5 Incredible McIlroy And Thomas Whoop Insights

Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas both wear Whoop straps, giving some incredible data.

5 Incredible McIlroy And Thomas Whoop Insights

It has been well documented that Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas both use Whoop, a fitness and recovery tracker that measures strain, recovery and sleep.

It is technology designed to help top athletes perform at the highest level with the combination of the strap and app giving tangible numbers and insights.

For example take a look at the five stats below showing the duo's Whoop data.

They are statistics from the latter stages of the 2021 season and show just how important sleep and recovery can be to the professional golfer, let alone two of the calibre of McIlroy and Thomas.

Related: Whoop 3.0 Review

Sunday 8/1, Olympics final round:

Justin shot a 6-under-par 65. His heart rate variability (HRV) was 59 ms, significantly above his average of 49 across other competition days.

Additionally, his resting heart rate (RHR) was 53 bpm compared to an average of 56. As to be expected, Justin’s recovery was in the green (77%).

Thursday 8/5, Day 1 of WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational:

Justin was 3 under par (67) after sleeping for 9.3 hours, his longest night’s sleep of July and August.

Sunday 8/8, last day of WGC-FedEx:

Rory shot a 4-under 66 following 7.6 hours of sleep, a full hour more than his competition average of 6.6 hours.

Thursday 8/19, Northern Trust Day 1:

This was Justin’s best round of the year, a -8 (63).

He had 94% sleep efficiency (vs a competition average of 92%) that included an impressive 3.19 hours of restorative REM sleep (17 minutes more than usual).

Thursday 8/26, BMW Championship Day 1:

Rory’s best round of the year was also a -8 (64).

He had an outstanding 81% recovery that morning with an elevated HRV of 60 (7 ms above his norm during tournaments).

Related: Whoop - the wearable technology changing professional golf

Ready to go for the Ryder Cup

The data suggests both McIlroy and Thomas are primed for competition at the Ryder Cup too.

In the past 10 days, Thomas has recorded his best recovery of the year (99%), as well as his longest sleep (9.3 hours) and time spent in bed (10.8 hours).

Similarly, over that same span Rory has also logged his lowest RHR (46) and most efficient sleep (96%) of the season.

Additionally, for both Justin and Rory, their highest average recoveries during tournaments came on Sundays.

We would normally expect that the strain of golf tournaments would takes its toll as the weekend unfolds but clearly both players manage their workload so they can peak on Sunday.

This might be necessary too given the Ryder Cup can be a very close affair.

For more gear news, check out the Golf Monthly website.