McIlroy baffled by defectors
‘Feels ... like taking the easy way out’
Rory McIlroy had two strong comments about the future of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series in February. So far, one has been proven incorrect.
“Dead in the water,” McIlroy said then, referring to all the top players saying they were staying and not interested in the wanna-be rival to the PGA Tour. On Tuesday, McIlroy had an explanation for that: Players like Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau said in statements they were staying put and “I took them at their word.”
Earlier in that week, he referred to the startup league as a “pre-Champions Tour” because so many players were at the tail end of their careers. That much remains largely true — so far. But more players could sign up in the coming weeks.
Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Graeme McDowell and Louis Oosthuizen all can fit that preChampions Tour mode. DeChambeau and Patrick Reed? Not so much.
That’s what mystifies the 33-year-old McIlroy.
“A lot of these guys are in their late 40s — in Phil’s case, early 50s,” he said. “They would say to you themselves that their best days are behind them. That’s why I don’t understand for the guys that are a similar age to me going. Because I would like to believe that my best days are still ahead of me, and I think theirs are, too.
“So that’s where it feels like you’re taking the easy way out.”
Brooks Koepka, for one, has heard enough on the topic.
“I’m trying to focus on the U.S. Open, man,” Koepka, a two-time U.S. Open champion, said testily in response to reporters’ questions about the LIV Series. “I legitimately don’t get it. I’m tired of the conversations. I’m tired of all this stuff. Y’all are throwing a black cloud on the U.S. Open. I think that sucks.”
Mickelson, who is at the heart of the rival league, played a practice round with Jon Rahm and Kevin Na. Approaching the first tee, the applause was warm, though somewhat muted compared with other years, still with the odd shout, “This is your year, Phil!” or “We love you, Phil!”
Brookline memories
Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk and Sergio Garcia are the only players at the U.S. Open who played in the 1999 Ryder Cup. Those aren’t the only players making a return to The Country Club.
Four players who reached the quarterfinals of the 2013 U.S. Amateur also made it into the U. S. Open at Brookline. That starts with Matt Fitzpatrick, the winner. It also includes Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, Corey Conners of Canada and Brandon Matthews.
Scheffler had an amazing run. He needed 20 holes to beat Stewart Jolly in the first round, 20 holes to beat Brandon Hagy in the second round and he beat Matthias Schwab on the 18th hole to reach the quarterfinals. He lost to Brady Watt, 2 and 1.
“I remember being down in pretty much all my matches and coming back,” Scheffler said.
Qualifying blues
Collin Morikawa is a twotime major champion at age 25, the No. 7 player in the world who can expect to be exempt in the U.S. Open for years to come.
It wasn’t always that easy. “Yeah, well, I suck at qualifying. I really do,” Morikawa said Tuesday.
He said he never made it to a U.S. Junior and he can think of only one U.S. Amateur appearance when he was exempt through his amateur ranking. As for the U.S. Open? He went through qualifying three times while at Cal and never came particularly close.
“I decided I hate California — no, I’m kidding,” the California native said.
He missed out by four shots at Lake Merced in San Francisco in 2016 and in 2018. In between, the U.S. Open sectional was in Newport Beach. He missed that by seven shots.