Rory's Glory (7 page)

With his wrist heavily strapped, and a new seven-iron from Titleist to replace the one that was broken in the battle with the root the previous day, Rory went out and shot a +3, 73.

All things considered, and with so many big names missing the cut, he did very well to make the weekend. It was three out of three cuts made in USPGA's. Even then, he was not at all happy – and it had nothing to do with his wrist but everything to do with the 17
^th
hole in his second round.

On the 16
^th
, he swung in a fantastic birdie from nearly 50 feet to get to one under par for the tournament. The crowds went wild hollering and yelling out his name as he headed to the 207-yard par three over water.

With his new seven-iron in hand approaching the tee, he then changed his mind and switched to a six-iron. Looking at it anxiously in mid-air, he seemed to hit it a bit higher than he wanted.

He was shocked when it came down short of the green, and glancing over at caddie J P Fitzgerald, he muttered inquisitively ‘Wet?' Worse was to follow as he three-putted for a triple bogey which killed off all his momentum. His 2011 USPGA was over.

Another ‘Irishman' actually won that 2011 USPGA, and in the process also won his first major. Keegan Bradley was a most unlikely winner of the event. He and the rest of the field looked to be playing second fiddle to Jason Dufner.

Duffner, who had failed to win on the US Tour in his seven years playing it, was out on his own. With just four holes left in his round, he led by five shots. His first win looked assured. His first success was also set to become his first major win.

But even worse than McIlroy's Masters debacle – the young Rory had a full round in front of him – the experienced Dufner suffered a most amazing collapse. In sight of the chequered flag, he threw it all away.

Bradley himself looked to have blown his chances when he triple bogeyed the par-three 15
^th
. However, he showed steely resolve to brilliantly birdie both 16 and 17 to go into a three-hole playoff with Dufner.

Indeed, when the crowd burst into their Olympic-like chant of ‘USA, USA, USA' to signal the fact that America were about to end their majors drought, it seemed to give Dufner even more of the wobbles whilst at the same time inspiring Bradley.

As the playoff ended, and Bradley threw his arms in the air to celebrate victory, little did he know that he had just etched himself into history as the first golfer to win a major with a long putter. The 25 year old admitted afterwards:

When I was 12 I did a bit of skiing. I was competing in a slalom in Killington. I remember sitting on the top of that hill. It was raining, cold, sleeting and I remember thinking to myself ‘I love golf so much more'. But this is unbelievable because two and a half years ago, I was on the Hooters Tour grinding for survival.

Thirteen years later, and with millions watching him worldwide, his Irish roots were about to come out. In fact, it turned out that he was more Irish than many Irish in America. Perhaps even as Irish as many in Ireland! His aunt, Pat Bradley, explained:

We're an Irish family and we have that Irish toughness. He showed some real Bradley toughness out there and I'm just so very proud of Keegan in the way that he fought back and brought it home. He has also honoured his father who is a club pro in Wyoming.

Six times a major winner in Ladies' Golf, Pat is a member of World Golf's ‘Hall of Fame'. Her grandparents hail from Ballycotton in Cork and she herself is an honorary member of Old Head and Kenmare golf clubs.

Typical of Ireland, when Irish players Harrington, McDowell and McIlroy had long since fallen out of contention for the title, Irish television back home were trumping up the chances of Irishman Bradley! Expressing his own thoughts on the matter, he said:

My family is intensely Irish. I'm very proud of my heritage and I even have a shamrock logo on my golf bag. I was over there when I was eight and I really want to go back again so bad. I want to play in the Irish Open, I really do.
[His wish was granted in July 2012!]

In the meantime, Rory McIlroy could only hope that he would be the next Irishman to win the USPGA in 2012. After participating in it three times, he certainly had the formlines to win it.

But after the 2011 event, he just wanted to forget about that root of a tree on three.

*********************************

Rory had underperformed in the first three majors of 2012 and headed to Kiawah Island in early August for the 2012 USPGA with one last chance of major success for that season. Famous for holding the Ryder Cup in 1991, it is also full of dangerous alligators.

