Irish snooker star Ken Doherty spoke to SpinBet Canada and said he feels that Dennis Taylor’s 1985 black ball-win is more iconic in an overall sense, than McIlroy’s Masters triumph.
Deemed widely as ‘the greatest snooker match of all time’, Taylor’s victory over arch rival Steve Davis was watched by 19 million people 40 years ago on BBC Two.
Dennis Taylor was a huge underdog against the defending champion (PA Archive)
“Rory McIlroy is only one of six golfers to complete the Grand Slam and that itself is a wonderful achievement,” said Dublin native Doherty.
“Dennis Taylor did it in one tournament, but I think the impact that it had was greater.
“Yes, everybody watched it (The Masters), and it got the highest ratings in seven years in America on television but over here (in the UK), I would say Dennis Taylor winning the World Championship wouldn’t be the bigger achievement but it had a much bigger impact especially for our sport than what Rory did but what Rory did was sensational.
“It was sport at its finest because of the highs and the lows, the drama, the intensity, the pressure and almost missing out and then pulling it back with the shot at the 18th and to putt it in. The relief and the joy, it’s what sport is all about.”
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GAA legend Joe Brolly has also recently expressed his opinion that McIlroy’s win wasn’t exactly the height of thrilling excitement – at least not when compared to other sports.
Speaking on his Free State podcast alongside Dion Fanning, the former Derry Gaelic footballer and All-Ireland winner shared: “Golf like…Can you compare the golf like… you didn’t, for example, you weren’t at the Clare v Cork All-Ireland Hurling final last year, that’s gripping, that’s people absolutely gripped.
“This is guys strolling around knocking a ball.
“It’s just something that I find… see, I never played golf and all of that. I can understand obviously the excitement of two players vying it out at the end with everything on the line,” he continued.
“But in terms of great drama, great sporting drama, come on, I mean some of the great series’ that there are in the NBA. Some of the great sporting examples like Brazil v Italy… But something like this, a guy winning a golf tournament… They’re not great sporting contests.
Rory McIlroy
Baker in Northern Ireland makes biscuits to celebrate Rory McIlroy winning the Masters
“They might be psychologically interesting to see the fella swallowing and licking his lips and stroking his head, showing all those characteristics of great tension and nerves, but so far as great sporting contests go, the guy hits a golf ball a very, very long way.
“He then hits a very accurate shot that gets him closer to the hole than the other guy, and then he scores it.
“It’s not gripping drama.”