Rory's Glory
Page 15
At Hoylake in Liverpool on 17 July, Rory could not have asked for better conditions. There was little or no wind as he went out and shot six under 66. He was extremely pleased with his morning’s work, saying:
Anytime you shoot 66 in a British Open you’re going to be pleased. We had perfect scoring conditions out there this morning. There was not much wind early on. The wind picked up a bit on the back nine but, yeah, there was plenty of opportunities to make birdies. I was able to take a few of them. Another great start and I’m really looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow. Really I just have to take it one hole at a time, one shot at a time. I know everyone says it and you’ve heard it a million times, but it’s true. That’s what I’ll be trying to do tomorrow.
Next day Rory started with a bogey on the first hole. It would turn out to be his only dropped shot in 36 holes. He went on to shoot another superb 66 and was now four shots ahead of Dustin Johnson who shot 65.
Not even an intruder on the eighth hole could stop him. To much amusement, a pheasant strolled across his path as he lined up a birdie putt. He and J P shooed it away and then he calmly birdied. Later he chuckled:
I haven’t run into that before on a golf course. I might have had a swan or a duck or geese but never a pheasant. It was nice. It didn’t put me off.
In the third round, he was unrelenting. His progress continued. A 68 put him on an amazing -16 under after three rounds and he looked home and hosed. He was six shots ahead going into the final day. One statement he made said it all:
I feel like I just have an inner peace on the golf course. I’m very comfortable in this position. I’m very comfortable doing what I’m doing right now. It’s hard to describe. I wish I could get into it more often.
He was really telling the world he was in the zone and he was not going to be caught. All his near misses and frustrations were going to be rewarded with one of the biggest prizes in golf. He was fulfilling his boyhood dream as he spoke those words. He was living it.
Only two things could stop him. Another meltdown similar to Augusta 2011 or the forecast bad weather arriving. As we have seen before in these pages with such as Tomas Bjorn and Adam Scott, final rounds can be full of drama. This would be no exception.
It turned out to be one of the greatest Open’s since the 1970s when Nicklaus battled it out with Tom Watson and Gary Player. On Sunday 20 July at Hoylake, two gunslingers confronted Rory at the top in a nail-biting shootout – Sergio Garcia and Rickie Fowler.
Rory looked very nervous on the first tee. He was within reach of a huge personal goal. A British Open was nigh and the fulfillment of a boyhood dream. But he was also wary that after some great rounds, the law of averages meant an ordinary or bad round was due.
He could also hear roars signaling players making moves ahead. It seemed game, set and match when Rory sank a lovely birdie on the first green to go -17 under. But the Fat Lady never sings too early in the day. She makes you work to deserve it. Nothing comes easy.
Unbelievably, he made careless bogeys at the par-five fifth and the par-three sixth to slip back to 15 under and when Sergio Garcia eagled the 10th, Rory’s lead was down to just two shots. From five shots to two shots in the blink of an eye and Rory’s heart was in his mouth.
He steadied his ship on the seventh and eighth holes and it was business as normal after he made consecutive birdies on the ninth and 10th. But just when the wind was taken out of Garcia’s sails, so along surfed the American beach boy Rickie Fowler.
You just had to put the kettle on again and admire the wonder of this best of British Opens for decades. There was no let up. Garcia was a determined man that day with fire in his belly while Fowler drove into the zone with fiery headlights in his eyes.
Fowler’s birdie blitz was as spectacular as it was unbelievable. He had the Midas touch and when another one went down into the bowl like so many peas, he had also moved to within two shots of the lead after McIlroy birdied the 16th to erase the bogey on the par-three 13th.
That 16th hole drew a sigh of relief from Rory. With a two shot lead on the 17th tee, at that moment you could see him flick the switch from ‘attack’ mode into ‘defensive’ mode. Quite literally you could see him relax and detensify (a new word for Oxford) himself.
Not for him were there going to be any heroics or bravado or gung-ho acts. Mickelson blew a US Open doing precisely that but Rory had worked so hard for this. It was time to cruise home by playing the percentages – nothing fancy, just pars.
