Just over 12 months on, Rory would land that oh-so important first Major – but there was still more learning and a lot of hard graft ahead. There would also be tears as he choked at The Masters. In this chapter we will examine his efforts up to the misery of The Masters in April 2011 – including his bow in the Ryder Cup.
He would show just how far he had progressed at The Open in July, held that year at the Old Course at St Andrews, Scotland. Rory had been singled out as one of the favourites for the tournament and lived up to the hype with a brilliant first-round 9-under-par 63 – two clear of South African Louis Oosthuizen and the lowest-ever first round score in the 150 years of the Championship, tying the course record.
Rory opened with an eagle on the 9th hole – and that helped him grow in confidence. At the end of the first day, he was also four strokes ahead of Tiger Woods and three ahead of John Daly. Before teeing off, he had said he felt confident: ‘I’m just really looking forward to the week. St Andrews at The Open is probably the biggest championship that we play and it only comes around every five years. There’s a great atmosphere and a great buzz about the place. I’m pretty confident around this golf course. I feel as if I’ve played well here before, so hopefully it’ll be a good week for me and if I can go into Thursday playing the way I have been the last couple weeks, there’s no reason why I shouldn’t be able to contend, come the weekend.
‘The course is perfect. The condition of the place is really good. I played here Friday, Saturday last week, and it was a lot firmer on Friday. It rained a little bit on Saturday, which softened it up a little bit, but hopefully it won’t rain too much on us and the course will continue to play nice and firm and fast.’
And after his magical first round, he told reporters at the post-round press conference: ‘It went through my mind on 17 that 62 would have been the lowest round in a Major, that’s probably why I missed the putt. But it was still a fantastic score. I didn’t get off to a flying start – I was one-under through eight holes, and then the eagle on nine really turned things around for me and I just got going from there. It was great to get into the rhythm of the round and get into a flow.
‘I think it probably is my most special [round ever] just because it’s at St Andrews and it’s The Open Championship. But the 61 [at Portrush] was probably slightly better, if I’m honest. I don’t know if it was because I was 16 or because – to shoot 61 around Portrush, especially the reputation that Portrush has [in Northern Ireland] – to shoot a score like that back home was pretty nice. But this is definitely up there. It’s nice to put my name up there with the few guys that have shot 63 in Majors. It would have been lovely to shoot 62, but I can’t really complain.’ It seemed the rest of the cast would be playing catch-up with Rory over the weekend but a day of inclement weather on the Friday was to blow his hopes apart.
Rory had said how much he enjoyed the first round in the relatively mild conditions, but admitted he was aware this could change. He said he hoped it would stay ‘the exact same as what I played in this morning,’ adding, ‘I’ve actually never played St Andrews when the weather has been really bad – that’s probably why my scores have been quite good. I wouldn’t mind the wind to blow a little bit, just so long as it stays dry, because I think this tournament – it’s very special this year being at St Andrews, 150 years and everything – deserves a bit of good weather. I don’t mind a bit of wind but as long as it stays nice and dry.’
But he would be cruelly out of luck, given the brilliance of that first day’s play. With the same conditions as the Thursday, who’s to say Rory wouldn’t have gone on to snatch his first Major a year earlier than it would actually take him – in The Open, at St Andrews? Yet by the end of day two he was just grateful to have made the cut, such was the dramatic, bitter turnaround in his fortunes as he battled vainly for form in a howling wind that would lead to play being suspended for an hour.
Rory carded an 80 and with it an unwanted record – no player had ever shot such a high score after going so low the day before in a Major. He made the cut with his 1-under 143 total.
Naturally, he was in low spirits at the post-play press conference, admitting: ‘It was just very, very difficult out there. I think all the guys were finding it tough and I just let it get away from me a little bit. I actually did well to par the last three holes – it could have been an 82 or an 83. I’m here for the weekend so it’s not all bad, but definitely a complete contrast to what it was like yesterday.’
He was asked if the suspension of play after the first three holes had disrupted his rhythm: ‘Yeah, I don’t think they should have called us off the golf course. When we got back out there the conditions hadn’t changed, the wind probably got a little bit worse. It probably wasn’t a smart move.
‘I felt as if I played the first three holes quite well, solid, and then I hit a good tee shot on 4, and then they called us in. It might have been a little bit to do with it – I’m not trying to make any excuses. Even from then I didn’t hit it well and didn’t put myself in the right places to try and make any birdies or make some sort of a score.’
