BROOKLINE, Massachusetts – Rory McIlroy has been cruising the gulf of golf for the past few weeks. On Thursday, in the first round of the 122nd U.S. Open, he reminded everyone why his words carry so much weight.
McIlroy is a great communicator, full stop. He has taken on the mantle as the main spokesperson for the game of what his future looks like in 10 or even 50 years, and in doing so, he has offered enlightening insight, wise advice, and a way forward for a game whose balance has been. The LIV Golf-PGA Tour duel has been set aside.
There are other great speakers in the game as well, but they don’t shoot 67 in their first 18 holes at the Country Club.
The four-time major winner is in an eight-year drought when it comes to winning big ones, but McIlroy came into the week playing as well as he has played in years. A near-error in the Masters in April, a first-round advantage in the PGA Championship in May and a victory last week in the RBC Canadian Open, in which he won more than 20 times and held Tony Finau and Justin Thomas. – was perhaps his best advantage at the US Open.
His game right now is tighter than a simulated Tiger Woods t-shirt.
On Thursday, McIlroy built towards something almost perfect with parameters in the first six holes and two birds in his last three in the back nine of the field (he started at number 10). A ridiculous torque save on the hard 2nd par-3 hole, plus an impossible one from a bunker on the short par-4 5th kept the momentum down. Rory then made a birdie at No. 7 and No. 8 to bring his goal to 4 below before a frustrating bogey in the latter provoked a club launch and some words that NBC could not utter even if he wanted it.
McIlroy was unusually grumpy with someone who was tied for the clubhouse leadership at the U.S. Open. He was probably the 67th most angry he has ever shot.
In addition to the club launch, McIlroy was unloaded in a bunker in this 5th hole after chopping one of his juiciest rubbish into another bunker a few feet away. After his round, he called the players in front of his group to be slow and explained why he was so frustrated.
“You’ll come across things at a US Open, whether it’s lies or things like that, that you won’t really find any other week,” McIlroy of the 5th hole said. “It’s hard not to get frustrated because I’m going up there saying,‘ Go back to the bunker. ’The thickest roughness of the route is around the edges of the bunkers.
“I was cursing the USGA every time I got on the ball. It’s one of those things. It happens here; it really doesn’t happen anywhere else. You just have to accept it. I hit the sand a couple of shocks because I already had it. damaged, so it wasn’t like it was much more work [caddie] Harry [Diamond]and then I just reset and played a decent bunker shot, and then it was really nice to make that putt hole.
“But yeah, this week you’re going to come across things you don’t usually find the other weeks of the year, and you just have to try to accept them as best you can.”
If you’ve been following McIlroy for longer than the last three days, it’s easy to give him the benefit of the doubt for these outbursts. While he’s not without criticism for club-throwing and sand-digging projects, it’s also a bit of a joy to see someone who at times seemed sleepy at the big championships with clear, fully-engaged eyes.
When asked if he thought it was okay to show competitive anger on the golf course, to remind others of the significance of older ones, his response was great.
“Yes, of course,” he said. “Almost to remind you sometimes how much it means to you too.”
McIlroy’s top four wins have included the first rounds in which he scored 67 or less, and in those four – 2011 US Open, 2012 PGA Championship, 2014 Open Championship, 2014 PGA Championship – McIlroy had the lead or was in a point. of first place after round 1. This is likely to be a position you will find yourself in once Thursday’s round concludes.
Surely taking on the dynamic load of an entire sport has eroded their emotions in a way they might not even be able to recognize right now. When gamers, the media, and even top-level executives in the game are wondering what you think is the best way forward, the taxes are huge.
However, after the round, McIlroy postponed his role as preeminent statesman of a game that is a century and a half old.
“It’s just me,” he said. “I’m living my life. I’m doing what I think is right and I’m trying to play the best golf I can. I wasn’t asked to be put here. I wasn’t trying to be in that position. It’s just me.”
McIlroy’s problem is that he is perhaps the best rider in the history of the sport, and he could be even better speaking. His game gives gravity to his words, and gravity rules the world.
However, as the U.S. Open finds its starting point, it will be good to set aside the talk of brawls and messes between organizations that are fighting an unequal but inevitable war. Even McIlroy, when asked if he wants to win this tournament as a means to consolidate power to further turn the course of his sport, instead turned the focus from the future to the past and now to the present.
He did what we should all be doing, at least for the next three days, reminding everyone of the historic magnitude of the great championship that is now underway and that could soon be within his reach. A major championship that, from the unintended consequences of the regular season golf dilution, now means more than ever.
“Not really,” McIlroy said when asked if, as the heart of off-course sports, he was inspired to make a statement about it.
“It’s been eight years since I won a major, and I just want to get my hands on one again.”