RORY’S OPEN KO
Crocked McIlroy is looking to long term
Rory McIlroy has bowed to the inevitable and officially withdrawn from The open at St Andrews next week. He will be the first champion not to defend his titlee since American Ben Hoganogan elected not to cross the Atlantic in 1954.
It’s a bitter blow too the world No 1 given it is taking place on his favourite golf course — and also to the many thousands who have bought tickets in the expectation of watching him compete.
But, from the moment he announced on Monday that he had ruptured ankle ligaments playing five-a-side football his prospects were bleak, andd a resigned McIlroy accepted his fate with an Instagram post yesterday.
The fact he has announced it so early suggests this won’t be the end of the bad news either, and that he’s facing a bleak summer on the sidelines.
McIlroy should defend his Bridgestone Invitational title at the end of this month, followed by the USPGA Championship, but is clearly in a race against time to be fit for either assignment. Underd a photograph of him watching Andy Murray at Wimbledon, McIlroy wrote: ‘After much consideration I have decided not to play in the open at St. Andrews. I’m taking a long term view of this injury and, although rehab is progressing well, I want to come back to tournament play when I feel 100 per cent healthy and competitive... in the meantime, come on Andy!!’
And come on the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish open as well — which starts today at glorious Gullane — and where the responsibility of applying stardust now falls heavily on defending champion Justin rose and Phil Mickelson. When last in Scotland at the ryder Cup at Gleneagles Mickelson ended his week with such a skewering of his captain Tom Watson it left a room full of hardened hacks aghast.
Imagine the reaction, therefore, when he opened his press conference yesterday by saying he’d like to talk about the five-time open Champion. Surely he wasn’t going to have another stab at legend-bashing?
‘Just about the only thing I would say is that he’s one of the greatest champions this game has ever had and I hope next week is a celebration of that greatness,’ he said.
‘It’s his last open Championship and I’m certainly appreciative of all he’s done for the game and that’s all I really want to say.’
Have you made your peace then, Phil? He wouldn’t go that far. He lavished more praise on Watson the great champion, but the fact he said nothing at all about Watson the man spoke volumes.
Mickelson hasn’t played since his disappointing performance at the US open last month, where he never came close to his cherished goal to complete the career grand slam. But that doesn’t mean he has been out of the news.
In America a story surfaced that $3million transferred from Mickelson’s bank account was part of ‘ an illegal gambling operation which accepted and placed bets on sporting events,’ and led to one man pleading guilty to money laundering.
It should be stressed Mickelson himself has not been charged and is not under investigation, but is he worried about mud sticking?
The 45-year-old told a nice story about over-reacting to a magazine article 20 years ago.
He said: ‘We were so immature, but the fact is my wife and I have learned over time that people are going to say things good and bad, and things true and untrue. The fact is I am comfortable enough with who I am as a person, that I don’t feel the need to comment on every report that comes out.’
5/1 JORDAN SPIETH is now the bookmakers’ clear favourite to make it three majors in a row at St Andrews following McIlroy’s withdrawal.