Front-nine rally fizzles out
Putting woes on choppy greens end McIlroy’s chances.
UNIVERSITY PLACE, WASH. — World No. 1 Rory McIlroy was able to keep his sense of humor after enduring more than his share of frustration in the third round of the U.S. Open on Saturday.
Told that fellow competitor Henrik Stenson had compared the putting surfaces on the baked-out course at Chambers Bay to broccoli, McIlroy replied, “I don’t think they’re as green as broccoli. They’re more like cauliflower.
“They are what they are. Everybody has to putt on them. It’s all mental. Some guys embrace it more than others, (but) it’s disappointing that they’re not in a bit better shape.”
By his estimate, McIlroy missed seven makable putts on the back nine alone, turning what might have been a memorable round into an evenpar 70 that left the Palm Beach Gardens resident right where he started the day, at 4-over par and with no realistic chance of capturing his fifth major
McIlroy felt he was still in contention before playing his final t wo holes Friday, but a double bogey-bogey finish left him nine shots out of the lead entering the third round.
“It’s a big difference, especially here when it’s so hard to make up shots, so hard to make birdies,” he said. “But at least I had a chance to go out and shoot a good score and get myself somewhat back into it.”
Birdies at No. 2, where he rolled in a 23-footer, and No. 7, where a beautiful approach left him 6 feet out, had him headed in that direction — particularly in light of the previous two days, when afternoon scoring had been significantly higher.
But a three-putt bogey at No. 11 followed by another when he couldn’t get up and down from a greenside bunker on the par-3 15th killed that momentum, and his string of missed putts made it impossible to get back.
McIlroy called the newer greens at Nos. 7 and 13 “perfect,” adding that “the ball rolls really well on those.
“But it’s the ones where the (poa annua grass) has sort of crept in and the grass grows at different speeds — that’s what gives it the bumpiness.”
McIlroy faced some questions coming in this week off a pair of missed cuts on the European Tour, including his third straight in the Irish Open, but chalked that up to the physical and mental fa- tigue involved in playing five straight weeks.
His tee-to-green play has been exemplary all week, putting him in position to make plent y of birdies. Converting only six in three rounds, he acknowledged, has tried his patience.
“I’m pleased with how I’ve kept it going, but the way I feel like I’m playing, it’s a lot easier to do than when you’re not hitting fairways and not hitting greens,” he said. “I’m hitting great shots and great drives and giving myself chances the whole time. So it’s just hard to stay patient whenever I’m not holing anything.”
One of his few mistakes from the fairway came at No. 18, a par 5 on Saturday. Hoping to make up one more shot, he hit 3-wood from 300 yards and it sailed into a bunker to the right and behind the green. Faced with a downhill lie, he blasted out short of the hole only to see his ball roll off the green 90 feet from the hole. When he got that to 12 feet and sank the putt for par, he celebrated with a mock fist-pump.
“It took a while to hole one there,” he said. “I feel like I turned a 65 into a 70 today. Just real disappointed.”
The disappointment won’t last. He’ll go into the next two majors, the British Open at St. Andrews and the PGA Championship, as defending champ and, again, the favorite. As for the final round, he’s resigned to play his best and see what happens.
“I’ve hit it as well as I can,” he said.