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Rory McIlroy entered Sunday’s final round of the 150th Open Championship with a share of a four-stroke lead and just about everyone at the Old Course at St. Andrews on his side.
Hours later he walked off the 18th green with a despondent look on his face, having fallen just short in a major yet again. His tap in for par on the final hole left him two strokes behind the winner, the brilliant Cameron Smith, and alone in third place.
Usually when someone blows a four-stroke lead in the final round of a major words like “choke” come up. But here’s the thing with Rory’s performance over the final 18 holes yesterday – it wasn’t bad, it was just OK and he’ll look back at this day for the rest of his life and remember that if he was just a little bit better he would have picked up what would have most likely been the biggest win of his career.
Rory didn’t choke on Sunday. Not even close. He just wasn’t great, which is something you need to be to wrap up a major championship. Cameron Smith was great yesterday, shooting a 64 with six birdies on the back 9 to win his first major. His performance down the stretch should be talked about for a long time because he went out there and won the damned thing. And then he had a great line about filling the Claret Jug with beers.
Rory, on the other hand, was just… OK. He had two birdies on his card and and no bogeys, which is stunning because usually a final round collapse involves bad shots and big scores. Rory shot a 2-under 70 and didn’t get an invite to the trophy presentation. Golf is a sick game, which is something that you know if you’ve ever picked up a club and tried to make it through 18 holes without feeling any sense of disappointment along the way.
Being OK on a Sunday at a major just doesn’t cut it. Rory learned that harsh lesson yesterday and he learned it in front of thousands of fans who were all craving what would have been a hell of a celebration on the 18th hole with McIlroy hoisting the Claret Jug toward the heavens while standing on the grounds where this beautiful game began.
Instead, Rory will forever look back his Sunday at St. Andrews and think about the few putts that just missed, putts that if they had fallen would have lifted him to a win for the ages.
That win would have been his first major in eight years, which is a narrative he would likely love to put an end to. I know I’m sick of it, and I’m guessing he must loathe it.
That win would have been one of the greatest moments in the history of the game and would have been quite an ending to what was such a special week at St. Andrews.
Moments after he walked off the 18th green, Rory did a live interview on NBC and gave such classy answers on how he was feeling and how impressed he was with Cameron Smith’s round. That’s just who Rory is – a superstar golfer who also is a great example of how one should behave not only in victory, but more importantly in defeat.
It’s a shame he didn’t have his best stuff on Sunday at St. Andrews. But as he said afterwards, there will be more major championship and he can’t wait to contend again in those.
And we all can’t wait to see him back in those situations. Hopefully, though, next time he’s just a little bit more than OK.
Quick hits: Ump very excited to make horrible call… Shortstop throws 100 mph laser to first… NHL mascots ranked… And more.
– The home plate ump in yesterday’s Braves-Nationals game was way too excited about making this horrible call.
– A shortstop in the MLB All-Star Futures Game threw a 100 mph laser to first base and fans were rightfully in awe.
– My pal Mary Clarke ranks all the NHL mascots from worst to best.
– MLB fans were feeling really old last night after sons of two former All-Stars went 1-2 in the MLB draft.
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