A par at the dangerous 17th and a Sunday stroll of a par at the par- five final hole was his victory lap. ‘Rory McIlroy, 2014 British Open Champion’ was now official and soon he would be hailed as such by the presentation committee.
It was easy at the start, it was easy at the end, but in the middle he was frantically splashing about in the deep end. Ultimately though, it ended in a controlled performance of some majesty.
Rosy, his mother, ran on to the green for a monster hug while dad Gerry was probably trying to collect his winnings from the bookies. Ten years before he and three friends placed £100 at 500/1 on Rory winning the Open by the age of 25. Nice one! Go collect, Gerry.
That was a cool £50,000 each and apparently one of the four was offered £15,000 for his docket the previous day. That is like deciding to swap 50k for 15k but with Rory having a six shot lead there was no way that barter was ever going to happen.
All small change to Rory though. He was lifting the Claret Jug and a cash prize of €1,240,000. Monster money that was hard earned in battling and keeping demons at bay throughout the year and on that particular day.
His third major and the one he craved. The one he mentioned in terms of: ‘when I was a kid my putts were to win the Open’, when he inadvertently belittled the Ryder Cup. Well now he had realized all those boyhood moments.
What an Open and what a fantastic win for Rory. It was mature and professional. He held a wise Nicklaus and Watson head on his young shoulders. If he keeps doing it that way, he will bottle the ingredients to more success. Spare a thought for two gallants…
Sergio was equally as good from the very start of the tournament to the last. He was determined to get his hands on the jug to make up for the putt that lipped out to Harrington. ‘I just lost to the better player, simple as that.’ is what he said after.
As for Fowler, not alone is he knocking and banging loudly on all doors; he is maturing like a fine wine. Four rounds sub-60 meant that he became only the third man in history to do that and not win the Open.
Then the celebrations began and Rory was photographed by the world’s press all over Hoylake including sitting on the edge of a giant bunker. The selfies began with friends and it was a long day’s journey into Liverpool night life. Before he left Hoylake he said:
I’m happy I gave myself a cushion because there were a lot of guys coming at me – especially Sergio and Rickie Fowler. Just to be sitting here and looking at this thing and my name on it is a great feeling. It hasn’t sunk in yet and I’m going to enjoy it and let it sink in tonight in the company of my family and friends.
Then the records and the comparisons with the legends of the game and the amount of total majors and so many other things were totted up by the statisticians. Of them all, just one matters and it will be eagerly awaited in the coming years.
If Rory McIlroy wins the US Masters at Augusta in April 2015 – or any Masters between now and the day he puts his clubs away – then he will become only the sixth golfer in history to win the Grand Slam of all four majors.
On his fantastic day, the words of a great golf writer from the past – Bernard Darwin – are very apt. Inducted into the ‘World Golf Hall of Fame’, he watched the last of his many Opens at that Liverpool course many decades before.
But on a very blustery evening, as Rory did the rounds with trophy in hand, his famous line rang true almost half a century later:
‘Hoylake – blown upon by mighty winds, breeder of mighty champions.’
Excellence
In light of Rory’s British Open win, another huge and highly illustrious achievement looks very much within his grasp. He could be on course to put himself down in Majors immortality as the first golfer ever to break the all-time record low round.
That currently stands at -9 under 63 and is actually held jointly by Rory and 25 other players – eight of them in the British Open. He shot his 63 at St Andrews in 2010 and also shot 64 there at the Dunhill Links in October 2014.
His length off the tee where he can reach the green with a driver and iron is such that it seems only a matter of time before he shoots 62 or lower at one of the four majors. That is not meant to belittle the weight of history.
It is really incredible that in almost 150 years of majors, only a select group of 26 has reached the magical mark of 63 – and no 62! In that list are the likes of Nicklaus, Player, Miller, Norman, Singh, Olazabal, Stricker and Duffner.
Christy O’Connor Junior was one player who proved a 62 can almost certainly be achieved. At Royal St Georges, Sandwich in 1985, the Irishman broke Sir Henry Cotton’s 50-year old course record with 64.
