Rory takes major step on the path to the top

IN THE normal passage of time, Rory McIlroy will probably forget that he shot four admirable rounds of 72, 70, 72 and 68 to finish two over par in the 2009 US Open at Bethpage and finish in a share of 10th position.

But an incident that occurred at the 10th (his first) tee on Saturday will live with him for a very long time.

He recounted last night how the Kim drove off first but as McIlroy teed up his ball, the gallery began to chant “Rory, Rory” and he had to stand off the shot for a minute or two until things quietened down.

“It was then that I saw a guy on the right side of the tee box who walks away about five yards, throws up because he has had so much to drink, comes back to the ropes and then starts shouting again,” he laughed. “Now, that’s what I call a loyal supporter.”

Nobody should be surprised at McIlroy spotting what happened. He has an insatiable curiosity and is constantly looking around and seeing who’s there as he walks the fairways. It’s just one of several likeable characteristics of a young man who is surely destined to go all the way in the game of golf.

A colleague commented during the week that “hopefully Rory will stay the way he is” – by which he meant that should he avoid the pomposity of some of sport’s personalities and remain the kind of guy he was brought up to be by his parents Gerry and Rosie. Right now, being nice comes easily to him. Some may doubt that because he invariably speaks in an extremely positive and confident frame of mind but in my view he does so in a tone and manner that suggests he is far from getting ahead of himself.

After playing his first 10 holes of the final round on Sunday night in two under par to stand +2 for the tournament and as many as nine behind leader Ricky Barnes, he still didn’t dismiss the possibility of figuring in the shake-up.

“If I can pick up four birdies in the morning and get to two under, who knows?” he mused. “If I play as well as I did for these 10 holes, I’ll certainly have a chance of getting into red figures for the tournament.”

In the end, he came up short but a 68 in the final round of a US Open is no mean feat by any standards and especially so for a 20 year-old playing in the event for the first time. As he turned to tackle the slightly less demanding front nine, he reeled off three solid pars before making another birdie at the long fourth, his 13th, to get to one over.

As the leaders struggled under the ever increasing pressure, he moved to a share of 10th place, fell back again with a bogey at the 7th only to recover his prestigious position at the death again as others slipped back.

He closed off with two pars for a 68, on top of previous scores of 72, 70 and 72, for a two over par total of 282 that would have been right in the heart of the battle at most US Opens.

“At six behind with six to play, I was still thinking of getting under par but it wasn’t to be,” he said. “It was a really solid round and while it might have been a little better, I made a few putts for pars that were crucial as well, so overall I was very pleased with how I finished. This is great experience for me and another good performance in a major and gives me a lot of confidence going into the rest of the season. I feel I have the game to compete in majors.”

McIlroy jumped on a plane from New York to Munich last night to compete in the BMW International beginning there on Thursday. After that, he takes a week off before playing the Barclays Scottish Open in the week before the Open at Turnberry. That’s an event that he is now focusing intently upon and surely one in which he will have every chance of going all the way.

You think I exaggerate? This kid can play and along with a smashing golf game, he has the mental acumen so essential to go with it.

He will need a bit of luck, of course, such as getting on the right side of the draw – which was the case at Bethpage, and a situation on which he capitalised admirably.

“Two top 20s in the first two majors of my professional career is pretty good and I feel as if I have the game to compete in these tournaments,” he said. “I was really happy with a few shots at Bethpage. I put a three iron in the bag this week that worked very well. I was hitting little half shots to take the spin off and when I missed the greens, I got it up and down a lot and that’s what you need to do at a US Open and I get a lot of confidence from that as well.”

SURPRISINGLY, McIlroy felt he didn’t learn a whole lot from the week, claiming that patience is one of his virtues and he believes that’s essential in majors. He pointed out that he had only one bogey in his last round, a reminder in itself of how he so brilliantly played the last 10 holes of his final round at Augusta in a remarkable six under par.

“Obviously it would be a little different if I was going into the last round in the lead and hopefully I can get that experience one day,” he said. “It’s now a case of getting into a position where I am in contention on the last day. It would be nice to go out in the final few groups of a major pretty soon.

“So now it’s on to Turnberry. You don’t get calm weather very often at links courses but if we do, I feel I can really do very well because most are short in comparison with modern day courses. Obviously if I hit a high ball with a little bit of run, it will go a long way. If Turnberry is benign, I’ll try and give it a go. I played it three weeks ago when it was still a bit soft but it could get very bouncy with a couple of dry weeks, while the rough was really long.”