Rory McIlroy - 4 Time Major Winner

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122292396#Comment_122292396

My point being, your friends may say it is easy to miss a downhill putt with plenty of break, which it is if you are an amateur, but I doubt the friends you are quoting are elite professional golfers, who expect to make short downhill putts.

bren2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122292619#Comment_122292619

name the stretch of 5 holes where he made 6 mistakes

Benicetomonty

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122293070#Comment_122293070

Wedge to 40ft on 3. V poor for a tour pro. Bad 2nd to 4, missed green right from the fw. 2 bad shots 5. Left a putt short from 14ft at 6. Weak. Missed greens on 7 and 8 with irons from the fw.

Hey, theres 7 mistakes over 6 holes.

bren2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122293257#Comment_122293257

I don't think you'll find anyone arguing they're mistakes. 5 was most certainly one mistake for example. I don't think you know what a mistake is but I'll indulge it.

How did his mistakes go from those which are pretty minor to missing fairways and greens in awful spots? Pressure

OEP

His irons weren't good round 4, strokes gained -1.81 so I don't think you can argue otherwise.

Rahm said the putt on 18th was difficult, so I'll take his word on it. Still, a pro should be holing it but it wasn't the gimme 16 was.

Benicetomonty

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122293294#Comment_122293294

They were mistakes though, werent they? Its a pretty all encompassing word and it covers all of those errors from which he was able to recover (3,4,7,8,14,17) and those that he wasnt (5,15, 16, 18).

There were only 2 truly awful spots he got into where recovery was just about impossible. One was 5, which was far removed from his choke sequence, as you saw it. The other was 15, which was a good shot but a fatal misclub. I dont see pressure having had a major influence over either of the shots that got him into these positions.

bren2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122293329#Comment_122293329

They were mistakes though, werent they?

See your selective interpretation of the word to suit a narrative instead of interpreting it in good faith?

No. For example, there's one mistake on 5. A 2 putt par from 14 foot isn't a mistake. By that definition of a mistake, every missed putt is a mistake which is obviously ridiculous. And I could continuebut Ill indulge it.

It's amazing his course management went from really good to really bad but pressure didn't factor into that according to you. Odd it turned on it's head the moment he took the lead?

There were only 2 truly awful spots he got into where recovery was just about impossible.

That's interesting, why was he able to recover on holes 1-14 (+1 mistakes) on the recoverable mistake but wasn't on holes 15-18 (+3 mistakes)?

15 was a bad shot and wrong club. Trying for a high towering shot and hitting it low. Everything about the tee shot was awful.

Benicetomonty

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122293366#Comment_122293366

I was trying to be polite, apologies. You see

'I don't think you'll find anyone arguing they're mistakes.'

and

'I don't think you know what a mistake is' is a nonsensical and hopelessly contradictory sequence of phrases. This isnt about 'bad faith', its about literacy and consistency. You seem to possess neither. And before you whine about emotive language use, the first person to use words like 'ridiculous' to describe my stance during our debate was your good self

It wasnt just a '2 putt' though, was it? He left it short. To leave a makeable birdie putt short when youre behind in a US Open when a player knows such chances are likely to be few and far between is a mistake. Nobody with any knowledge of competitive golf could describe it any other way.

Outside of the club on 15 (and Harry has to take some slack for that imo) I dont see anything especially poor regarding course management.

Between holes 1-15, 6 excepted, he made a lot of missable putts. Over the last 3 holes, he missed a couple of makeable putts. Thats all.

bren2001

X…

bren2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122293409#Comment_122293409

This isnt about 'bad faith', its about literacy and consistency. You seem to possess neither.

Attack the post not the poster

I didn't realize dyslexia made me illiterate.

Benicetomonty

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122293434#Comment_122293434

Youre a mod now are you? I was hypothesising (seem) not attacking.

bren2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122293446#Comment_122293446

Ill leave it to the mods to deal with it. Thank you.

Benicetomonty

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122293434#Comment_122293434

Dyslexia isnt the issue here. Dont know why youd bring it up, bit insulting and patronising to anybody who has a diagnosis, yourself included (assuming youre not lying about it).

bren2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122293470#Comment_122293470

Ill leave it to the mods to deal with. Thank you.

Russman

Jeez, we're setting the oul bar very high with regard to "mistakes" aren't we ?? Bloody hell. Seems a shot that isn't perfect is a mistake now. Golf is a game of mistakes and misses (and a bit of luck too), that's why they carry wedges and putters. Look at yer man shooting 59 the other day with only 6 fairways hit. Useless fecker was making mistakes all day long 😀. The tour guys hit the ball more or less the same, more or less all the time, with some exceptions obviously. Usually the only difference between a 67 and 72 is up and down a few more times or a few more putts holed.

All that said, I don't dispute for second that Rory messed up big time. I'd actually give him a small bit of a pass on the putt on 18, there was serious break in it on those very fast greens, but the one on 16 was a killer IMO. I don't know how it happened, carelessness, a loss of concentration, a twitch, who knows. The tee shot on 15 was definitely a mistake IMHO, that should have been 8 iron to the front all day long. For me, 17 was fine, not that bad a tee shot, good bunker shot and a putt, no issues. The next mistake was the choice of driver on 18, was it influenced by Bryson's tee shot on the par 3 ? So, I think 2 mental lapses and a missed tap in (which may have been another mental lapse too) in that run of holes. You can be sure he and everyone else made plenty of "mistakes" in the rest of their rounds too.

boardise

From my own experience I've formed the view that for any distance putts of about 15 ft. or longer ( with no particular complications like e.g. a double ridge ) a leave of 10 % or less of the distance constitutes a decent effort . So for a 25 ft. putt a leave of 2 1/2 ft would not be a bad putt in my estimation.

