Golf’s most prolific major winner, Jack Nicklaus, says Rory McIlroy must improve if he is to dominate the sport.
McIlroy goes into 2017 with only Jason Day above him in the world rankings and with four major titles to his name.
Nicklaus believes the 27-year-old from Northern Ireland now has to decide whether he wants to try to become the sport’s greatest player.
Speaking to BBC Sport, the 18-time major champion was also optimistic about golf’s future but renewed his call for a cut in the distance the ball travels.
In recent years Nicklaus has developed a strong friendship with McIlroy, who often practises at the 76-year-old American’s Bears Club in Jupiter, Florida.
“Rory is one of those young men who has got a tremendous amount of talent,” Nicklaus said.
“He has won and played on his talent to this point. If he wishes to dominate and go forward then he’s got to improve.”
Nicklaus warned that standing still at the top of the game means only one thing – quickly being passed. And he believes the UK’s leading player is now approaching the prime of his career.
“He has to work hard, he’s got to focus on what he is trying to do and it is up to him. Certainly he has all the tools to be able to do it – it is just whether he has the desire and the willingness to give up some other things.
“And that’s his call. I mean, whatever Rory does, he has established himself as one of the great players that has ever played the game.
“Whether he wants to be the greatest player to have played the game, that’s his determination and it’s his decision whether he wants to make that effort to try to do that.”
