by Justin Doyle
That 65 – his lowest round in four events using the new clubs – would actually end up being one of his lowest rounds of the season. Rory was not to know it then but it would only be bettered by one shot towards the end of his season.
The month of March also brought bad news in the World Rankings. Tiger Woods, back and as good as ever, though perhaps not in majors, replaced McIlroy as world number one after winning that Cadillac.
Woods would accumulate an amazing five wins that season which did not include his Tavistock Cup and Presidents Cup successes. He won January’s Farmers Insurance, the Cadillac and Arnold Palmer in March, the Players in May and saved his best until last.
In August, he won the WGC Bridgestone Invitational but in doing so, he shot his lowest round for some years. In his second round he totaled 61 blows, nine under. He was true to his very words a year earlier when warning everyone he was getting better and better.
At the Shell Houston Open three weeks after the Cadillac, Rory failed to hit a single round in the 60s. Four rounds of 70+ meant he finished tied 45th. In poor form and in a desperate bid to get in more match practice, he took a very unusual step.
He decided to play just one week before the season’s first major, the US Masters, at the unfashionable Valero Texas Open. He simply had to get in some good form ahead of Augusta.
His decision to head to Texas proved to be very worthwhile and fulfilling. After an unspectacular 72 start, he finished with 67, 71 and 66 to finish second. It was the ideal preparation for the Masters. He could now go there with form and confidence.
A wide smile came back to his face. He could now stand tall again. That is what confidence, and in particular a great result – any result, anywhere – does for the sports competitor. So much so that he made an announcement to the media.
After four months of playing and practicing with the new Nike golf clubs, he felt very comfortable with them. As far as he was concerned, he had sorted all issues with the clubs. And there were issues – as he was to point out at the British Open later.
Initially things went well for Rory in the season’s opening major. Following early rounds of 72, 70 he was two under and had made the cut for the weekend. Then disaster struck him down again at the Augusta course as he shot 79 in the third round.
A final battling round of 69 was scant consolation for his final position of tied 25th. The bottom line was that he could not get the consistency he was normally accustomed to. He was hitting too many rounds without breaking 70.
That exact same scenario applied three weeks later when Rory ventured to his favourite Wells Fargo event at Quail Hollow. The beautiful feel good factor of the place inspired him to a lovely opening round of five under, 67.
Then the curse struck again with rounds of 71, 73 and 73 for a 10th place finish. The same applied again a week later at a course he struggles at – Sawgrass for the Players Championship. He opened with six under, 66 and ended 72, 73, and 70 for eighth place.
It was so frustrating. Any one of those rounds over par was costing him the chance of a first victory under his new sponsors. He was literally going around with ‘one wheel on my wagon’ as the song goes. Then all the wheels came off.
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Rory McIlroy endured a torrid start to his new mega million dollar career with Nike. Using their new clubs to replace his trusted old ones from the start of 2013, his form was all over the place. It seemed as if he could not get to grips with them at all.
It was to get much worse before it got better. He flew back home to the UK after the Players Championship to play the prestigious BMW at Wentworth in Surrey. On this occasion he did not even make it to the weekend.
He missed the cut with rounds of 74 and 75 and then flew back across the Atlantic to play the Memorial Tournament in Ohio exactly one week later. He opened with a catastrophic 78.
Rory must have felt like not only tearing his hair out, but smashing up his new clubs as well. He was trying everything. Off the course (as he would later tell Nick Faldo), he was practicing from early morning until there were blisters on his hands in the evening.
Although he just about made the cut in the Memorial, things did not improve much and he finished tied 57th. A fortnight later the US Open arrived and he was going into the second major of the year on the back of some of the worst run of form in his professional career.
Rounds of 73, 70, 75 and a miserable last round 76 only tells you that Rory was now well and truly stuck in the doldrums. There was seemingly no way out of there. Even he must surely have had grave doubts about the new clubs at this stage.
It is only human nature. At the forefront of his mind, he would have had big block capital neon signs blinding him with their constant flashing of the message that he had never endured such a run as this with his old clubs.
Perhaps a trip back across the ocean to his homeland for the Irish Open on 27 June would do the trick. Nope – another missed cut ensued after rounds of 74, 72. Something had to happen and fast as the British Open was up next. It was becoming a real crisis.
After the Irish Open, Rory revealed that he was still working with Nike’s equipment to find the perfect putter and driver. This was pounced upon once more by the man who felt Rory had made a mistake in getting rid of his old clubs.
Nick Faldo was sought out again for his opinions and he was not short of offering them. From newspapers to American television channels, Sir Nick was now in effect telling everybody ‘I told you so’. He said:
Rory very simply messed with a winning formula. He went form rookie of the year to world number one and has been through a lot and thought he could start again. As I said from day one – I tweeted right away when it [the Nike deal] was announced – that this was a dangerous move. People said, ‘Oh, he’s so talented, he can adapt.’ Well, why should the world number one be adapting to something new? As we discovered six months later, he’s busy still trying putters, still trying drivers. It’s not as easy.
