America wants McIlroy to avoid Morgan’s fate

WERE the circumstances any different, the question could be asked of young Rory McIlroy: Have you ever heard of Gil Morgan? Cold that it would be, the question has merit in light of the performance McIlroy has scripted through two days of the 111th US Open.

For background purposes, Morgan is for the most part an afterthought in PGA Tour annals, a guy who won a handful of tournaments that have been long forgotten, but known mostly to only friends and family.

Oh, and for trivia buffs, Morgan is the first player to ever push double-digits under par in a US Open. It happened in 1992 at Pebble Beach when, early in the third round, Morgan got to 10 under. Morgan had opened 66-69 that year to seemingly set in motion a runaway, only that never materialised.

With a third-round 77 and a closing 81, Morgan crashed into a share of 13th and from three up through 36, he wound up eight behind Tom Kite.

Now there aren’t many times when you would pair up McIlroy, a young and personable kid from county Down, with Morgan, a 64-year-old from Oklahoma who is best known for holding a doctor of optometry degree in addition to a PGA Tour resume. But for this tale, the connection fits, because with scintillating rounds of 65 and 66, McIlroy joins Morgan on the short list of those who have pushed under par by double-digits.

Tiger Woods (2000), Jim Furyk (2003) and Ricky Barnes (2009) at one point or another have gone that deep at the national open, only more readily remembered are those who were the first to do something and the latest to do it. Thus the attempt to tie McIlroy in with Morgan.

Only it is a feeble attempt, to tell you the truth, and here’s why: While fans connected with Morgan back in 92 and felt anguish when he collapsed, McIlroy is hugely popular and the guess is the majority of fans want to see him make amends for what happened at the Masters two months ago.

That’s right, America is hoping its national open trophy remains in Northern Ireland. (Graeme McDowell captured it a year ago.) Crazy, eh? But it’s true.

Our passion for golf may be blurred by a red, white and blue allegiance every other year when the Ryder Cup is played but, on most other times, we cheer for talent, not passports. Given the fall of Woods, the graying of Phil Mickelson and Steve Sticker and the vanilla-ness of Jim Furyk, there’s a bit of a void on the home links, so you’ll excuse us if we find excitement in foreign products.

McIlroy surely fits the bill, as much for the way in which he’s conducted himself as for the golf game he has put forth. What he did to win at one of the PGA Tour’s best venues, the Quail Hollow Club, was the stuff of legend.

Roaring from behind, McIlroy closed with a 62 to outclass a dynamic field, and nearly every time he tees it up he is one of the two or three most popular attractions.

When he stumbled badly over the final nine holes to go from Masters leader to a share of 15th, McIlroy left the American public an indelible image. No, it wasn’t of him standing near the cabins left of the 10th fairway and surveying arguably the worst drive ever hit in Masters competition; instead, it was of him standing up at the end of the day and taking his medicine. McIlroy fielded question after question and was a far cry from the brooding Woods America has come to have a love-hate relationship with.

He handled a tough situation with great dignity that day. Now he finds himself two days shy of a fitting payback.

McIlroy is trying not to get caught up in it all. He suggests there is a lot of golf ahead of him and, while that’s correct, this, too, is true: He’s got a lot of American fans behind him.

After all, he’s not Gil Morgan.