JACK NICKLAUS insists Rory McIlroy must up his game if he is to become the greatest golfer in history.
Nicklaus, winner of a record 18 Major titles, has become great friends with the 27-year-old Irishman in recent years.
But he believes now is the time for McIlroy to truly decide just how far he wants to go in the sport.
McIlroy has captured four Major titles -two US PGAs, the 2011 US Open and the 2014 British Open.
But so many other top-class players are jostling for glory, and many of them are of a similar age or younger than McIlroy so more titles will be hard to come by.
Nicklaus has no doubts about the Holywood man's talent, but believes he needs another dimension to consistently lift himself above his rivals.
And he told BBC Sport: Rory is one of those young men who has got a tremendous amount of talent.
"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.
"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.
McIlroy, the world No 2 , trails Jason Day in world rankings but Nicklaus says heis capable of becoming the best player in the world once again.
The next major on the golfing calendar is the Masters, held in April at Augusta in Georgia.
The Masters is the only Major that has eluded McIlroy, but Nicklaus is backing him to put that right sooner rather than later.
"I think he will win the Masters [some day]," he added.
"He certainly has the type of game that would do well at Augusta and he has done well before - he just hasn't finished it. He'll win it. He's a good player."
World competes in the Dubai Desert Classic in February having won the event in 2009 and 2015 andfinished in the top 10 in each of his seven previous visits to the Emirates Golf Club.
"I have great memories of this tournament," he said.