Faldo elaborated further:
We get a millisecond of feel at impact and if it’s going great then it builds confidence; if it’s suddenly something different to what you’ve been doing, or think you’re going to do, then that hurts your confidence. So I hope he hasn’t gone too far but it has damaged his confidence.
Then in July just before the British Open, Faldo blamed Rory’s poor form on so many things going on in his life off the course. He intimated that (apart from the new clubs) business deals and his taking time off to be with his girlfriend were affecting Rory.
The British player, who won six majors, went on to add that Rory should sacrifice everything and replace it with ‘a 20 year window as an athlete of concentrating on nothing else but golf.’ He added:
I actually think there’s a lot going on in his mind… I always felt, as my career went on, I got involved in business and other things. Once your concentration goes, you need 100% concentration, off the golf course, practicing, as well. The most ideal thing is to go to the club at nine in the morning, hit balls all day long, and you leave at five pm.
Rory hit back with:
I saw what he said. He said I should be hitting balls from nine to five. Well, I was up at 6.15 this morning and in the gym until 6.45. That’s a 12 hour day compared to his eight. It is what it is, and Nick should know how hard this game is at times. He’s been in our position before. And he should know how much work that we all do put into it.”
This squared almost exactly with a routine which Rory would later outline to a reporter who asked him what a typical day is like in his life. He replied:
I’m usually in the gym at seven and I’m in there for around one and a half hours. Then I get some breakfast and go to the course. I’ll practice, hit a few balls and work on my short game from maybe 10 am – 1 pm. After lunch I’ll then go out and play some holes – nine or 18 – and then some days I’m back in the gym from 5.30 – 7 pm. In the evening before going to bed, I sometimes read a little. I like the auto
biographies of Agassi; Alex Ferguson and a book called ‘Tales From the Secret Footballer’. Then it’s lights out.
Before the British Open teed off, Rory gave a BBC on-course reporter an insight into one specific problem that he was having with the clubs. After adding a special ‘pear shaped’ Driver to his bag, he showed the reporter the club and revealed the reason for adding it:
“I’ve had a tendency off the tee to keep turning the ball off to the right and it ends up in the light rough or rough. So I’ve been practicing with this on the range and it seems to be working well. Hopefully it will put an end to the problem of hitting it out right.”
In the first round of that 142nd Open at Muirfield, Rory shot a disastrous +8, 79. It was one of his poorest rounds ever in an Open. Nick Faldo also shot 79 and feeling that Rory had been offended by some of his remarks, he moved to clarify his comments:
I’m friends of Rory, don’t write it any other way. I’ve known him since he was 12. He’s a big part of my Faldo Series. I’m like big granddad here, saying exactly those things — ‘Just give it your full attention, when you want to play golf, when you want to disappear and have a family and do other things.’ I’m trying to give him a little loving, caring help here. I like the kid. He’s a friend and I can speak from experience. All I’m trying to say is I’ve been there, seen it and I know what can happen.
He added:
As I said right from the word go, I thought the equipment change was very dangerous and tried to explain the feel factor and confidence. He looks like a different person, let alone a different golfer right now. When I saw him before the PGA last year, he said ‘every part of my game is good’. He wouldn’t say that now would he.
Following his terrible start, Rory did not know what to think anymore – literally. He was already 13 shots behind leader Zach Johnson and had a massive job to make the cut. As he faced the waiting ranks of media battalions, he looked perplexed as he explained:
That was brain dead. I don’t know what you can do. You’ve just got to play your way through it. It’s nothing to do with technique – it’s all mental out there. I just need to concentrate as sometimes I feel like I’m walking around out there and I’m unconscious.
A 75 next day meant huge disappointment for Rory. In a major that he desperately wants to win, he failed to qualify for the final two rounds. Nike must have been hugely disappointed as well with regard to worldwide focus on the Open and his absence from it.
Rory at this stage had missed the cut in three successive and very prestigious European events together with some very poor showings in America. Worse than that, he had virtually been non existent in the first three majors of the year.
His next event at the Bridgestone Invitational on 1 August followed a similar pattern. More rounds of 70+ and a tied 27th finish. With the last major the USPGA just a week away, there were no positive signs of a recovery.
It looked very likely that, after a major win in 2011 and 2012, this was going to be an empty season in that regard. Just when things could not get any worse on the course, off course major controversies were brewing.
Rory’s season of woe would continue. In particular, two colossal demons that now joined forces with the clubs issue to further confuse Rory and cause very worrying confrontations in his head.
Chapter 9
Court v Club v Country
Quite apart from the issues over his new Nike clubs, another reason why Rory was ‘brain dead’, as well as being in such poor form, could have been the impending split with his management team of 18 months, Horizon.
Although their parting was made official in early September 2013, it was speculated upon for months in advance. The official statement from Horizon Sports Management came under banner newspaper headlines such as this:
‘RORY MCILROY SPLIT WITH HORIZON LIKELY TO SPARK LEGAL BATTLE’
Their statement read as follows:
Since October 2011, Horizon has achieved exceptional results for Rory in realising his commercial objectives. Under Horizon’s management, Rory has signed some of the most lucrative endorsements in sports history. The current contract has a number of years to run. Rory’s decision to seek a termination of the management contract with Horizon is now regrettably in the hands of legal advisors.
