Michael Brennan has revealed that he was left stunned by a drive Rory McIlroy hit during a practice round ahead of his second Masters win earlier this year.
Brennan is one of the most exciting young players coming through on the PGA Tour right now. He has won three times over the last 13 months, including at the recent Baycurrent Classic.
The 24-year-old’s greatest strength is his driving. Brennan is the third longest player on the PGA Tour in 2026, averaging 327 yards off the tee.
The only two players ahead of him are Aldrich Potgieter and Rory McIlroy, with the pair both averaging 330.3 yards off the tee this season.
How Rory McIlroy left Michael Brennan stunned during a Masters practice round
It will come as little surprise to anyone to see McIlroy at the top of the list. He has consistently been among the longest hitters on the PGA Tour over the last 15 years.
Nevertheless, Brennan admitted on The Smylie Show that even he was shocked by McIlroy’s power when he got the chance to play alongside him during a practice round at Augusta National ahead of this year’s Masters.
“On Tuesday I believe, I just showed up to the first tee. It may have been Monday. I didn’t have a practice round with anyone lined up, and Aaron Rai was on the first tee. I was like, ‘hey, do you mind if I join?’ He’s the nicest guy ever, so is like, ‘no, of course’. So we join, and then on two, Rory is a single behind us. We wave him up, he hits into the green, and he’s like, ‘mind if I just play with you?’ I was like, ’no, that would be sick’. So then we played the last seven holes, it was me, Aaron, and Rory, and it was just such a cool experience. The crowd was so fired up to have Rory there,” he said.
“I hit a really good drive on five, and I feel like I’m a fairly long player, and I hit a good ball over the corner of the bunker, flew the bunkers. We had no hurting wind or anything like that. If there’s any hurt, you can’t do that. It’s like 315 I think.
“Rory stepped up and hit this high, hard draw and it was like 20 by me, and I was like, ‘holy smokes’. There are very few people that if I hit a good one are 20 by me. And he wasn’t 20 by me the rest of the round, but that was a tee ball. I have no idea what kind of bounce it took, but I was like, ‘oh my gosh’. He hit a little flick wedge into a 500-yard hole. It was such a cool experience to play with Rory and see how he went about that golf course. He was playing really, really good, and so it was really not much of a surprise to see him win again.”
What Michael Brennan finds so impressive about Scottie Scheffler
Brennan will hope that he can join McIlroy as a major champion in the future. However, any player looking to become the best in the current game has a huge task on their hands.
Scottie Scheffler had another outstanding year despite struggling to get across the line for a number of months between The American Express and the FedEx Cup playoffs.
It is probably fair to say that Scheffler does not capture the imagination like McIlroy does. However, Brennan outlined how remarkable the world number one’s success is when you consider how easy he makes the game look.
“He’s the best player in the world, but his process seems, from an outside person looking in, it seems simple. He’s on the range with Ted Scott. He doesn’t even have a Trackman half the time when he’s warming up to go play,” he said.
“Sometimes his coach is out there, but sometimes he’s not, and it’s the best player in the world. And then you see some other guys and they’ve got five guys behind them when they’re hitting balls on the range. But Scottie, he just stays in his lane, checks his grip, has setup checks and stuff like that. It’s just so consistent, it’s impressive.”
It is dangerous to back any player to find their way onto the same sort of level as McIlroy and Scheffler. They are two of the all-time greats, with 10 major titles between them.
Brennan definitely has an incredibly high ceiling having already moved into the top 20 in the world rankings. His next challenge will be to win one of the marquee events on the PGA Tour and contend in the majors.