The 186 ponds which dot the course hold one of the largest populations of the reptiles in South Carolina. It is against the law to harm any of them. Spectators are notified by the many warning notices never to approach within 60 feet of them.

The creatures can cover short distances rapidly. Spectators are also warned that it is ‘strictly prohibited' to feed them with fines of $200 or 30 days in prison. ‘Throwing objects' at an alligator can lead to a whopping $5,000 fine and a year's imprisonment!

Armed with a bottle of water on a humid but calm day with no hint of a breeze, Rory looked confident as he approached the 10
^th
tee, his opening hole. The conditions were ideal for him and he could certainly tear up the course or ‘shoot a number'.

So it proved as he enjoyed a really good and satisying day. There were very few mistakes in an opening round of -5, 67. One error occurred at the par-three 17
^th
(his eighth) when his ball hit a lady and ricocheted back into a bunker. He saved par from 10 feet.

Recalling afterwards that, besides hitting the woman on the hip, he had also hit a teenager on the head at the British Open, Rory quipped: ‘It's becoming a habit, hitting people in majors. I'll try not to do it again!'

The lady in question left the course very happy when McIlroy gave her a ball as a souvenir, and then Rory was asked about another lady. Ireland's Katie Taylor won a Gold medal in Boxing at the London Olympics that same day. A delighted Rory said: ‘I'm so happy for her. It's not easy when everyone is expecting you to win all the time.'

There were a lot of good omens for Rory on that day. In the European Amateur championships held on the Montgomerie course at Carton House back in Ireland, fellow Northern Irelander Alan Dunbar equalled the course record with a blistering -8, 64.

Rory could not have been any happier with his own form. He was just a shot behind both Carl Peterson of Sweden and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano of Spain after the first Round. They both shot 66. But Rory seemed sharp and focussed and said about his 67:

I'm very happy. I love the set up of this course. I got my lines right but I know that today was the easiest day we'll get as the forecast is bad with wind picking up for the weekend.

Alongside Rory on 67 were the likes of John Daly and defending champion Keegan Bradley. Rory's good buddy Graeme McDowell was in a group on 68 and Tiger Woods shot 69. Clutching another bottle of water at the subsequent Press Conference, he said:

You have to have the right attitude going out there. Every time you hit it in the middle of the green here, you're going to have a chance, especially the way the greens are rolling. For me, it's just about giving myself as many chances as possible.

So many times in golf, as in life, a bad day often follows a good one. He came right back down to earth with a nasty bump in the second round. A score of +3, 75 slipped him back to a share of fifth place on two under and two shots behind co-leaders Petersson, Woods and V J Singh.

Petersson had an over-par round as well, which bore testimony to tricky conditions after heavy bursts of rain overnight were followed by a windy, blustery day. This weather pattern would disrupt play in the penultimate round.

In fact, in the third round on Saturday, Rory was exactly halfway through his round – and a good round – when play was suspended until the following day. The leaderboard, and the world's media, would show Rory in a share of the lead at six under with Singh.

When the players returned early on Sunday morning to finish their third round, Rory and the big Fijian Singh were a shot ahead of Australian Adam Scott. By the end, at seven under, he stretched his lead to three shots over Petersson and Trevor Immelman after hitting -5, 67.

The final round was full of twists and turns and acts and episodes that no scriptwriter could even dream of. And have you ever noticed how in sport, lightning really does have this habit of striking twice, and even thrice?

Sports competitors like to term it ‘luck evening itself out'. Carl Petersson was a case in point. You may recall that in the USPGA the previous year, a small boy picked up Rory's ball and left it back behind a tree.

Well incredibly and increduously, almost exactly a year later, a small child picked up Carl Petersson's ball in this final round, but not before the most amazing bad luck befell the big Swede at the very first hole.

Starting the day three shots behind Rory in second place, he incurred a two-shot penalty after he was adjudged to have touched a leaf with his club on the backswing when playing from a hazard. Touched a leaf!

