It was the weekend he truly came of age as a pro golfer of the highest level; the weekend when he set record after record and proved not only had he put his minor blip behind him, he should now be accepted and regarded as one of the real contenders of modern era golf. No wonder he was smiling, hugging and shaking hands with all comers after the win at the Quail Hollow Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina – his first triumph on the PGA Tour and the second of his burgeoning career – and all at the tender age of 20.
The Associated Press best summed up this remarkable achievement when they said: ‘All the buzz about Rory McIlroy came to life Sunday at the Quail Hollow Championship with one dazzling shot after another in a record round that made him the PGA Tour’s youngest winner since Tiger Woods.
‘Explosive as ever, the 20-year-old from Northern Ireland was 5-under over the final five holes to set the course record at 10-under 62 and win by four shots over Masters champion Phil Mickelson. McIlroy finished in style, rolling in a 40-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole and thrusting his fist into the air.’
And who could blame him for such a public show of joy? The boy had earned it – and all the accolades coming his way. He had overwhelmed a class field, including Woods and Mickelson. Indeed, World Golf wondered if this was the end of an era with Rory replacing Tiger as the figurehead – ‘A simple coincidence or the start of a new era? That’s the debate after 20-year-old Rory McIlroy dominated the weekend at the Quail Hollow Championship in Charlotte while Tiger Woods went home after missing the cut – badly. McIlroy also stormed past another relative “old guard” player: Phil Mickelson, who’s final round 68 wasn’t nearly enough to chase down the Northern Irishman.’
Rory admitted he had been laid low after a series of poor results – which also included missing the cut at The Masters in April 2010. He told BBC Sport that his Masters showing had been ‘pretty frustrating’ after he finished 7-over at Augusta: ‘I felt as if I played OK, but didn’t get much out of the week. There were some positives to take from it as I did hit the ball a lot better than I had been doing for the last few weeks and I just need to sharpen up around the greens and get my scoring back to where it was at the end of last year. I know I have the game to contend at tournaments and it is just a matter of going out there and shooting the scores. I haven’t been doing that and I’ll just have to go back to the drawing board.’
But he had ruled out the break that he had been talking about after his Masters’ misery, saying: ‘I was just off the golf course when I made those remarks and I maybe just overreacted a bit – I wasn’t really thinking straight, having just missed the cut in a Major for the first time. I have played six Majors and that was the first cut I have missed, but I have got a couple of weeks off now before I go back to the States. I will put in some good work in the next couple of weeks and should be in the right frame of mind to go to America and improve on my performances.’ Just as well he didn’t take that enforced break – otherwise he might well have missed out on a groundbreaking maiden PGA victory at Quail Hollow!
Rory arrived at Charlotte with the thermometer touching 24°C/75°F, which pleased him as he had always made it clear he preferred playing in the warmth rather than drizzle, rain and cold. The heat would certainly be on for the boy wonder as he struggled through rounds one and two, though.
After the first round he was 1-under-par with a 72 and just made the cut on the number after a second-round 73. But his weekend really took off on the Saturday – and as for the Sunday – well, that was just a truly amazing round of golf as he blistered the course and shocked both press and public. He had come back from the dead to win the title.
On the Saturday he seemed a different player, blowing off the cobwebs that had seen him struggle on the Thursday and Friday, and turning in a round to enforce the message that he truly meant business. It was as if he was blasting away the frustrations and agonies of the last couple of months – and the failure to even make the cut in his previous tournament, The Masters – as he raced to a scorching 6-under-par 66, which left him 5-under-par and well in line for glory on the final day. His brilliant round included nine birdies and he was beaming at the press conference afterwards. He said: ‘It was a great round of golf – I played really, really well. I feel as though I’ve been hitting it well for the last couple weeks but I’ve just not really been getting much out of my game. But today I knocked a few putts in and gave myself plenty of chances. A bit disappointing bogeying the last, but 66 is still a great score out there and it puts me in a nice position going into tomorrow.
‘I’ve just put a lot of work in. I struggled – I had a little bit of a back injury, which is still there, but it’s getting a lot better. It’ll probably take another two or three months to clear fully. But I feel as if I can swing with a lot more freedom and I can actually practise more, hit more balls and spend more time on the range, which has definitely helped. I put my old trusty putter back in the bag last night, which seemed to help. My putting was pretty good out there today.’
He said he was aware of the expectations and doubts over his form as a result of the blip – but was confident he was now back in a good place. Rory added: ‘This year I got off to pretty much a perfect start for me. I spent the week in Dubai, practised really well, finished third in Abu Dhabi behind Martin Kaymer and Ian Poulter, and finished sixth in Dubai. So my game was there, and then the back injury flared up during the last couple of rounds in Dubai.
‘Since then it has been a little bit of a struggle. I’d get on the range and I’d hit balls and I’d maybe only hit 100 balls because I wasn’t feeling very good, so I’d have to cut my session short and it’s been like that for the last couple months. Ever since the Match Play this year, the whole season has been a bit stop-start so I’m trying to get a bit of continuity. I’ve added a couple of events to my schedule just to try and play a little bit more and to get a little bit of fluidity back into the season.’
He was also aware of just how close he had come to exiting the tournament after nearly missing the cut following a disappointing second round: ‘I bogeyed the 6th to go to 3-over-par and I knew I needed to birdie two of the last three holes to make the cut. Luckily I eagled 7 – that could have been the turning point in the season. So, yes, I was very happy to make the cut and I’m happy with my round today. I made three bogeys so it could have been a little better but I’m very pleased.’
