McIlroy says he’ll be ready for U.S. Open off month layoff
Rory McIlroy took off more time than he expected after The Players Championship to rest his ailing ribs, but it appears he’ll be ready to go next week at the U.S. Open. McIlroy withdrew from the BMW PGA Championship and then the Memorial.
“I am ready for Erin Hills and looking forward to playing there for the first time,” McIlroy told The Guardian. “The last few weeks have obviously been frustrating — I never like to miss events either on the PGA Tour or European Tour — but it was important I got back to a level of fitness where I felt like I could give myself the best possible chance at the U.S. Open.
“As I have said many times before, majors will ultimately determine my golf career, but I have had the rest of this busy season to consider as well.”
McIlroy will have gone a month without competition heading into the U.S. Open.
Jack happy for Langer: Jack Nicklaus broke the record for most majors when he won the 1973 PGA Championship for No. 14. He won his 16th and 17th in 1980, and then started cutting back on his schedule as he split time among other interests, particularly his kids. Nicklaus used to wonder if he would have won more majors had the previous record been more than it was.
That’s why Nicklaus was so amused when someone mentioned Bernhard Langer breaking his record with a ninth senior major.
“If I’d have known Langer had come along, I would have played more,” Nicklaus said. He was kidding.
“I think he’s been a better player as he’s gotten older,” Nicklaus said of the Boca Raton resident. “I think he’s an amazingly good player. He’s a good guy. I’m happy for him.”
U.S. Open qualifying: Peter Uihlein suddenly faces at least a three-week stretch in America, and it starts with the U.S. Open.
Uihlein, the former U.S. Amateur champion playing on the European Tour, birdied the first extra hole in a 4-for-3 playoff Tuesday morning that determined the last of 14 spots from the 36-hole qualifier in Columbus.
Uihlein hit wedge to 5 feet for birdie on the 10th hole of The Lakes to advance. Talor Gooch and Scottie Scheffler made birdie on the fourth extra hole to get the other two spots. It was the second straight year that Scheffler, who just finished his junior year at Texas, earned a U.S. Open spot through a playoff at sectional qualifying.
J.T. Poston was the medalist from Columbus, not making a bogey until his 36th hole.
Columbus offered the most spots of the 10 sectional qualifiers because of all the PGA Tour players still in town after the Memorial. The next largest was in Tennessee because of the FedEx St. Jude Classic this week.
Steve Stricker led the ninth qualifier, earning a spot in his home state of Wisconsin as it hosts a U.S. Open for the first time. The U.S. Open starts June 15 at Erin Hills, a public course built on pristine pastureland that opened in 2006.
The Tennessee qualifier also required a playoff on Tuesday morning among five players seeking two spots. Those went to Jonathan Randolph and Xander Schauffele.
The sectional qualifiers put the field at 150 players, leaving six spots available in case anyone qualifies by being among the top 60 in the world ranking after this week. No more than three players not already exempt have a mathematical chance to get in the top 60. That means at least three alternates will get in, a list that includes Dru Love, the son of Davis Love III.