This year's U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 was as much about
Rory McIlroy blowing it with two short missed putts in the last three holes as it was about Bryson DeChambeau's remarkable up-and-down to win. https://twitter.com/usopengolf/status/1802463127872634926 https://twitter.com/usopengolf/status/1802469084547678499 That miss on No. 18 by Rory was a much tougher putt than it gets credit for, yet he also made a tentative stroke and could've given it a little more of a run to ensure he got to the clubhouse one shot better. The drawback was getting too firm and watching it race some 10 feet by the hole. It was actually his more straightforward miscue on No. 16 that really set the stage for his collapse. But Rory isn't dwelling on any of that. In an
illuminating interview with The Guardian , Rory spoke about getting over his latest close call at a major, and how it was the 2022 Open Championship that really gutted him to the point of tears. https://twitter.com/KylePorterCBS/status/1812880280736170239 Skeptics may insist that Rory is trying to distract the general public from his meltdown at Pinehurst. This totally checks out to me, though. St Andrews is named The Home of Golf for a reason. Doesn't get any more iconic than that place. Rory had a huge lead, was striking the ball plenty well, and hit all 18 greens in regulation during that final round. Unfortunately for him, Cam Smith happened to catch fire, as his superior putting prowess was the difference in a spectacular 8-under 64 on Sunday to become the Champion Golfer of the Year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcY6Ej4JoJY Not sure I've said it in this space before: Rory has had to contend with so many other amazing golfers entering the fray during his prime,
and he's accomplished so much in the sport that, if I were him, it'd be hard to get up for any non-major tournaments. There's only four majors per year. Rory has been stuck on four wins in those events since the 2014 PGA Championship, with 11 top-five finishes and three second-place efforts. Nobody faces more scrutiny or pressure coming into those mega-important weeks than him. Plus, Rory has won damn near every tournament that matters on the planet, save for The Masters and, honestly, less than a handful of others. His net worth is easily nine figures. Now think about all that as the backdrop for Rory as he braces for The Open Championship this week at Royal Troon. And look at how he views his place in the game in a banger of a quote to end that piece in
The Guardian: "I have always said I don’t deserve anything from golf but after St Andrews, LA Country Club, Pinehurst I am finally getting to the point where I feel like I deserve something. That doesn’t mean to say I’ll get it. I always felt if you say you deserve something, it reeks of entitlement. Nobody is entitled to anything in this game or life in general. You have to earn everything. But I feel like I am in a great position to go and earn it." I don't feel like Rory gets enough credit for how passionate he is about golf, or how hard he continues to work at building a greater legacy in spite of how adversity-stricken the last decade of his career has been. He sucks me in every time. Rooting for Rory is hard. But I'll never stop doing it. I maintain that the floodgates will open soon, and that someday he will indeed complete the career Grand Slam with that green jacket at Augusta. Many moons between now and his next Masters chance. For now, we're on to The Open, baby — and zoomed-in pelvic cams on the range. https://twitter.com/KylePorterCBS/status/1812867750613721364 https://twitter.com/TheOpen/status/1812859502992986158
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