Quango Unchained

Hank Haney was forgiving of the missed putt on 18. He said it was a hard putt - left to right downhill on lightning fast greens.

16 he says was awful - no excuses.

According to him, the over-club on the par 3 15th was the big mistake and Tiger never would have done this.

It will be interesting to hear Rory's take on events on why he hit a 6 here and not 7.

Obviously not using the same irons now but this quote from Rory from ten years ago may explain why:

“My favorite club in the bag is actually the one I practice with the most when I’m on the range, which is my (Nike VR Pro Blade) 6-iron. It’s my go-to club when I’m working on something in particular because it’s right there between a long iron and a short iron. For me, I can hit a bunch of different shots with it, and over the years, it’s really served me well on the range and the course.

“I’ve actually become pretty accurate on approach shots from 175-200 yards because I spend so much time practicing with my 6-iron. I’m typically inside the top 5 or close to it every year in the PGA Tour proximity to the hole stat from 175-200 yards. I started using the VR Pro when I came on board with Nike and really like the look and shape of the iron.”

bren2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122298064#Comment_122298064

why he hit a 6 here and not 7.

He hit a 7 iron. The question is why did he hit 7 not 8.

5.39pm below:

https://nolayingup.com/blog/2024-us-open-back-nine

Mushy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122298064#Comment_122298064

Hank did say about the caddie issue, that Steve Williams wouldn't allow such a bad decision. To which it was pointed out that Williams was there when Scott bogeyed 4 in a row at the Open

Quango Unchained

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122298149#Comment_122298149

Ah right - was going off my bad memory there.

But I have checked this and Rory bogeyed the 15th hole in rounds 2 and 3 and was short of the green both times so with that in mind, it is understandable that he went through the green on the last round.

Benicetomonty

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122298268#Comment_122298268

Any missed green around that place is going to leave a tricky shot but long on 15 goes into the wiregrass where any kind of playable lie is total pot luck and you still have a 20ft shaved rise to navigate for your 2nd. For Rory to even get that shot on the green was impressive in a way that many wont or cant really appreciate; his lie was awful, to the point where he had to drag the iron away from the grass during the stroke to even make a pass at the ball.

Short wouldnt have been great at all but he wouldve had a lie, and if you give him a lie, the way he chips and the way he was chipping all day (and putting), he was odds on to get up and down. Where he hit it, I think he makes 4 (or worse) 85pc of the time

It was purely a misclub. The swing and shot were both made to order, a sawed off, cut 7 iron that was simply 1 club out. Again, I dont know how much input Harry had, but I think, despite his referencing the 2 short putts in his statement, the shot on 15 might be the one that niggles him the most 25 years from now, purely because he hit a solid shot and made bogey.

eagle eye

I don't want to see him win the Scottish. I'll be happy with a nice top 10 finish. I just have this feeling that he'll win in Troon if he has a decent week, and not a win, in Scotland.

I'd be of the opinion that he's worked harder on his game and the mental side of things over the last couple of weeks than maybe he ever has before.

coillcam

He did little wrong when Cam Smith putted the lights out. Rory didn't make much that day. Sometimes it's not your day and major golf is tough. I'd be surprised if he doesn't have a good performance.

valoren

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122298265#Comment_122298265

Nothing Williams can do about a player mishitting their shots based on the yardage and clubs advised. I don't think Scott was misclubbed or questioned any club he was given during that 4 hole stretch. He choked under the pressure. Haneys point is that McIlroy was misclubbed or since he went over the green at a crucial point. That this was something which rarely, if ever happened, during the Woods/Williams days i.e. if Woods went over the green at such a crucial point then it would either have had to be a complete mishit on a good club/yardage or a perfectly struck shot which missed because of a misclub, that it wouldn't be a choke because he is Tiger.

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122362930#Comment_122362930

Well Rory wasn't 'misclubbed' because his caddy never has a say.

blackwhite

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122362930#Comment_122362930

I was following Scott in Lytham that Sunday.

He had a nightmare on 16th green, and then disappeared into a portaloo for a couple of minutes to try to regather himself. Williams was left standing nearby with the bag, wondering what the hell to do with himself.

Even after another bogey on 17 - par on 18 would have made a play off. Poor shot selection off the tee had him up against the face of a fairway bunker and he ended up bogeying. Lots of players took iron off the tee on 18 that day - Scott took 3 wood and it killed off his playoff chance.

cosatron

good opening round today from Rory. Handle himself fairly well yesterday in the interviews.

Barnaboy

Surprised this thread is so quiet after Rory's return to action. It was a decent week. In my opinion it was ruined by the few holes around the turn yesterday. After being so patient at the US Open he was back to normal.

Chasing pins when no need to, stupid bogies on 7 and 9 and only par on 10. Before all that he was only 2 or 3 back with both Bob and Aberg struggling.

I was hoping to see a really strong mental game this week from him. Unfortunately don't think it is there yet.

Looking like the major drought will continue into 2025. Prove me wrong Rory!

cosatron

4 rounds in the red a week before an open and haven't played a tournament in a month was a good tune up. Delighted for Rob McIntrye.

eagle eye

I have to say that he looked great but missed a few short putts again. He needs to get that sorted before the weekend.