that in 2007, Francis played in PGA Tour events like the John Deere Classic, Stanford St. Jude Championship, and U.S. Bank Championship.

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Rory McIlroy also spoke about the most surprising golfers from his early years in the sport

During the same Q&A, Rory McIlroy spoke about golfers who were unbelievable from his early years in the sport. Another golfer McIlroy mentioned was Jamie Lovemark. For those unaware, Lovemark is an American golfer who played on the PGA Tour.

In his career as a professional golfer, Lovemark registered two wins on the Web.com Tour. McIlroy spoke about Lovemark's early days in the sport and how amazing and physically gifted the American was.

"And then there's maybe a few that ... Like a Jamie Lovemark, for example, who I played on Walker Cup, and you just look at him, you're like, this guy is like 6’4 and absolutely ripped and swings the club perfectly. I don't know. There's so many intangibles in golf that some guys looked like world leaders at an early age."

Further, Rory McIlroy also named Ollie Fisher. Born in England, Fisher plays on the European Tour and even competed in the inaugural LIV Golf series. Rory McIlroy revealed that 20 years ago, many thought Fisher would go on to have a better career than him.

McIlroy said:

"I tell you another one is an Oliver Fisher. So Ollie Fisher and I were like the two best ams coming out of the UK and Ireland. And he played Walker Cup, the one before I did. Got his tour card right away. And then, same thing. Sort of on and off the European tour. He's won a couple of European tour events. But if you would have asked anyone 20 years ago ... Everyone would have said Ollie Fisher was probably going to go on to have a better career than I’ve had. It's hard."

Lastly, Rory McIlroy also took the name of renowned PGA Tour golfer Jordan Spieth. McIlroy revealed the first time he played with Spieth was in 2013, and the latter failed to make the cut. At the time, McIlroy questioned Spieth's abilities, but the American made a comeback by nearly completing the Grand Slam two years later.