But Rory being Rory, he was defiant – and said he still planned to ‘have a go’ for the rest of the weekend: ‘There’s a lot of big players that have missed the cut this weekend so at least I’m here for the weekend, which is a positive. It’s going to be tough tomorrow. It all depends what the weather is like again. If the weather is calm, I feel as if I’ve got a chance to go make a few birdies again and go low. And if the weather is like this, the wind is like this again, you’re relying on the leaders to sort of mess up a little bit because it’s very hard to make ground when the wind is this strong.’
True to his word, he hit back on the Saturday, carding a 3-under-par 69 in the third round. That round – which included six birdies, a bogey and a double bogey at the 17th – put him 4-under but still miles behind leader Louis Oosthuizen, who was on 15-under. At least he was in a happier frame of mind as he spoke about the round – and the strength of character that enabled him to get back in business after his Friday nightmare. He revealed: ‘I knew I was playing nicely – I’m not going to let one round of golf get me down. I really struggled yesterday but I think playing in such a strong wind yesterday made today feel not as bad, even though the wind was still quite strong. I definitely hit a few shots out there that I wasn’t able to play yesterday. I think it might have just been because I had 80 shots yesterday, so I had a little bit of practice.’
And he still hadn’t given up on the crown: ‘If the lead tomorrow is 8-, 9-, 10-under-par going into tomorrow, I feel I’ve got a really good chance because I know what I’m capable of around this golf course and I know what I’m capable of in final rounds. We’ll see how far off the lead I am and hopefully I [can] get off to a fast start.’
He was confident he could do just that and build on his third-round comeback: ‘To shoot 69 out there is a pretty good score and to shoot 63 on the first day, I know what I’m capable of – I’ll probably look back on the week and say, if I could have just made that 80 a 75 or whatever. We’ll see what happens, but I’m still confident that I can go out and shoot a good one tomorrow.’
And the confidence wasn’t misplaced for he would do just that on the Sunday at St Andrews with a final-round 68 and finish tied for 3rd, an excellent return considering his nightmare round of 80. As expected, Louis Oosthuizen lifted the claret jug, the South African finishing eight strokes ahead of Rory. Lee Westwood came 2nd, a shot ahead of Rory.
Generous in his praise for Oosthuizen, Rory said: ‘Louis obviously got the best of it on Thursday and Friday and got to 12-under-par. You know, so he’s 5-under for the weekend, which is still a great score. Louis has played so well and handled himself well under the pressure.
‘I know Louis well. He played with me in the final round in Dubai last year and contended for much of that. We’ve all known he was a great player for a long time. I think he needed the win he got early on this season to give him a bit of confidence. He and his wife have just had a baby so he’s in a good place right now. He’s one of the nicest guys out there and everyone will be happy for him.’
Yet, inevitably, Rory was rueful that he had blown his own chances with that collapse on the Friday, admitting: ‘If I had just stuck in a little more on Friday and held it together then it may have been a different story but I played really solidly in the other three rounds. After the round of 80 I felt I came back into it well by shooting 7-under at the weekend.
‘My game is definitely there and I can take a lot of positives from this week. I knew I had a chance coming here and it was nice to be leading for a while, but I’m still disappointed because I know if I’d played anywhere decent on Friday then I could have been contending for 2nd place at the very least. When you start a tournament by shooting 63, you fancy your chances over the next three days. It just so happened that it got very windy on Friday and I didn’t play it well.
‘It’s always satisfying to be up there in a Major but in these circumstances, after starting so well, it’s a bit disappointing that I didn’t challenge a bit more. I don’t know if I could have handled Friday a bit better; I had a day leading up to this week that was just as windy so I probably should have done better. I don’t really count it as being on a learning curve. Major championships aren’t won on days like that – they are won on days when you make birdies.
‘It’s not going to give me nightmares. I’m sure I will wake up tomorrow morning and see I shot 16-under for three rounds at St Andrews in The Open and had just one bad round. It’s there for me to win. I knew I had a great record at this golf course. I love this place, it’s my favourite course in the world – it’s just a pity about Friday. I’m heading home tonight. Probably going to go up to Lough Erne on Tuesday evening, play the Lough Erne Challenge on Wednesday and have a relaxed weekend – I’ve got a new driver I have to test out as well. I didn’t have it in the bag this week.’
The message was simple: it was business as usual despite the heartache of missing out on what could have been that first Major… and not just any Major, but The Open. And at least the tied 3rd finish had boosted his world ranking to an all-time high of 7th.
