The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Casey roughs it out to
Former champion Rory McIlroy found form too late to avoid a second consecutive missed cut in the US Open but was able to take some positives from his display at Erin Hills.
Playing just his seventh tournament of the year due to a rib injury, McIlroy left himself a mountain to climb following a first round of 78 on Thursday, when a record 44 players broke par.
Despite carding four birdies in his last six holes for a 71 yesterday, the fourtime major winner saw his own pre-event prediction come true, having said on Tuesday that anyone who could not hit the wide fairways “might as well pack your bags and go home”.
“I showed up for the last six holes anyway,” said McIlroy, who won at Congressional in 2011 with a record 16-under-par total, but is now a combined 55 over par for his other eight US Open appearances.
“I hit it better off the tee. I think I hit 11 fairways other than the five I did (on Thursday). But I think at the end of the day it’s competitive rounds with a card in my hand that I need and I’ve been very light on them this year.
“I saw some positives there on the back nine coming in and hopefully I can take them to the Travelers (Championship) next week. I’m excited to get on a run of golf and get going.”
McIlroy worked with his coach Michael Bannon on making a smoother transition from the top of his backswing and, although he was three over par after 12 holes, birdies on the fourth, fifth, seventh and ninth ended the week on a high. Paul Casey produced a brilliant fightback to remain right in contention for a first major title in the US Open in Wisconsin last night.
Casey recovered from a triple-bogey 8 on his fifth hole of the day to add a 71 to his opening 66 at Erin Hills and set the clubhouse target on seven-under-par 137, with Americans Rickie Fowler and Brooks Koepka nine under at the midway point of their rounds.
Although McIlroy also recorded a 71 thanks to four birdies in his last six holes, the damage had already been done by a 78 on Thursday, when a record 44 players had broken par in the benign conditions.
Casey’s opening 66 had left him a shot off the pace and he swiftly joined Fowler in the lead with a birdie from close range on the 11th, his second hole of the day, only to bogey the next and run up the 8 on the 14th.
The 39-year-old was only able to move his fourth shot a matter of inches in heavy rough over the back of the green on the par 5, before hacking out sideways and taking three putts from just off the green.
However, after dropping another shot on the 15th, Casey regained his composure superbly to birdie the 17th and 18th, the latter being the second longest hole in major history at 676 yards.
The former Ryder Cup player then made it five birdies in succession – just one short of the US Open record equalled by Adam Hadwin on Thursday – by picking up shots on the first, second and third.
“It feels good,” said 39year-old Casey, who has recorded three consecutive top-six finishes in the Masters, but whose sole top-10 finish in 13 US Open appearances came at Oakmont a decade ago. “Not every day you enjoy a round of golf with an eight on the card, but I’m a pretty happy man. It was a good display, all my own fault, of what can happen if you get out of position on this golf course. Even just trying to take my medicine is very, very difficult. It’s a good 8 in the end.
“I lost a bit of skin out there. I got out of position, but it’s the attitude, it’s the grit that matters at the end of the week.
“I had been swinging it well and it felt really good a couple holes later to be picking the ball out of the hole for a birdie. Then clawed all the way back and actually picked up one more to the good by the time we were finished.”
Asked if he would have been able to recover from such a mistake earlier in his career, Casey added: “In my good seasons, yes, but there have been times when I struggled, so probably not.
“I was upset with the score I had made, but it did not have any effect on my attitude or how I was going to then approach the rest of the round or the next shot. Part of that is just age and part I’ll give credit to Johnny McLaren (his caddie), credit to my wife and my little boy.”