RORY MCILROY
When The Open Championship returned to Royal Portrush for the first time in 68 years in 2019, understandably all eyes were on the home favourite. Mcilroy had fond memories of the Dunluce Links, having broken the course record there in 2005 with a 61, aged just 16. Fourteen years later and his quest for a second Claret Jug was over after his very first tee shot, a pulled iron out of bounds. It was a horrid round, bookended with a quad and a triple. Then came Friday’s valiant attempt to make the weekend – a 65. You could almost have predicted it, yet it was not quite enough.
“As much as I came here at the start of the week saying I wanted to do it for me, you know, by the end of the round there today I was doing it just as much for them [the fans] as I was for me,” said a shattered Mcilroy. “I wanted to be here for the weekend. Selfishly I wanted to feel that support for two more days.”
27th professional win. It’s worth remembering this statistic whenever a tournament slips from his grasp. Should he have won more? Perhaps. Will he win more? Yes, without doubt – and at the end of his career he’ll boast quite some tally. His WGC victory contributed to his return to the top of the world rankings in February. The Major drought does continue, though, something that isn’t lost on a certain ‘rival’.
“I’ve been out here for, what, five years? Rory hasn’t won a Major since I’ve been on the PGA Tour,” Koepka said last October. “So I just don’t view it as a rivalry.” The American had drawn level with Mcilroy on four Major titles after winning the
USPGA, yet the Northern Irishman didn’t bite, much. “What Brooks said wasn’t wrong,” he responded. “He’s been the best player for a couple of years, with four Majors. I don’t think he had to remind me I hadn’t won one in a while, but you know.”
That’s not to say words won’t be exchanged further down the line. Golf fans were denied a Mcilroy Woods rivalry at the start of the last decade, although it was the latter who was largely responsible for that. Mcilroy admits a rivalry would be good for the game, but for that to happen, he’ll need to reverse a few worrying trends.
He used to have the unfortunate tendency of following a fine opening round with a horror show – ‘Freaky Fridays’ they were called. In 2014, out of the 13 tournaments he played before winning The
Open, his Friday score was higher on all but three occasions. “I may be putting a bit too much pressure on myself,” he admitted. “I think I just got into my head.”
In terms of Major performances, since winning the USPGA in 2014 (19 in total having missed the 2015 Open because of injury), it’s not so much the Fridays that have been freaky. In fact, often it’s the opening rounds where he gives the field too much of a head start. This is certainly the case at the US Open, where he missed three successive cuts between 2016 and 2018, shooting a combined total of 23-over-par for the opening round.
Then there are those weekends where he just flatters to deceive. It’s
“Should he have won more? Perhaps, but at the end of his career he’ll boast quite some tally”
become part of the package; something we’ve signed up for. As GM columnist Wayne Riley once said, “He’s like a box of chocolates, you just don’t know what you’re going to get.” He remains box office, and the good news is he may have found the answer if the comments he made after he won a second Fedexcup last August are anything to go by. “I think one of the biggest things is sometimes I try to treat Sundays the same as a Thursday or Friday, and they’re not. I go into them maybe a little too relaxed.”
Perhaps that Brooks guy is just what he needs to get more fired up. Here’s hoping, and here’s hoping for another fantastic ten years. The curly hair may no longer be so voluminous, but at 31 he’s still in his prime. There’s more to come from Rory, much more – you can be sure of that.