"The guy is a hell of a player": Rory McIlroy criticism annoys 8x PGA Tour winner

On Wednesday, PGA Tour veteran and current Rory McIlroy's putting coach, Brad Faxon, took a swipe at those who criticize his pupil. Faxon asserted that McIlroy is "a hell of a player" and that those who criticize him without all the elements go "beyond reproach."

Faxon, winner of eight PGA Tour tournaments between 1991 and 2005, explained that McIlroy's season results speak volumes about the quality of his game.

Faxon told Golf Channel's Golf Today Show:

"The guy [Rory McIlroy] is a great player. He hasn't finished outside the top 10 in a tournament in the last seven events. He's played very well in Majors except for the Masters this year."

He added:

"He knows golf history well enough to know that his second-place finish at the US Open LACC would have won a lot of other US Opens, maybe every other one except Koepka's at Erin Hills, and Wyndham Clark's great game, the chip shots he took on the back nine to get up and down."

"Sometimes, those things steal it out of a player, and Rory really didn't have to put his head down for anything there, and this is going to make him come out even stronger and better, in my opinion."

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What did Brad Faxon say about the criticism of Rory McIlroy?

Brad Faxon also had words for Rory McIlroy's critics, including those who are, or call themselves, golf coaching professionals. He said:

"It annoys the hell out of me. When other instructors want to criticize Rory's stroke or Rory or potentially me, when they know nothing about how a player thinks and what motivates them, what drives them, it's beyond reproach."

Faxon gave the example of what McIlroy did at the Genesis Scottish Open, a week before The Open Championship.

Here's what he had to say about it, according to Golf Channel:

"The noise he makes. He had just won the Scottish Open, which at times could add more pressure to play the following week, certainly in Rory's respect, it puts more pressure on him, he's obvious favorite to win there."

He added:

"He didn't have a great couple of days of putting, but he had a great final round and a great week of putting and you know, when Rory McIlroy finishes fifth in a Major, tied for sixth in a Major, the world is going to end according to some of the media."

Brad Faxon, 62, had a long career in professional golf, which began in 1983. He won eight PGA Tour tournaments and 10 others on different circuits. He has also played more than 120 tournaments on the PGA Tour Champions, with two victories.

During his time as a player in the open category, he had excellent statistics with the putter. He averaged 28.6 putts per round and 1.8 putts per hole. His one-putt percentage was 40%. Golf Digest even called him "one of the best putters of all time."