Rory McIlroy – golf’s new boy wonder?
As Rory McIlroy’s latest victory propels him to golf’s world number one spot, Channel 4 News Senior Programme Editor Ben Monro-Davies looks at a remarkable comeback following that “Masters meltdown”.
Every golf journalist and commentator is struggling to find a new way of expressing the wonder of Rory McIlroy. Obviously there is his youth – he’s 22. There is his consistency – as @lawrencedonegan reports in today’s Guardian his record since August is freakish.
Others focus on his sheer chutzpah. Yesterday Tiger Woods – remember him – shot the lowest ever final round in the PGA tour, a 62. Still not enough to beat McIlroy. But perhaps for the most remarkable view of McIlroy’s one should go back to April.
Then McIlroy entered the final round of the US masters with a four shot lead. After nine holes, despite the odd wobble, he led by one. At the end of 18 holes he was tied for 15th. He had shot an 80 – something an amateur would hope to beat.
It was the worst round in history by any professional leading after three rounds of the Masters. On one green he took four putts. On another his drive headed so far left, landing in the garden of a nearby cabin that McIlroy joked on twitter he was trying a bit of house hunting.
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It was an agonising collapse, played in front of the whole world. The man dubbed as the next Tiger Woods appeared to be more Mickey Mouse. And no sport is played more in the mind than golf.
The stillness of standing over motionless ball allows the brain the freedom to go haywire. Disastrous rounds leave players on the psychiatrists couch for years – they can even end careers. Disastrous rounds on the final day of the US masters would leave most players sobbing in the dark and applying for one of the government’s work placement schemes at Tesco.
Instead McIlroy won the next major tournament he played in, the US open, at a canter. He has won all over the world. He has climbed to the summit in terms of world rankings. What many thought would be the defining round of his life at Augusta is almost forgotten.
Such mental strength suggests an almost desperate drive to win. Seve Ballesteros reportedly punched himself in the face on occasion after a bad shot. Sir Nick Faldo decided his swing wasn’t good enough to win even more tournaments, and completely rebuilt it. Tiger Woods focus on victory was remorseless until fire hydrants, divorce and ignominy got in the way. Whatever they had in their mental bag, McIlroy has too.
Perhaps we will only know if he’s truly placed a stake in the heart of his Augusta demon if, or when, he wins the Masters. Few would bet against him doing so later this spring – staggering when many thought he might never win again after Augusta 2011.