Replays and replays over and over again (and slowing it right down) failed to show where the actual infringement occurred – if there was one. As Rory said himself a few years later when he was penalised: ‘there are some really stupid, silly rules in golf.'

Poor Petersson ended up with a double-bogey six and viewers may have thought it was the end of him and his bad luck. But valiantly, he made a couple more birdies before he was dealt another savage cruel card.

On the sixth hole, a kid picked up the Swede's ball and when Petersson asked for a ruling, he had to replace the ball. When he did, it ended up in a worse situation than where it had originally been.

However, whether it was his anger or frustration (or both), or loosening his elbow to have a right go, he hit back with another courageous birdie barrage. It brought him back up in the rear view mirror of the leaders but then McIlroy zoomed away again.

Rory scorched the front nine which was exactly the plan, as he told the packed press gathering afterwards. And Carl Petersson was not the only one making multiple birdies. So, take the back seat with Rory driving and hear it from his view, as he told the media:

I knew what Ian Poulter was doing (five birdies in a row to begin his round). I had a peek at a few leaderboards out there and saw he was seven under through eight or six under through seven so I knew he was off to a great start.

I set myself a target at the start of the day and said that I wanted to get to 12 under par. I got to -10 at the turn and knew I had a few opportunities on the back nine. If I played solid through 13 holes, then once I got through 13 I knew there were a couple of chances coming up and I was able to take them.

I saw with a few holes to go that I was six ahead – I think I was six ahead with six to play – and I also knew that I had two good chances coming up on 15 and 16 for birdies. You just have to stick to your game plan and not change it. And even if you do get so far ahead, you must stick to the original plan. That is what I tried to do.

He won by eight shots! A fantastic final round six under, 66, left him alone at the top of the leaderboard on 13 under. His second major, and he had also won the US Open by eight shots.

More records fell and one in particular was rolled out for a while – it being that Rory was younger than Tiger Woods when Woods captured his second major.

Actually he was only just a month behind Jack Nicklaus and three months behind Seve Ballesteros but the fact will always remain that all four – Rory, Tiger, Seve and Jack – were 23 years of age when they won their second major title.

Endless congratulations messages spewed out with Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny saying: ‘This is further confirmation of his enormous golfing talent and a clear signal that he has the potential to become one of the greats of the game.'

Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson and his Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness weighed in with their tributes, Mr Robinson saying: ‘Rory McIlroy has become the first golfer from Northern Ireland to win a second major. His golfing talent knows no bounds and who knows what he'll achieve in his career.'

Graeme McDowell led the plaudits from the Irish professionals adding: ‘He's going to be a superstar of the game, which he is already, but a real superstar. He's going to be the player that kids look up to. I mean he's got great attitude, great charisma and great character. That's pretty much it in a nutshell. He's great for the game – an absolute breath of fresh air for the game.'

Padraig Harrington compared him to Tiger Woods, saying: ‘Rory's proving that when he plays well, he plays like Tiger. Tiger turned up for a few years and if he brought his A-game, the rest of us struggled. Rory is now showing that with his A-game, everybody else is going to struggle to compete with him.'

Who better to have the final words on a fantastic major win (during which he beat Jack Nicklaus record margin of victory for the USPGA) than Rory himself. At the post-event press conference, he was asked what it meant after his efforts since his US Open win.

Wide-eyed like a child looking up at Santa Claus, and glaring up lovingly at the huge silver Wanamaker Trophy less than a foot away from his shoulder, he explained what had unfolded since the US Open win:

I think I made it very clear that I wasn't too happy with how I've performed in the majors since the US Open. I didn't really contend. Last Wednesday [eve of USPGA], I just talked about giving myself a chance and to be honest, that's all I wanted to do. I feel these days that when I give myself a chance to win one of these big tournaments, I can draw on the memories of Augusta, of Congressional and here today, and know what I did out there and so know what to do again. There's quite a bit of relief to get the second one out of the way.