“[Rory McIlroy] broke everyone”: Padraig Harrington makes shocking revelation on 4x Major winner killing his confidence

Padraig Harrington recently appeared on the 'Cookie Jar Golf' podcast. He spoke about how Rory McIlroy broke his confidence at a tournament once, by playing exceptionally well.

Harrington recalled heading into the Congressional believing that he was the "best player".

"He broke everyone but forget that. I was the best player - that's what I believed," (34:02 )

He further added:

"I've gone into Congressional, I played a practice round with Adam on Wednesday and he has then done an interview and told everybody to go home. He says, 'you might as well all go home because Padraig Harrington is winning it'." (34:14 )

Harrington entered the field that week in a good spirit. He was coming off of three Major wins and was in great shape. However, Rory McIlroy dominated the field, quickly breaking Harrington's confidence.

"I am in my head the best player. I have won three majors recently and I am in great form. I prepared right. I go into this tournament and Rory does something that I can't compete with. Wipes the floor with everyone. We are all the same. He's just blown us all away," (34:28)

Rory McIlroy was indeed a force to be reckoned with right from the get go. He had joined an elite club consisting of Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, of winning four majors by the age of 25. He has surpassed Woods, by winning the FedEx Cup thrice. The Northern Irish star is currently World no. 3.

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When Padraig Harrington compared playing against Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy at TGL (Source: Getty)

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy both cemented themselves as potential greats when they started on the Tour. They have gone on to prove all the suspicions right by becoming legends in the sport.

Padraig Harrington recently compared the two golfers as he recounted his experience of playing with both of them, when he appeared on the 'Cookie Jar Golf' podcast.

Harrington's time of playing against McIlroy was especially shocking as the former's career was in it's latter half and he believed he was at his best form, with no further chance of improvement. That however wasn't the case when he played with Tiger Woods. He reference his experience of competing with McIlroy at the Congressional.

"That's OK if I thought I could get better, that's fine. When Tiger Woods was doing that in the early 2000s, I was only on my way up. This is me at my best and I don't think I can compete with him," (34:47 )

He further added:

"You name every player who has hit a peak. 2008, I was not looking over my shoulder, I was only concerned about me. 2011 onwards, I'm now thinking I'm not good enough." (35:01)

Harrington also explained what happens to experienced golfers when a youngster arrives on the Tour and how he witnessed this phenomenon when Woods started playing in the "late 90s".

"They believe they have all the game to win, then a new kid arrives and they feel they have to be a different version of themselves to win now. Tiger did this to so many in the late 90s,"

McIlroy is still very much a part of the competitive field, regularly participating and winning in tournaments. Woods, however, has not been a regular at PGA Tour events. Last year, he only made five competitive appearances. His participation has significantly lessened after his horrific 2021 car crash.