Fellow pros take time out to celebrate with birthday boy
Birthday boy Rory McIlroy achieved both in spectacular fashion in Charlotte, North Carolina on Sunday. He played blistering golf in a final course record round of 62 that earned him $1.17m (€886,000) a return to 9th in the world golf rankings, 18th on the US Tour with $1,324,743 and a place in the European Ryder Cup.
It is a tendency of world class golfers to head for the airport as soon as they’ve completed their rounds.
Not so this time. Pádraig Harrington hung around for the best part of two hours to congratulate him. They are compatriots so that was to be expected. But Harrington was joined by several others, including another major champion, Jim Furyk; England’s Lee Westwood, the man who pipped him for the Race to Dubai European Tour order of merit last year, and the Australian Aaron Baddeley.
It is, of course, very easy to be cheerful and amenable in victory but in fairness to McIlroy he is also gracious and courteous on his down days, of which there have been a few over the past few months.
He certainly is a breath of fresh air at a time when Tiger Woods is palpably failing to live up to his grand words of a month or so ago: he was as disagreeable as only he can be when interviewed by the Golf Channel on his way to missing the weekend at Quail Hollow.
McIlroy promised to keep today for some fun, though – it’s his 21st birthday, after all. He’s the youngest winner on the US Tour since Woods at the 1996 Walt Disney World Classic at the age of 20 years, nine months and 20 days.
“I’ll have a good time Tuesday but not too good,” McIlroy promised. “It’s a huge week coming up, the Players Championship at Sawgrass but I’m going to enjoy this and I’m going to enjoy my birthday and then get ready on Wednesday.”
McIlroy certainly was firing on all cylinders over the weekend at Quail Hollow. After making the cut on the number, he shot 16 under in the final two rounds to become the first player to win from that position since Chris Couch at New Orleans in 2006.
And he traced it all back to a 4-iron he hit into the breeze on the seventh hole, his 16th on Friday, to set up an 8-footer for eagle. When it fell, he went from three over to one over and two pars later, McIlroy had a Saturday tee time.
“It was the most important shot of the year, to be honest, it could have been the turning point in my season,” he declared.
Harrington was in contention for much of the final round but bogeyed two in-a-row on the back nine and fell back into a tie for 7th worth $US175,694. However, the disappointment didn’t prevent him from celebrating with McIlroy and pay him some well merited praise.
“It’s a big deal for him to come over here and start winning,” said Harrington. He wasn’t contending, wasn’t winning, and after getting across the line here, it makes it a lot easier for him going forward and it could make a big difference to his career.
“At home, no matter how he does, the focus is on him. When you’re not winning, not delivering, the focus becomes a burden. Now he can go from strength to strength. He will be a lot more comfortable with who he is, a lot more patient. The win is significant, very significant, at this time.”
Mickelson, who has now finished first and second in his last two starts, must surely be a good bet at Strawgrass this week. But he, too, took time out to laud McIlroy.
“He’s got all the shots, he’s got the game of a veteran and he’s a class act,” said Mickelson, who shot 68 on Sunday to finish four behind McIlroy. “He’s fun to be around. You can’t help but pull for him. Sixty two is one of the best rounds I’ve seen in a long, long time. It was very impressive. He’s an impressive player. He’s also a wonderful person, so I’m happy for him.”
McIlroy was clearly touched by the outpouring of support from his peers.
“It’s nice that the guys want me to do well,” McIlroy said. “And to have a good bunch of people around you and a good bunch of friends out here definitely helps because when you’re not playing well, it can be a lonely place at times.”
McIlroy, who hadn’t had a top-10 since he left the Middle East in January, shot rounds of 74 and 77 at the Masters and headed home to Holywood worried by a dodgy back and hinting that he mightn‘t play again until the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth at the end of May. He took a few days off and then he gave himself a pep talk.
“I just said... look, there’s no point in feeling sorry for yourself here,” McIlroy said. “You’re not playing great, you need to go and work. I was hitting it well, and I felt as if all parts of my game were pretty good, but it was putting it all together on the golf course.”
Rounds at Royal County Down and Royal Portrush, where Rory shot 67 last week, gave him confidence.
He was far from his best over the first two rounds at Quail Hollow and indeed admitted he didn’t really get going until the seventh hole on Friday. His third-round 66 put him within striking distance, though, just four behind Billy Mayfair and when he “absolutely flushed it” on the practice range on Sunday morning, McIlroy and his wily caddie JP Fitzgerald knew they had a great chance.
“Sometimes you need to sit back and say, look, you’re only 20, 21 years old, and you’re doing pretty well, and just putting things in perspective a little bit,” McIlroy said. “I was probably trying to get to that point too soon the way I was pushing and pushing, and it probably wasn’t great for my game. After the Masters I’ve just tried to free it all up, relax a little bit and just go out and play. And it’s obviously worked this week, and hopefully I can have that same attitude going into the rest of the season.”
McIlroy, Harrington and Graeme McDowell, who scrapes into the Players Championship field by clinging on to 50th place in the world rankings, move on this week to Sawgrass for what the Americans like to describe as “the fifth major”, all with their confidence higher after their respective failures to make the cut at Augusta.
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