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Red-Hot
Rory
Julian Tutt looks back at Rory McIlroy’s sensational summer before turning his attentions to this month’s Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.
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Daniel Wong (Tutt); AFP
Rory McIlroy (this page) will lead a European side heavily fancied to retain the Ryder Cup later this month at Gleneagles; Captains Tom Watson and Paul McGinley 38
HK GOLFER・SEP 2014
he King is Dead (well at least temporarily indisposed), Long Live the King … Not since Tiger Woods burst onto the scene in the late 1990s has one man had such an impact on the game. Alistair MacLean, PG Wodehouse and Jeffery Archer between them couldn’t have come up with the plot that has seen Rory McIlroy fully emerge from the chrysalis to become golf’s undisputed number one and genuine superstar. The circumstances behind his hasty separation from Caroline Wozniacki, his fiancée, in the week of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth remain mired in gossip, rumour and intrigue and only his inner circle will probably ever know the full truth. The fact remains though that a rather disconsolate and uncomfortable looking young man went on to win the PGA; a tournament and a venue that he’s never particularly relished. Bravo. The US Open was all about Martin Kaymer with Rory barely in the picture, and the sheer, dominating brilliance of Kaymer’s victory made some think that he was the man for all seasons. Then Justin Rose won back-to-back in America and Scotland, the week before The Open, with McIlroy a distant nine shots behind. Could Rose win three in a row? Not when the young Northern Irishman cranks up his game and starts hitting 340-yard drives straight down the middle. McIlroy did have the best of the weather conditions on Thursday and Friday and the R&A’s unique decision to start Saturday’s play early from two tees was a huge bonus. Under normal rules he
would have been out in horrific weather in the later afternoon and might well have been blown away in the manner that Tiger was in the Saturday storm at Muirfield in 2002. (I’m probably one of the few people who still think it was a bad decision to bring play forward. One suspects though that the R&A will think long and hard before they ever do that again). But the way McIlroy finished the job on Sunday was clinical and hugely impressive. The WGCBridgestone Invitational followed, immediately before the US PGA Championship, where he was looking for three wins in a row and consecutive Majors. That’s climbing into pretty heady company, and for three days he looked more than up to the job. But the front nine on Sunday saw an apparently lacklustre Ulsterman showing signs of running out of gas. Mickelson and Fowler ahead of HKGOLFER.COM
him had the huge crowd baying and with Stenson on the rampage too, they smelt blood. Only Bubba Watson and Patrick Reed had seen the stars and stripes at the masthead of the top tournaments this season and the Kentucky masses badly wanted another home winner. McIlroy then did something that even Tiger has never managed; he won (fairly) comfortably coming from three shots behind on the back nine. The fact that he did it in near darkness, practically playing alongside Mickelson and Fowler in the group ahead just added to the intense drama and excitement. But for his back-nine implosion at the Masters Tournament in 2010 he could already have a career Grand Slam. He might well achieve that at Augusta next spring and be three-quarters of the way to a “Rory Slam”. There’s no question that he has taken huge strides physically and particularly mentally over the past few months. No one has ever questioned his immense talent to play the game, but he’s often looked vulnerable when things weren’t quite right, in a way that Tiger very rarely, if ever, did. That’s all changed, and whilst he maintains his charming and open demeanour (in a way that Tiger very rarely, if ever, did), he is now a man genuinely to be feared. The rest have given their best and come up short. There may still be a question mark as to how he will fare in hard and bouncy conditions, but one suspects he will now find a way. It will be intriguing to see whether he can maintain this momentum into the Ryder Cup. It’s a huge ask. When Padraig Harrington won The Open and the USPGA in 2008 he arrived at the Ryder Cup as a hollow shell with little left to give. The pressures on McIlroy are even greater thanks to his brilliance. HKGOLFER.COM
McIlroy then did something that even Tiger has never managed; he won coming from three shots behind on the back nine. The fact that he did it in near darkness, practically playing alongside Mickelson and Fowler in the group ahead just added to the intense drama and excitement. Paul McGinley is an intelligent man and will be a shrewd captain. Doubtless he will have given much thought as to how to get the best out of his young star. That must include not playing him in all five matches, although the temptation will be huge if he’s playing well. There’s no need for that now that Europe invariably has 12 worldclass players. McGinley’s team is just about as strong as he could hope for, although Kaymer’s form has tailed off dramatically since winning The Players Championship and The US Open, and Ian Poulter (assuming he’s had the Captain’s nod) has been struggling with his putting, which has traditionally been one of his great strengths. The bookies have Europe as clear favourites and it’s not hard to see why. Tom Watson has a headache; no Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson, or Steve Stricker (Assistant Captain), and Jason Dufner and Matt Kuchar are both vulnerable with injuries. Jordan Spieth (who could yet form the next Great Triumvirate with McIlroy and Fowler) has dropped right out of form, leaving Bubba Watson, Mickelson, Fowler and Furyk as the main threat, bolstered by some (presumably) in-form picks. The PGA Centenary Course (regular readers will know what I think about that name!) is an uninspiring creation standing alongside James Braid’s wonderful King’s and Queen’s courses. It favours neither side in particular, meaning there’s very little home advantage. It is however a very good viewing course for the many thousands of spectators who will brave whatever conditions fate throws at them. Back in 2010 there were numerous injuries including broken limbs as the enthusiastic masses slithered and stumbled down the boggy Welsh hillsides of Celtic Manor. No doubt the brilliant St John’s Ambulance staff will be on red alert again. It’s not exactly flat at Gleneagles. The PGA of America summoned a former winning captain in Tom Watson to put some steel back into the US team. The way things stand right now he’ll need a large junk of Krypton too. Well, Superman did grow up in Kansas, Watson’s home state. Clark Kent or not, my money’s on an eighth European win in the last ten outings. On paper Europe are superior, but the Ryder Cup’s not played on paper. It could end as papier-mâché though if the Scottish weather doesn’t oblige! HK GOLFER・SEP 2014
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