Huge doubt over Open as Mcilroy pulls out of Gullane
SCOTTISH Open organisers have described Rory Mcilroy’s withdrawal as “disappointing” but are confident the Aberdeen Asset Management-sponsored event at Gullane can still be a huge success on its first visit to East Lothian.
In addition to missing this week’s tournament, the world No 1 is a major doubt for next week’s Open Championship at St Andrews, where he is due to defend the Claret Jug, after rupturing ankle ligaments in a football kick-about with friends at home in Northern Ireland over the weekend.
He could still be sidelined, in fact, in early August, meaning he would also miss out on the opportunity to try to successfully retain his US PGA Championship title at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.
News of Mcilroy’s injury cast a shadow over the first official practice day at Gullane but, with the likes of Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler and Matt Kuchar in the line-up, championship director Peter Adams believes the £3.25 million event starting on Thursday is still a mouth-watering prospect for Scottish golf fans.
“Naturally the news on Rory having to withdraw from the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open is very disappointing for the tournament,” said Adams. “Any tournament which loses the world No 1 through injury is going to be affected, but we are still looking forward to hosting one of the strongest fields in Scottish Open history over one of the great links tests at Gullane this week.
“The last four Open champions – of which Rory is obviously one – have all played in the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open the week before winning the Claret Jug and we hope to continue that trend this week.
“We wish Rory as speedy a recovery as possible and look forward to seeing him back on the golf course where he belongs as soon he is fully fit.”
According to one of Mcilroy’s
Ryder Cup team-mates at Gleneagles last year, the next few days will determine how bad the injury actually is – and Thomas Bjorn was speaking from experience.
“Let’s see where he is in a couple of days,” said the Dane, speaking at Gullane. “It’s obviously a big blow for this tournament that he isn’t going to be here, but these things happen.
“I did exactly the same thing about four weeks before the 1997 Ryder Cup. I twisted my ankle playing tennis, but I got back. People were asking me the same thing they’ll be asking Rory now, but you have got to live. He could have gone for a run trying to get fit and twisted his ankle.
“And how many times has he gone for a kickabout with his mates and nothing has happened? It’s just a freak accident. You can’t criticise him for that.
“Obviously with the time of year it puts a lot of emphasis on the question: ‘why would you do that?’ But you have got to live your life. You can’t hold a 26 year old back from having a bit of fun.
“Everybody loves different sports and different things and yeah, accidents happen. It’s just a shame if he doesn’t get back, it’s not great for the game.”
Bjorn, chairman of the European Tour’s tournament committee, added: “I remember how worried I was when I did it – I wasn’t particularly happy! But when you have good people around you – and he’ll have really good people around him – that’s the thing, they can make miracles happen.
“I really want to see the way he is in two or three days’ time before I make any assessment on what impact it is going to have. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him on the range next Tuesday… or he could be out for a long time. But before you know exactly how it is there is no point guessing. We will have to wait for him to make a proper judgement on that.”
Also speaking from experience, having suffered a similar injury in a fall while out running just over 18 months ago, Richie Ramsay said he feared Mcilroy could face a lengthy recovery period.
“I had a full tear of ligaments in my ankle,” wrote the Aberdonian on Twitter. “It takes a lot longer than you think to heal. It was three months until I played and even then getting my foot to work the right way was tough.”
Scot Russell Knox is first on the reserve list for The Open if Mcilroy misses out. “We are very sorry to hear of Rory’s injury,” said an R&A spokesman. “We wish him a speedy recovery and hope he will be able to defend his title next week at St Andrews.”