Ever the perfectionist, Rory continued to press on. After a good rest and relax on the Saturday night, he emerged fresh and determined to do business on the Sunday at Quail Hollow. He knew he had suddenly hit a purple patch and felt the tingle of excitement as he teed off. ‘It was as if he had come through a heavy storm and was now walking in the sunshine,’ a source said. ‘The darkness and misery had gone and he really did believe that he could now pull off a minor miracle and win this tournament. He had the belief that his first PGA title was his for the taking, which is incredible given the problems with his back and the way his self-belief had taken a battering with those poor results after a good start to 2010.’
Rory had shot the lowest round on the Saturday and now did the same on the Sunday, carding a remarkable 10-under-par 62 to set a new course record and to win the crown that had looked only a pipedream as he struggled to make the cut on the Friday. His remarkable finale earned him a four-shot victory over Masters’ champion Phil Mickelson – it was the last act of a stunning turnaround in fortunes. He finished on a total of 273, 15-under-par, and his efforts earned him a winner’s cheque for $1.17 million.
Afterwards he explained how it all came about: ‘It started on the range – I absolutely flushed it on the range. I went out there today and I was excited to play: I knew I would give it a good shot, I knew I was playing well. I just went out there and had no number in mind – I thought 10 was going to be a realistic target, but to go out there and – especially getting to 5-under-par for the round after 11 – I was in a pretty good position. Then to finish the round off like I did under that sort of pressure was very satisfying.’
Without sounding arrogant, Rory admitted that he had not been surprised to have done so well – he thought his form was turning for the better, that he was on the verge of something big. He said: ‘I didn’t feel a 62 was coming but I felt as if my game was definitely getting a lot better. The 66 yesterday was probably the worst I could have shot; I gave myself so many chances, I had five eagle putts. And then today I just carried on from there, hit some great shots and holed good putts to keep my momentum going.
‘It seemed as if everything has just gone right these last two days. You get yourself into a mindset like that and you just keep going. I was walking off 11 tee and J.P., my caddie, said: “All right, let’s try and get to 13-under.” It’s just been a great day. To go out there and make as many birdies as I did, given the way the golf course was set up, gave me a lot of confidence.’
He was asked to provide a little more explanation as to why he had shelved the idea of taking some time away from the sport and how he had motivated himself after feeling low. ‘I got home and I took a few days off. I just said to myself, “Look, there’s no point in feeling sorry for yourself here – you’re not playing great, you need to go and work.” I was hitting it well, and I felt as if all parts of my game were pretty good but it was putting it all together on the golf course,’ he explained. ‘So, last week, back home all I concentrated on was playing golf, playing with my buddies, playing with anyone, but just trying to go out there and shoot a score. I played Royal County Down on Thursday, Royal Portrush on Friday – and played pretty good at both. I shot 67 on Portrush on Friday, and I thought, well, if I can shoot 67 around here in a pretty good breeze, then I can shoot it anywhere.
‘That was my mindset coming in here. I knew I was playing pretty good. To be honest, I didn’t get much out of my rounds on Thursday and Friday, but obviously I made up for it on the weekend.’
And, finally, he touched upon that old cookie: expectation – and the fear it brought. He explained: ‘Yeah, I definitely felt the expectation, though I had never felt it up until this year. I got myself into the Top 10 in the world. I felt as if I should be going out there competing in every event I played. I got to 7th in the world at the start of the year, so I was thinking, well, if I’m the seventh-best golfer in the world I should be going out and competing.
‘I was putting a lot of pressure on myself, which you shouldn’t. Sometimes you need to sit back and say, look, you’re only 20, 21 years old, and you’re doing pretty well, and just put things into perspective. I was probably trying to get to that point too soon – the way I was pushing and pushing – and it probably wasn’t great for my game. After The Masters, I’ve just tried to free it all up, relax a little bit and just go out and play. And it’s obviously worked this week – and hopefully I can have that same attitude going into the rest of the season.’
‘I suppose I just got into the zone,’ he added, saying the win was also an early birthday present (he would be 21 on the following Tuesday). ‘I hadn’t realised I was going in 9-, 10-under. I just know I got my nose in front and I was just trying to stay there.’
Inevitably, there were comparisons between himself and Tiger, who had shot 74-79 and went straight home without so much as an interview. Woods had been 20 years and 10 months when he won his first PGA Tour event in Las Vegas in 1996, a month younger than McIlroy. The respectful way Rory now talked about the disgraced legend spoke volumes for the young Irishman’s character. Like Tiger, he was growing up in the spotlight but seemed an altogether more rounded, likeable individual than the man he himself had hero-worshipped. Rory said: ‘I think I speak on behalf of all the early 20-somethings out here. Tiger was the guy that we all looked up to, and the guy that we followed and the guy that we turned on our TV for, and the guy that inspired us to go out to practice so hard. He was the person that set the benchmark so high. We want to achieve that [his level]. Even if we don’t quite get to that level, it’s still pretty good.’
So, Rory had won his first PGA tournament and now set himself another goal – to land that first Major. He knew it wouldn’t be easy, that it would take dedication, concentration and hitting the sort of heights he had achieved in the last two days at the Quail Hollow. But he knew he would do it – it was just a matter of when.