Rory's Glory
Page 17
Paul McGinley was officially ratified as European Ryder Cup Captain on Tuesday, January 15th, 2013. His appointment was met with delight by players and fans alike as he was as popular as Ollie.
2010 Captain Colin Montgomerie who put in a late bid said ‘we’ll all get behind Paul now and we wish him well’ while Graeme McDowell summed up the feelings of most everybody saying “thoughtful, articulate, prepared, motivated, fair and respected.”
Rory immediately sent out his own personal message of congratulations but also with a side swipe at those who dared to think of appointing Montgomerie at the 11th hour. His tweet read:
Common sense prevailed in the end…Paul McGinley Ryder Cup Captain!!! I couldn’t be happier for him. Roll on Gleneagles.
McGinley had finally become the first (and long overdue) Irish Ryder Cup Captain in the long history of the event. He sank the winning putt at The Belfry in 2002 and had never lost as a player, Captain or Vice-Captain in nine previous Ryder Cup or Seve Trophy matches.
With ‘Monty’ in the melting pot, McGinley was relieved and ecstatic to get the job. It certainly helped that he had the unanimous support of the players. On his appointment he was so dignified in revealing what he would have said had he not been made Captain:
I had notes in my pocket about how I was going to project myself and what I was going to do. I assured George O’Grady and Richard Hills that I would act with integrity expected by the Tour. So if it wasn’t going to be me, I would wish the winner the best of luck and leave it at that knowing that it was probably my last opportunity.
On Tuesday 2 September 2014 after the final ‘counting’ event at the Italian Open, he announced his team to face the Americans at Gleneagles on 26th September. He dropped Luke Donald and brought in Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher as one of his three wildcards.
His team was: Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson, Victor Dubuisson, Jamie Donaldson, Sergio Garcia, Thomas Bjorn, Justin Rose, Martin Kaymer and Graeme McDowell, and his three wildcards (the old system was two) were Ian Poulter, Stephen Gallacher and Lee Westwood.
Forty-seven year old McGinley began the 40th Ryder Cup by putting out Rory and Sergio Garcia in the very first match of the ‘Morning Fourballs’ at 7.30 am. They faced Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley who had a fine and unbeatable record from Medinah.
The media actually tried to stir things up by using Mickelson’s tongue-in-cheek remarks which insinuated that Europe, McIlroy and McDowell could be affected by the apparent disharmony between Rory and Graeme over various issues. McDowell had stated:
Everyone knows that there are well documented personal issues between myself and Rory over the past couple of years and now that he is world number one and the big star, the dynamic between myself and Rory has changed for ever.
At Medinah a couple of years ago – and Rory and I spoke about this – I found the better ball format very difficult with him because he likes to go first, I let him at it, and I kind of come second.
You know, he’s standing there beating it 350 down the middle, and I put my tee in the ground thinking there’s not really a lot of point in me hitting this tee shot and find myself throwing myself at it, and literally it kind of didn’t help my game much at Medinah playing better-ball with him.
Foursomes I think is different. I think we could still play foursomes really well together.
Rory actually responded to this by saying that at the pre-Ryder Cup dinner, he and G-Mac had a go at Mickelson in jest saying ‘we’re going to call in the FBI!’ This referred to part of Phil Mickelson’s financial affairs which are currently being investigated by the FBI.
It all made for an intriguing match where Mickelson and Bradley had the last laugh. They won on the very last hole after an inspired display from Bradley. He took the match by the scruff of the neck with brilliant winning approaches on 17 and 18.
McIlroy was visibly disconsolate as he took off his cap afterwards and on the way off the green he had his head down. The Americans went on from this and by the end of the morning, they held a 2 ½ - 1 ½ point lead.
The Captain sent Rory out with Sergio again for the ‘Afternoon Foursomes’ but this time in the last match against Ricky Fowler and Jimmy Walker. Things went from bad to worse for Europe and for Rory as the American pairing were giving them a real lesson.
Although America’s lead had been turned upside down and into a 4 ½ - 2 ½ deficit, Fowler and Walker were playing well and as the last match out on the course, they were 2-up with just 17 and 18 to play.
It looked like they would cut the gap to just a point overnight but then came some Rory magic when it was needed most. Garcia left his ball 34 feet from the pin for birdie on 17 and Rory calmly sank the monster putt. They were one down with just the last to play.
With their dander up, Rory teed up his ball and you could see from his stance that he was priming himself for one of his boomers. He let loose but then winced as he saw his ball shoot out to the right towards a forest.
He got lucky. His ball hit a pine tree and at just short of 300 yards, it plumped down in the light rough and was sitting up nicely. Garcia then took out a five wood and knocked the ball to within 15 feet of the flag.
The roars bellowed out as Rory and Sergio pumped their fists together and a few minutes later all hell broke loose as Europe won the hole. They secured a precious half point to win the afternoon games by a whopping three points to a half point. Rory was very relieved:
I’m really happy. Sergio’s shot was fantastic and you know, if we’d lost both matches today I don’t know how I’d have felt. It would have been very hard to take especially after all the work put in and then to get nothing out of it. But to get a half point feels as good as a win and that’s fantastic for the team. I’m happy.
On Saturday morning Rory was out again but this time with another change of partner. As had been expected in the days before the Cup there would be no Graeme McDowell, as Rory was paired with ‘Mr Ryder Cup’ Ian Poulter versus Rickie Fowler & Jimmy Walker.
However the pair could not find a spark to ignite a win and in the end they looked on anxiously as it all came down to Ricky Fowler on the last hole. He had an eagle putt from 12 feet to win the match but it slid by. Rory was again relieved to ‘win’ a half point.
