Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
The Jack of clubs is one for all the high-rollers
MAJORS dominate the headlines and rightly so because of their history.
But on both the PGA and now the DP World Tour, certain stops and tournaments have always captured the imagination.
This week is a case in point as we head to ‘Jack’s Place’.
The Memorial at Muirfield, the home of Nicklaus, is always a special week and a tournament you want on your CV.
Rory Mcilroy is chasing a maiden win there and a victory would give him a real sense of confidence and momentum ahead of the US Open.
Like everyone teeing it up, there’ll be an added sense of anticipation for Rory playing at such an iconic venue.
There’ll also be a looming sense of pressure with the Fedex Cup play-offs lurking on the horizon. Time to deliver if you want to be part of the end-ofseason equation.
On paper, Mcilroy, Jon Rahm, Patrick Cantlay and Jordan Spieth are this week’s favourites, but it’s impossible to predict these days because golf is such a fickle sport.
Take Sunday as an example. Scottie Scheffler had a relatively comfortable two shot lead at the Charles Schwab and the supporting cast looked dead and buried.
The World No1 looked to be cruising to a fifth tournament win of the year in his home state of
Texas yet ended up losing to Sam Burns in a play-off.
Burns sliced through the field with a stunning final round at Colonial where players were confronted by an old-style test of narrow fairways and small greens.
Few would have predicted the turnaround, but maybe it’s a lot easier to perform when you’re making a late charge and winning isn’t dominating your thoughts.
Sometimes the closer you get to glory, the more precarious it can become.
Justin Thomas certainly proved at the US PGA that ignoring leaderboards and focusing on the job can be a powerful combination.
More often than not, the most attritional emotion is expectation. It
can distract you and detonate your hopes.
Pressure gets to every golfer, even the best in the world, and Scheffler’s fate was a timely reminder why golf is such a fascinating sport. You can’t take anything for granted.
On a week like this, the expectation levels, scrutiny and hype are such that wire-to-wire winners are rare.
Final round leaders getting it across the line is also uncommon; Tiger excepted, of course.
Woods proved his genius in this department more than any other player while Thorbjorn Olesen holds the title as Europe’s greatest ‘closer’.
The Dane boasts a record of six wins from seven while leading from the front.
But whatever way you get it done, the name on the trophy is all that counts, particularly at ‘Jack’s place’.