Next up was the 92nd US PGA Championship –he had tied for 3rd in his US PGA Championship debut in 2009 at Hazeltine National – and, as the scribblers kept pointing out, with it came Rory’s last chance to lift a Major at a younger age than Tiger Woods. Yes, if he triumphed he would be one day younger than Tiger was when he won the 1997 Masters. It was not to be, but again Rory did well at Whistling Straits, particularly as he kept his concentration during the fog-hit opening two rounds. Padraig Harrington, Luke Donald and Justin Rose were among the big names to miss the cut. At the halfway stage, Rory was among the leading Europeans in a tie for 5th on 5-under with Simon Khan.
Rory said: ‘I feel as if I’m in a really good position going into the weekend and I like the position I’m in. It’s a nice place to be, I could make a charge.’
American Nick Watney led the field as they headed for Sunday’s final round with a three-shot lead over Rory – who carded a 5-under-par 67 – and Dustin Johnson, so there was still a chance of Rory lifting the trophy. Watney doffed his hat to Rory and the other six under-30s (including himself) who were in the Top 10 on the leaderboard as they downed clubs on the Saturday. Watney, 29, said: ‘I think that there’s some really good players that haven’t won a Major. And all the guys that have at one point they hadn’t won either, so you got to start somewhere – and hopefully, tomorrow will be my day.’
Martin Kaymer, the 25-year-old from Germany who had won his fifth European Tour victory in Abu Dhabi earlier in 2010, said he was delighted that the ‘kids’ were making a breakthrough – and that he had been ‘surprised at how aggressively his contemporaries are playing.’ ‘For example, Rory or Nick Watney, they go for every flag,’ he said. ‘So, OK, on this golf course you can be very aggressive because it’s wet but it doesn’t matter if you have a wedge or a 3-iron in your hands, they are always going for the flag. I think that’s great, if you just accept and play shot for shot, and I think that’s the way Tiger Woods plays as well. He always goes for birdies and I think that’s a little bit the American style. It’s awesome, it’s great to see.’
Meanwhile, Rory had his own take on the rise of the youngsters, observing: ‘I’m not sure if we’re feeding off each other, I just think that we’re all improving and we’re all getting better every year. I definitely don’t look at the young guys and go, “Right, I have to be as good as him” – I’m just trying to get better. And I think everyone else is sort of doing the same thing.
‘I think the players are just getting so much better at a younger age. Their confidence is so high that they can take on shots that other guys just might not have thought they could. I don’t know if that’s because most of the guys swing it better out here now or whatever, but it does seem the younger guys are coming out fast and they’re just a lot better and more ready to win.’
He also made it clear he would not be fazed by the way he lost out at The Open, indeed it would spur him on: ‘I definitely have a chance and it is nice that it’s come right after St Andrews. I realise I’ve got a good chance tomorrow and if I’m not too far behind Nick Watney.
‘There’s so many other great players on the leaderboard – someone’s going to have to go out there and shoot a good score. It’s nice to have another chance. I wasn’t really in contention at St Andrews after the second day there; I did well to finish 3rd. And tomorrow I’m in contention in a Major, and it’s a great place to be.’
He was indeed in contention but he could not muster up that little bit extra to win that year’s US PGA. Rory three-putted the 15th green to fall out of a tie for the lead and his final-hole birdie putt narrowly missed the hole to leave him a shot away from the playoff between Bubba Watson and the eventual winner, Martin Kaymer. The Irish youngster was by no means disgraced, however – finishing tied for 3rd being of course his third top-three finish in a Major. He was playing consistently good golf and that elusive Major would surely come if he kept it up.
Afterwards, he was philosophical about finishing 3rd. ‘I was just sort of always hanging around,’ he admitted, ‘and just waiting for that one putt to drop here or there. I got a good putt on 14 and I missed one on 15, which was quite disappointing. But it’s been a good week – I’ll take the positives from it. It wasn’t the result that I wanted going into today, but it’s a learning experience and hopefully one that I can establish myself for the next Majors.’
So, Rory would now head off on holiday thinking about another Major that had only got away by a small margin. He knew that he would now have to wait until the following year’s Masters to try and win his maiden Major but he had a not too inconsiderable consolation awaiting him – a coveted spot in the Ryder Cup team of October 2010.
As excitement started to build for the event at the Celtic Manor Resort, near Newport, Rory would head to Wales with Team Europe. He was one of the 12-strong team skippered by Colin Montgomerie that also included Luke Donald, Ross Fisher, Peter Hanson, Padraig Harrington, Miguel Angel Jiménez, Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell, Edoardo Molinari, Francesco Molinari, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood.