Rory was now in a new management structure set up by his father Gerry. It was named, ‘Rory McIlroy Incorporated’ (RMI) with Donal Casey its Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He was an actuary by profession but had many years experience as a CEO.
Barry Funston, a business leader and long time friend of the McIlroy family would head up the ‘Rory Foundation for Charity’. Both he and Gerry would also serve on the RMI Board.
Many may have seen this as a bit haphazard and very perilous. But it was becoming part of a modern trend. Australian golfer Adam Scott had set up his own management company headed by his father Phil, and in 2014 Graeme McDowell would leave Horizon.
However, Rory’s new set up and strong family influences might have seemed all very stable, secure and comfortable to him on the outside. But underneath, the threat of legal action can have a very unsettling affect.
That is particularly so if it drags on and is not resolved. There were stories that both sides were content to go all the way to the High Court in Dublin and that the case would be scheduled for November 2014.
A second monster plaguing Rory was the question of who he would represent in the 2016 Brazil Olympics – Team GB or Ireland. This issue really stressed Rory and we had no idea how much until Graeme McDowell lifted the lid on the matter some time later.
Rory said consistently that he had not made a decision and would not make one until nearer the 2016 Olympics. With all the constant press speculation mounting, in September 2012 Rory said:
Whatever I do, I know my decision is going to upset some people but I just hope the best majority will understand. What makes it such an awful position to be in is that I’ve grown up my whole life playing for the Golfing Union of Ireland. But the fact is I’ve always felt more British than Irish. Maybe it’s the way I was brought up, I don’t know. But I’ve always felt more of a connection with the UK than with Ireland. And so I have to weigh that up with having played for Ireland so it is tough.
All sorts of people from sports stars to televison stars had an opinion on the matter. Even Rory’s ex girlfriend Holly Sweeney weighed in with: ‘He always made it clear to me [that he was British]’.
Rory made another statement on 10 September 2012 which read:
I am a proud product of Irish golf. I’m also a proud Ulsterman who grew up in Northern Ireland. I’ve absolutely not made a decision regarding my participation in the Olympics.
So I decided to try to do something about all of this. I could see even more pitfalls ahead for Rory. Unknownst to himself, he could have been digging even bigger holes to fall into.
For instance, one thing that was not discussed and taken into greater consideration by Rory – or the media – was the feelings of golfers probably more deserving of a Team GB Olympic spot.
Those that have represented England, Scotland and Wales over the years in World Cups. What were their feelings on this, and could friendships with Rory be put in jeopardy as a result of Rory, in some people’s eyes, getting a little too far ahead of himself?
What were the feelings of Paul Lawrie; Paul Casey; Lee Westwood; Ian Poulter; Luke Donald; Ross Fisher; Stephen Gallacher; Martin Laird and Jamie Donaldson as well as many other potential candidates for just a few Olympic spots?
After all, there is a well known photo of Rory and Graeme McDowell attired in smart suits walking behind the Irish Tricolor at a World Cup. Rory actually represented Ireland several times at this event.
That is not to mention the scores of times he represented Ireland and the GUI at Boys and Youths Internationals as well as Home Internationals over the years. So some of the top British golfers might start to question how, all of a sudden, could he represent Team GB?
On the wee
kend of 5 October, I contacted Pat Hickey of the Olympic Council of Ireland. I asked him if he felt Rory McIlroy, who has walked behind the Tricolor at past World Cups, could perhaps be Ireland’s flagbearer in Rio, 2016. Pat replied emphatically:
Absolutely. I’ll put it to you this way: If Rory McIlroy declares for Ireland, then he will automatically put himself in pole position to carry the Irish flag in Rio for the 2016 Brazil Olympics.
Then I talked with Adam Sills in London. Adam is Sports Editor of The Telegraph. He liked the idea as a major story and so, on Tuesday 9 October 2012, it appeared in their sports supplement as well as on the front page of the Irish Independent.
Many of the world’s top sports have carried their country’s flags at the opening ceremony of an Olympics. People like Roger Federer (Switzerland) and Maria Sharapova (Russia’s first female flagbearer) to name but a few.
I knew that when the story broke, Rory would get to hear about it. When he did, he would have food for thought. It could also be something that might just stir or awaken ‘real’ patriotic tendencies.
Quite aside from the choice he was referring to in the media, to be made before Rio 2016, this was an altogether more relaxed choice. On the one hand you had a loaded explosive choice and on the other you had a potentially nice, thrilling one to mull over.
The flag choice basically boiled down to this:
(i) Do I declare for Ireland with whom I’ve played and have the chance to carry the Tricolor in Rio?
(ii) Do I declare for Team GB for whom I’ve never played and with very little chance of ever carrying the Union Jack?
While Rory mulled over that, Graeme McDowell had a new partner for Ireland at the 2013 World Cup of Golf in Melbourne, Australia. Rory withdrew because of all the furore.
Despite the fact that he had walked with McDowell directly behind a Tricolor in the 2009 and 2011 World Cups, he felt that representing Ireland this time would only compromise his position of consistently saying that he would not made a decision until nearer to Rio.