Rory McIlroy - 4 Time Major Winner

zocklie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120732609#Comment_120732609

It's always the small things that have the biggest effect. He's actually playing out of his skin, just can't get it into the hole, but they're all like that it seems.

NIMAN

Round of 70 just not good enough to out pressure in Clark

mjsc1970

Yep. But not for the want of trying though.

sReq | uTeK

Gutted for him. Just another St Andrew, couldn't buy a putt.

lbunnae

Yas fall for it everytime.

Mantis Toboggan

Dissapointing not see him birdie either 6 or 8, had a feeling we had another St Andrews, not sure I've the heart to watch it back.

sligeach

Disappointing to see Rory has lost out by a single shot.

Nigzcurran

Hard luck Rory

lbunnae

Hitting his worst round of the week in the 4th again. Seems to be the case at the moment , or if he's out of contention the 4th will be the best round of the week. He didn't do a lot wrong last night in fairness, I thought that he doesn't have the mind to win another major but I'm not sure anymore , to me watching him the last few days he didn't let much pressure get to him.

Mushy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120732838#Comment_120732838

He played grand golf last night. Nobody was making any putts, nobody was giving themselves easy birdie chances consistently. Its a final round of a major on a dried out course, they key was avoiding mistakes....that was done for the most part, in as much as you could expect for a round of golf. Was Clarks worst round too, his scrambling saved him big time, seriously clutch....was probably 1 bad lie away from falling apart

lbunnae

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120732876#Comment_120732876

Yeah he played grand , it was still his worst round of the week. Same as last time he was in contention. But yeah it was Clark and Fowler's too.

coolshannagh28

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120732838#Comment_120732838

This is the first real progress for Rory in years , he played controlled golf and didnt blow it or choke , this is the mindset that will win him more Majors.

boardise

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120732739#Comment_120732739

Indeed ...but my nightmare scenario was that he'd lose out in a play-off.

lbunnae

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120733094#Comment_120733094

Yeah I agree , I said above I didn't think he would win another cos of his mind , this week has made me rethink that. Seems more a question of when now.

cosatron

he played great golf all weekend. his course management was great, used the 3 wood allot more and his long iron play was great, some of his wedge play was iffy but improved from canada. Made some great putts yesterday but they just didn't go in. His mindset is much improved. i think the whole liv thing played on his mind so now its over, i think his relieved. You got to remember how bad he was at the master and to turn it around in 2 months shows his mental strength. If he plays like this in hoylake, he will win it.

the.red.baron

such a terrible golfer only coming second in the US open, amatoor level stuff 🤣

needs to get Harry Styles off the bag and bring in Ed Sheeran

PARlance

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120732543#Comment_120732543

Sky commentary team really did try to make a huge deal out of that... thought it was very poor form from them in an attempt to create some drama..."if you called four separate referees over, I'm not sure they would all give the same ruling" and nonsense like that.

Rory did call a ref over and she did take her time but it was the final round of a major. It looked impossible for the ball not to have been plugged imo. Otherwise it was in the bunker.

Once I saw Clark hitting the green in two after that, it was goodnight for me.

A good display from Rory for the four days, something to build on ahead of the Open.

Kincora2017

Even though it feels like one that got away, he was largely excellent yesterday. 1 wayward drive on the back 9 ended up in a bogey- the margins are so fine, especially when conditions seemed to be incredibly tough.

although I somewhat irrationally dislike Cam Smith, he’s a hell of a player and one of the best putters I’ve ever seen. He’s going to have a say in a lot of majors going forward.

boardise

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120732823#Comment_120732823

In a way it's a choker for Rory. He beats Scheffler , Rahm, Koepka and all the other top rankers and then up pops someone who only won his first PGA event 6 weeks ago , had played in 6 majors with 4 MC and a best 75th place finish.

Hats off to Clark who seems a genuine sort who has worked hard to get to this point but who would have thought he'd be the one standing between Rory and the title.