The Americans would be captained by Corey Pavin, with the 12-man line-up reading like this: Phil Mickelson, Hunter Mahan, Bubba Watson, Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker, Dustin Johnson, Jeff Overton, Matt Kuchar, Stewart Cink, Rickie Fowler, Zach Johnson and Tiger Woods.
As they arrived in Newport, Rory & Co. were in determined mood – keen to avenge the defeat by the US in 2008 and regain the trophy. Then, it had been held in Louisville, Kentucky and the US had emerged triumphant, a result of their own desire to win the trophy for the first time in this century – plus the blunders of Team Europe skipper Nick Faldo. The Daily Mail’s Derek Lawrenson succinctly pinpointed why the US had gone on to win 16½-11½: ‘This was a Ryder Cup that will long be recalled for the blazing passion of a quartet of exciting American rookies and the desperate blundering of Europe’s captain Nick Faldo.
‘After almost a decade of American apathy, they didn’t just win the Ryder Cup; they saved it. They were helped, alas, by some of the most incomprehensible decisions ever made by a European captain. It was bad enough that three classic fourballs players in Robert Karlsson, Paul Casey and Henrik Stenson never got a game in that format on the first day, contributing hugely to the early three-point deficit from which Europe never really recovered.
‘What tied the noose around Faldo’s reputation as a captain was the high-risk strategy of loading the bottom end of his singles order on Sunday with many of his best players.’
Team USA had ended their run of three successive victories for Team Europe, their largest margin of victory since 1981; it was also the first time since 1979 when the Americans had led after every session of play, with Faldo outfoxed by his US counterpart, Paul Azinger.
But there was little chance of Monty making similar mistakes in 2010. In many ways, this was the pinnacle of his career and he planned for the event in minute detail. ‘He left nothing to chance, he knew preparation was key – and he proved a great captain, helping the younger players like Rory, encouraging them and keeping their spirits up, while also keeping his eye on tactics and how the event was progressing,’ a source confirmed. ‘He was excellent and deserved all the plaudits that came his way afterwards.’
Monty also had to deal with an imponderable – the good old British weather. It poured down on the first day and matches would have to be rescheduled after play was suspended.
Rory got off to a controversial start, claiming pre-tournament that Tiger had ‘lost his aura.’ He said: ‘After what’s happened in the last 18 months, I suppose a little bit of that aura is probably gone. Once I met Tiger, even before last year or whatever, you sort of realise that he is just a normal guy. He’s probably the best player that’s ever lived and likely the greatest player that’s ever played the game.
‘But you watch so much golf on TV, and you see so many things and you watch so many highlights – watching Tiger winning The Masters in ’97 and winning four majors in a row in 2000/01, you sort of don’t really believe it. You put him on such a high pedestal, and then you meet the guy and you realise that he’s obviously an unbelievable player but he’s just a normal guy.’
It was perhaps a provocative way to go into a tournament against the world’s No. 1 – maybe even providing Woods with a much-needed incentive to do well. But Rory did not allow the controversy to affect him as play got underway.
In the opening fourballs he was paired with fellow countryman Graeme McDowell – and his showing certainly lifted the spirits of the Europeans. The match against Stewart Cink and Matt Kuchar had been hit by rain and when it resumed, they were 2-down with 7 to play. Rory showed his worth by hitting three birdies as he and Graeme halved. The display brought words of admiration from McDowell, who said: ‘This guy was off the charts this morning, one of the greatest players in the world and one of the greatest players I’ve ever seen. We both struggled a little bit yesterday. With Rory’s first experience of the atmosphere, it was very hard to get any kind of rhythm going then but he was unbelievable today. One of the keys to winning in the Ryder Cup is having a great partner. I’ve got one!’
Lavish praise indeed: Rory admitted he had been slightly overawed by the occasion as he found his feet on the first two days. ‘It was unbelievable,’ he said, commenting after the first day. ‘I have never experienced anything like that at a golf tournament before. I was just happy to make contact with it down the first and had a good partner to rely on that won the first hole for us.
‘I’ve played OK. I’ve hit some nice shots but it was so difficult the first few holes, and you know, even like I hit two great shots on the second and had a tricky little third shot, it was just made a lot trickier because the fairway was so wet and if you mis-hit it slightly, it can make you look very silly.’