There were three big talking points from that Saturday. The score had been a carbon copy of the previous day. America won the morning session each day by 2 ½ - 1 ½ and Europe were revitalized in the afternoon to win 3 ½ - ½ meaning they held a 10-6 overnight lead.
Rory and Sergio were reunited that afternoon and they finally recorded a sweet victory as they enjoyed a relatively easy 3 and 2 win against Hunter Mahan and Jim Furyk. Rory having started out a little rusty on Friday morning was visibly getting better and better.
So too were his team, but the major story from that day concerned Justin Rose who was involved in one of the greatest games ever seen in the history of golf, never mind the Ryder Cup.
Rose and Stenson came back from an early deficit to absolutely blitz their American opponents Bubba Watson and Matt Kuchar. They struck no less than 10 birdies in a row – with Rose recording seven of them - from the seventh hole to the 16th. It broke all Cup records.
Two-down through six holes, Henrik Stenson birdied the seventh and when Justin Rose followed with birdie on eight, the match was all square. Rose then birdied nine, 10 and 11; Stenson birdied 12; Rose the 13th; Stenson the 14th and Rose the next two to win on the 16th 3 and 2.
Meanwhile there was bad blood developing in Camp America as Mickelson and Bradley were dropped. In the case of Mickelson, it did seem very harsh as he has a history of righting wrongs from a previous day. It was also his first full sit out in his 20 year career.
So to the final day, and although there were reminders and warnings about Medinah and Brookline where 10-6 deficits had been overturned before, Europe were the overwhelming favourites.
Eyebrows were raised with veteran Captain Tom Watson’s formation. To see rookies Jordan
Spieth and Patrick Reed lead out America ahead of more all round form and experienced players was baffling.
Surely Tom knew that the two young lads were bound to face the might of a Rose, Poulter, McDowell or McIlroy. Personally speaking, the night before I tried to pit my wits with his selection and I wrote down Mahan and Walker first and second – both won points.
The tone was set early on when Rory McIlroy won Europe’s first point as he battered poor Ricky Folwer into submission with a stunning birdie barrage. When top man Jordan Spieth, 3-up, was pegged back by McDowell and lost 2 and 1, it was curtains.
Winning 13 ½ - 9 ½ it all came down to Wales Jamie Donaldson who was 4-up on Keegan Bradley. He spurned one opportunity to win the Ryder Cup when missing a 12-foot putt but then won it with a stunning approach that sat two feet from the pin.
At that moment, the Cup was won. McGinley rushed out on the course and almost hit Tom Watson! He then walked alongside Tom and as they made their way to the green with the European contingent in tow, the Captain and Bradley conceded the win.
A little while later, Rory grabbed Donaldson with both of his hands behind his head and shaking him wildly screamed into his eyes in sheer delight: ‘What an iron! You boyo-oooooooo.’
If Medinah was the making of Ian Poulter then unbeaten Justin Rose, who was also an unsung hero there, was the golfer of the tournament at Gleneagles. His ball striking, blitzing of pins and sinking of putts was one of the finest Ryder Cup performances.
From an American point of view, Hunter Mahan is quality. He was 4-up on Justin Rose and but for an uncharacteristic error on the 18th, would have burst Justin’s bubble rather than shake hands on a half. His first major is nigh.
Despite the fallout and bickering – and we can only hope Tom Watson will be afforded the respect he deserves – America and Tom had a huge part to play. That was also reflected upon at every opportunity by a class human being in Paul McGinley.
Several times McGinley said ‘Let’s not forget America’ and when he was asked for his highlight of the whole event, a measure of his stature was in his reply: ‘Walking down the 18th and sharing experiences with Tom Watson – as well as Europe winning.’
Rory referred to McGinley afterwards in terms of being ‘thoughtful’ in almost every facet of Ryder Cup details – from statistics to organization to the discussions and jottings in the team room – as his huge strengths.
Rory also said that McGinley had put everything into his two years. Going a step further, I’d venture to say he was the greatest Captain in Ryder Cup history – not because of this attention to detail – but due to his ‘thoughtfulness’.
He gave every single person his time before, during and after the event. Newspaper interviews, broadcast interviews, private functions, chat shows, public appearances – he wore it all with a beaming smile full of verve. A beautiful man who deserved to win.
Rory, who was seen spraying large bottles of bubbly ‘Grand Prix-style’ over his teammates, now held a 100% record of three wins from his first three Cup appearances and more personal points accumulated. Looking back on the week he reflected:
He [McGinley] has just been the most wonderful Captain and I cannot speak highly enough of him. From the first day we got here the speeches he gave, the videos he showed, the people he got to talk to us and the imagery in the team room – it all tied in together.
When he said after his fourth major win, ‘This is the greatest summer of my life’, he was not to know then that Ryder Cup success was just around the corner. It was a fitting end and glorious top up to his summer of ’14 – and in that top up he revealed something else:
I couldn’t have asked for the summer to end any better. I didn’t know that it had not been done since 1977 but, you know, if it’s not me in a couple years time again, then I hope it’s one of these guys [his team-mates] that gets two Majors and gets a Ryder Cup.
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It is now a race to be ‘Sixth Man Slam’ – will it be Rory, who requires the Masters, or Lefty, who needs the US open, who will follow the greats into immortality by winning the Grand Slam?
And for Rory, after the BBC Sports Personality of The Year award, there will be many more years of chasing Majors and competing in Ryder Cups.
An entire sporting world awaits the ultimate glory for Rory. It could be a short road, or it may be a long road, but we his passengers will venture along for that thrilling ride.