Christy’s -8 under round stood for 25 years as the lowest 1st round score in a major until Rory went and broke that with his 1st round 63 in 2010. But Christy faltered over his final few holes at the Kent course. At one stage he was in line for 61 or 62!’
There was to be no hanging about for Rory; no honeymoon period or week away in ‘Shangri-La’. Less than two weeks after winning the Open, Rory was back in the US for the Bridgestone Invitational at Akron, Ohio.
On the par-70 Firestone Country Club course, Rory opened with a tame 69 but next day he produced the magic with a -6, 64. Even though he produced another nice sub 70 round with a 66 on Saturday, he trailed Sergio Garcia by two shots with one round remaining.
He was four strokes behind the Spaniard until he birdied the 17th and 18th which was a lovely way for him to end as, from seemingly nowhere, it now put him in with a great chance of victory.
It was a repetition of the Open with the top two fighting it out again in the final group. But not before a 76 minute rain delay on the Sunday which also contributed to a very funny incident.
Russell Henley had lost his playing partner Graham DeLaet, of Canada, who cried off with flu. On the fourth hole Bubba Watson, who was playing with Tiger Woods, spotted Henley on his own and shouted over at him, “Have you no friends?”
Then on the ninth hole, Woods pulled out with back spasms prompting Bubba to say after: ‘It was weird – so I’m like, ‘I’ve no friends either’ and so I paired up with Russell on the 10th.”
McIlroy began the last round in scintillating form. After he birdied five holes in a row from the start, he had cut Sergio’s lead of two shots behind to go three shots in front. It was a lead he kept all the way to the chequered flag.
Coincidentally, he eventually ran out a two shot winner on -17 under with Sergio runner-up on -15. It was the exact same score and margin and opponent as Hoylake a fortnight before.
Rory had just won his first ever WGC event. It brought to mind the saying that ‘you wait all day for a bus and then two arrive at once’. Two big titles in a row for him, and he also leapt over Adam Scott to regain world number one. Understandably cock-a-hoop he said:
I put some pressure on Sergio early and I rode my luck a little bit on the back nine. Sergio had some putts to get close to me. I had a couple tree limbs that went my way. But I played another really solid round of golf.
He was riding the crest of a wave and before it levelled out to reach the beach sands one big surf remained. It was the last major and one of his favourites, the USPGA. Two days before it began, he was asked to compare his present form with his 2012 USPGA win:
This is better. I’m more in control of my ball, and my ball flight, and mentally I’m really sharp. It’s the most comfortable I’ve ever felt trying to close out a golf tournament there on Sunday. The most pleasing thing was not dwelling on Hoylake but to just keep moving forward. I feel like the way I’m playing that there’s a few left in me this year.
In a season blighted by weather delays on the US Tour, the USPGA at Valhalla in Kentucky was not spared. In fact it was to suffer more than most; the damp and dreary conditions, with gloomy overcast skies, seemed to go hand in hand with his start.
Playing with Bubba Watson and Martin Kaymer, he was noticeably struggling. He could not find a spark to ignite anything in his round. Playing the early holes of the back nine, he was still level par for the day.
Then came a flash of lightning and a clatter of thunder, and all hell broke loose. A burst of birdies from the magic wands of McIlroy soon catapulted him into orbit and up on the leaderboard. He struck no less than five birdies in his last seven holes.
The mark of genius, as one moment he was ordinary and in a flash he was sheer class.
A first round 66 was just the start he required and it was almost the best. He lay just a shot behind first round co-leaders Lee Westwood, Kevin Chappell and Ryan Palmer.
Talking to the media afterwards he had this to say about the remarkable turnaround:
I think you have to take whatever you feel inside and turn it into a positive. I was angry and I tried to use that anger as a fuel to propel myself forward. It was great. I think it just shows where my game is mentally right now that I was able to do that.
In the second round the boot was on the other foot as not only did he have to contend with more weather delays, he had to put up with Bubba Watson using foul language throughout the round.
