Blast from caddie motivates McIlroy
RORY McILROY got his Open challenge back on track yesterday after his caddie JP Fitzgerald gave him a stern lecture on the sixth tee. The Northern Irishman played his first six holes in five over par. ‘I didn’t have as much belief as normal after missing the cut in my last two events,’ said the 28-yearold. ‘It was on the sixth tee. JP gave me a good talking to.’ The caddie said: ‘You are Rory McIlroy, what the f*** are you doing?’ And his man repaired the damage with four birdies on the back nine to record a 71. A trio of Americans shot 65 — Jordan Spieth, US Open Champion Brooks Koepka and Matt Kuchar — while England’s Paul Casey shot 66 and Ian Poulter 67.
THE sun shone on Royal Birkdale’s art deco clubhouse and a giant cheer went up as if Rory McIlroy was leading The Open. Not so, and not by a long way, but the warmth of the reception on a beautiful Southport evening was for his remarkable redemption.
For at tea time, no place in Lancashire was too remote to escape the possibility of McIlroy’s ball showing up there. You could be sipping in the champagne tent one moment and find him playing his third shot from your ice bucket the next.
Gorse bushes, wispy grass and dirt tracks all came into play as one of the world’s finest golfers threatened to do a passing impersonation of a Sunday morning municipal hacker.
It was horrible to watch because every technical glitch told a story of inner turmoil.
This being Rory, he shrugged his shoulders, he grimaced, he sighed, he leaned on his clubs, he signalled with his hands where he had wanted his shot to go.
He could have been Lear on the stage at Stratford for all the anguish he exhibited.
And the people could see it close up because he spent some time among them. He was in the shrubbery on the first hole before sending the ball hurtling down the other side of the green. He finally sank a bogey putt from some 25ft.
It may not sound it, but it was a miracle of deliverance.
By the time Rory (right) exited the sixth green he was a horrible five-over.
There had been some stern words from his caddie JP Fitzgerald at the sixth tee. He reminded the fourtime Major winner who he was. ‘You are Rory McIlroy. What the f*** are you doing?’ asked JP, trying to shake his man out of the straitjacket of trauma. Up until that point McIlroy, by his own admission, had lacked confidence.
He has not been in form, missing the cut in three of his last four tournaments after suffering with a rib injury earlier in the year. And it showed terribly.
The crowd here did not give up on the world No 4, with their cries of ‘Come on, Rory!’ but he was lost in his own thoughts.
He finally started to strike the ball better off the tee at the seventh, he revealed when his round was over and he was able to smile, but still he was not yet quite out of the woods.
In fact, his ball nestled like an egg under brambles at the eighth.
Steadying himself against the incline, he punched out into the rough and from there to the green.
And then, lo and behold, he sank a long, long putt for par. That seemed a major turning point in the afternoon. McIlroy, who was out in 39, was back in 32 for one-over and six shots off the lead.
A birdie at the 11th was balm and he finished strongly with three late birdies on the 15th, 17th and 18th.
These were great tributes to his fighting spirit on a pitilessly exposed links which offers no succour for doubters. ‘Given how the day went, I feel really good about it now,’ said McIlroy. ‘With a bad forecast for tomorrow, if I can shoot something in the 60s I will be right in it.’ That is an astonishing claim given that redundancy by the weekend looked a certainty only an hour or two before.