If Rory's head goes the right way after he's absorbed this I think he'll give it a right good rattle at the Open.

antimatterx

The missed eagle on the first and birdie on the 14th killed him. It was there for the taking.

A major is coming for him. Hopefully it's the open next month, but he's playing really well lately.

daithi7

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120733094#Comment_120733094

This is what I think after it too.

He is a top class player, in top class form and he's steadily illustrating the mindset & dominance (normally) required to win more majors.

His wedge play to & putting on lightning fast greens both need to continue to improve (as with most players btw), but I can see big progress in both his all round game, game management and mentality & that all augurs well for more major victories imho.

slave1

Bottom line is his 34putts (36 in St Andrews) was the second most putts in the entire field. He lost 2+ strokes on the green. Despite his GIR he only had two birdie putts inside 10ft....that's not putting pressure on and just not good enough to win a tournament never mind a major

bren2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120733813#Comment_120733813

Aside from maybe the bogey he made, there isn't a single putt I thought he should have made. His putting was fine. Nothing dropped and he needed to hole something big. A better chip on the par 5 and he's in a play-off for the US Open. He most certainly played good enough golf to win yesterday.

St Andrews was entirely different. The course was there for the taking. LACC wasn't.

daithi7

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120733813#Comment_120733813

Yes, and that's why his wedge play to, and his putting on lightning fast greens are 'work ons' that he needs to improve on. (As do many other players also) .

Other than that his overall game, game management & mentality are all right where he wants them to be, and he is in major winning form imho. He's a class act, & I'm really enjoying watching him play like this tbh, it's friggin awesome!!

Mantis Toboggan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120733501#Comment_120733501

Problem is though that if he doesn't win in Liverpool it's 8 months to the next major.

slave1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120733846#Comment_120733846

I don't think we can say his putting was fine, he was second from bottom on number of putts, to win a major you got to sink the putts, that what Cam did in St Andrews and Rory didn't yesterday, you just got to snake them longer ones

bren2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120734643#Comment_120734643

You cant compare the setups at St Andrews to LACC. There were low scores at The Open. There were no low scores yesterday for those in contention.

He hit 15 GIRs yesterday (first). That usually means you have longer putts then chipping it close and one putting. Clark hit 12 by comparison. He chipped close and one putted. He bottled St Andrews. He should have run away with it. He just lost yesterday.

He was very bloody close to winning yesterday.

techdiver

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120733813#Comment_120733813

This is why many of those stats are useless.

It makes sense to lead GIR and then have the most amount of putts especially on the course setup yesterday where it was almost impossible to get close. Those who miss the green can get up and down with a single putt. The putting stats are irrelevant as a measure of how well someone putted on those greens yesterday. Apart form the 8th, his putting was excellent. He regularly scared the hole from 30+ feet away.

Infoseeker1975

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120733813#Comment_120733813

He hit 59 greens in regulation which is unbelievable golf. The only putt he missed was on the 8th and it was a poor one, he had a few shaving the cup. If you hit lots of greens then you will have 30+ putts on crispy baked out greens that with the wrong pace you will end up constantly 3 putting. Played really well but Clark made a great up and down on the 8th given his brain would have gone to mush after his 3rd & 4th shot, unreal up & down on the 9th where the ball seemed to have stopped on the top of the hill for a few moments but the shot on the 11th deserved the win; they only briefly showed how far below the green he was, short sided, saw Rory's putt there from that side and it was electric fast - to take on that shot from a tight lie and execute was the shot of the week, all the top pros can play that but in the situation he was in, more than half the field would have bumped and run it up the hill to 20-40ft.

bren2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120734958#Comment_120734958

1st SG off the tee, SG tee to green, and greens in regulation for the tournament. 29th in putting and 25th around the greens. It was a phenomenal performance. Gained shots in every department.

I really think Clark went and won it. Rory was unlucky and with Liverpool around the corner. He hopefully will have a great chance there.