McIlroy shoots for perspective
Rory McIlroy watched the flight of his ball in dismay Friday morning.
“That’s so bad,” he said. “Oh, my God.”
On the 16th hole of his 12th Masters — the only major championship he has yet towin — McIlroy sent an errant tee shot at the short par-3 plopping into the water. In that instant, he looked more like someone with a double-digit handicap than the player who was the world No. 1 when the coronavirus pandemic shut down the PGA Tour in March.
He finished his rain-delayed first round at 3-overpar. But McIlroy, one of the pretournament favorites, rebounded in the second round with a 6-under 66 for a 36-hole total of 3-under that left him safely under the cut line of even par.
The good news is that McIlroy continued his strong play Saturday, shooting 5-under in the third round to move in a tie for 10th place. The bad news is that he will have eight strokes to make up on the leader, Dustin Johnson, who tied the Masters’ 54hole record at 16-under heading into Sunday’s final round.
Long seen as Tiger Woods’ heir apparent, McIlroy, 31, collected four major titles before his 26th birthday. A victory at the Masters would give him a career Grand Slam. Anything less would extend his winless streak in the majors to six years.
McIlroy is deeply inquisitive, a searcher who is convinced that happiness in his personal life will lead to success on the golf course and not vice versa. In an interview earlier this year with Golf Digest, McIlroy said he had worked diligently over the past year to enhance his relationships with his parents; his wife, Erica Stoll; and others in his inner circle.
He returned to the theme in his pre-Masters news conference this week when asked howthe birth on Aug. 31 of his first child — a daughter, Poppy Kennedy — had changed his perspective.
“I grew up as an only child and an only child playing golf,” McIlroy said, “so I feel like the whole world revolved around me for a long time. And now it doesn’t. It revolves around this little person.”
Trying to improve all of one’s interpersonal relationships at the same time can be like trying to better every aspect of one’s game — driving, chipping and putting — at once, said Tim S. Grover, an author and founded of Attack Athletics Inc.
“When you try to be everything to everyone, you end up being nothing to yourself and to them. You end up being good instead of being great.”