Of course, he was much happier after his day two showing with Graeme and said he sometimes had to pinch himself to confirm he was here – that he had watched the event on TV since the age of six but actually playing was altogether a different deal: ‘The real thing, it’s certainly different,’ he admitted, ‘it’s fantastic! Myself and Graeme said last night we didn’t have any rhythm out there; I thought we did really well this morning to come back down from 2-down and grab a halve. We could have snuck a win at the last but I think we probably would have taken a halve on the 12th tee this morning. I’m very happy with how we came out and had a positive attitude out there. We just need to keep that going throughout the day.’
Europe won both the foursomes matches in Session Three to draw level at 6-6 and set up a tense finish. Lee Westwood and Luke Donald beat Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker 6&5, and then Rory and Graeme proved too strong for Zach Johnson and Hunter Mahan, 2&1. Rory, who holed a birdie putt at the 17th to seal the victory, was overjoyed to chalk up his first win after halving one and losing one by a hole to Cink and Kuchar in the foursomes.
He said: ‘Today felt great, to get that first win under my belt in The Ryder Cup is fantastic, and to do it alongside this guy [McDowell] is even more special. He’s been great for me this week and he’s made my life a lot easier, walking the fairways with him. It’s been great.
‘For me it’s great to win a point but it’s more important for the team. We are rallying today and we just really need to keep it going to win the first two matches and lead from the front. That’s what we set out to do and we have been able to do it.’
He then paid tribute to McDowell (the man he dubbed G-Mac), saying the Irishman had been a major calming influence and had helped him no end: ‘It’s been great to play with G-Mac. At the start of the week, there was no one else I really wanted to play with. You know, he was the guy I wanted to partner. It was great to get three games with him. Even the match that we halved and the match we lost, the first couple of games, we both played very, very well. The team is great, but I just have felt more comfortable with G-Mac out there than I would anyone else. It’s been fantastic so far. As Graeme said, to play with one of your best friends in The Ryder Cup is very, very special and hopefully we have a few more Ryder Cups in us and we can play alongside each other again.’
But now Rory was heading for the singles and would have to cope on his own. Did that worry him? Not at all – ‘I’m up for the singles tomorrow. It’s going to be a great battle out there with whoever I’m playing, and it will be great to get out there and try and win a point for the team.’
For the first time in Ryder Cup history, the final session was played on the Monday after the torrential rain that had delayed the tournament on the first day. But it was another good day for Rory as he won a vital half point against Stewart Cink to help his team regain the Ryder Cup by a score of 14½ to 13½. Afterwards, the young Northern Irishman was delighted and said it ‘had been the best week of my life’ after mission accomplished, which had been ‘to regain the Ryder Cup and bring it back to European soil, to do it for European golf and for Seve and for everyone involved.’
Indeed, when it was suggested that the experience would be good for him as he maintained his push to become the best player in the world, Rory sounded a little piqued. It wasn’t about personal glory, he insisted, this was about the team: ‘This isn’t about me or the development of my career, this is about the guys that are sat in front of you here. It was a great match today with Stewart – he’s played great this week. I’ve played against him three times this week and had three really good matches. He’s just a gritty competitor – he holes putts when he needs to, he hits good shots when he needs to, and just doesn’t really let you get away with anything.
‘So, it was great to get a halve at the last and leaving my first bunker shot in there – yeah, it’s fantastic. This experience this week has been so much different and so much better than any other experience I’ve felt at a golf tournament before. And you know, I truly believe that this is the best golf tournament in the world.’
And it wasn’t just Rory who had been bowled over by the 2010 tournament. ‘This is the greatest Ryder Cup ever witnessed on either side of the Atlantic,’ declared Phil Weaver, chairman of the PGA, at the closing ceremony. ‘The stunning atmosphere of The Twenty Ten Course has been challenged by the conditions but thanks to the good people of Wales, we have overcome.’
During his victory speech, Europe captain Monty added: ‘This is the greatest moment of my golfing career. This was a showcase for European golf and it was a showcase for Wales, too. The standard of everything has risen to seven stars now.’
No wonder Rory was thrilled to have been a part of it. This was a truly magnificent, historic moment – but how do you follow something like that? Surely he would suffer a sense of anti-climax after playing in a world-class tournament such as the Ryder Cup when he was now forced to slog his way around the less-glamorous tournaments for months? Well, let’s not forget he still had one ambition to realise: he had won a Euro Tour tournament, he had won a PGA tournament, he had played in the Ryder Cup – but his main dream had still not come true. As Rory McIlroy entered 2011, he was determined this would finally come about. Yes, he would win that elusive Major this year – and his first target would be The Masters in April.