When play began, the golfers were hauled off the course after only around 20 minutes because of torrential downpours. There followed a delay just short of an hour and McIlroy then teed off on the 10th.
After finding a greenside bunker on the par-three 12th, he bogeyed, and he was also struggling with his driving. But birdies followed at 13 and 15 before his round really took off with a brilliant 30ft eagle on the par-five 18th.
This massive bonus meant he had moved to eight under and he now led the USPGA for the first time. Beside him, US Masters champion Bubba was losing his temper and could not hide his feelings or his swearing.
After swinging his tee shot into water, he bellowed out, ‘It’s fucking bullshit!’ before moaning to his caddy about dirt or water on the club face that presumably the caddy should have cleaned off.
Earlier he turned to his trusted lieutenant exclaiming, ‘I can’t play golf man, I got nothing’. One wonders what Kaymer and McIlroy made of it. Perhaps they wished the Ryder Cup, over a month away, could be held there and then!
Whether it is in amateur or professional sport, you should never let your feelings out. Things like that always inspire the opponent and such was the case with Rory.
An hour later on the par-five, 600-yard seventh hole, his three wood came to rest 10 feet from the pin.
He missed the eagle but having dropped a shot at the second, he got it back there and earned interest on his efforts with another birdie at the ninth, his final hole. At the halfway stage, McIlroy led the USPGA by a single shot from Jim Furyk and Jason Day.
His reaction to leading the USPGA was:
The course was pretty wet so the ball was not rolling anywhere. When it is not raining it is very playable and you can make scores. I didn’t get off to the best of starts but I righted the ship and caught fire around the turn. I am happy with 67. I am feeling good about my game and feeling confident. I am hitting the ball well but not as well as yesterday. I was still in really good control of my game and my emotions and I need to do that over the weekend as well.
Conditions were so bad that Shane Lowry, who made the cut at even par, made a complaint to referee John Paramor. There was mist everywhere with water on greens and fairways. He in turn radioed the top brass but the order barked back was ‘proceed’.
On moving day, Rory moved to -13 after another 67. He had maintained his lead and his brilliant form. It was hi
s third successive sub-60 round and since his missed cut at the Irish Open, it was his 13th in his last 15 rounds played which was just an incredible streak.
Going into that final round he held a slim shot lead from little-known Austrian surprise package Bernd Weisberger, who in turn was a shot in front of Rickie Fowler. A further shot back on -10 was Mickelson and Day, with Stenson and Oosthuizen on nine under.
So he was still in front but only just. As he looked in his rear view mirror, he saw a host of the world’s greatest golfers trying to overtake him. Pass him they would – and not just one.
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Yet again, and before play even started in the final round of the 65th USPGA, the siren echoed all round Valhalla to signal another weather delay. A monsoon dumped just over an inch of rain within minutes and it resulted in a suspension of almost two hours.
All the waiting around in the dampness did not do Rory any good. Once again, and just like on the first tee at Hoylake, he looked nervous as well. You would have thought pars at the first two holes would have been just the tonic to settle him but then panic set in.
When he bogeyed the third hole after three-putting, he was joined at the top by no less than four other golfers on -12. He then bogeyed the sixth after finding the greenside bunker and although he got that shot back at the par-five seventh, he was overtaken at the top.
Henrik Stenson was in electrifying form and he was later joined by Ricky Fowler and Phil Mickeslon. In fact, Stenson’s putter would fire him to -15 and a whopping three shots ahead of Rory.
McIlroy had to stop the rot. He needed something to happen but more importantly, he needed to make something happen. With nothing to lose he had to push the boat out. The holes were running out as he hit the back nine.
Shaking himself together and with pure determination he created absolute magic on the 10th hole. It will long live in the memory. A perfect drive of over 300 yards left him with just over 280 to the pin.
If you did not see his shot at the time, then get out your PC and google the words ‘Rory’s shot to the 10th hole in USPGA’. You will see one of the finest fairway woods ever recorded in the history of the game.