G-Mac: Rory 'won himself a lot of fans'
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PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – Rory McIlroy’s frantic determination to make the cut Friday at The Open Championship, followed by his disappointment that left him fighting back tears after falling one shot short, left a huge impression on his good friend Graeme McDowell.
“I think Rory probably won himself a lot of fans last night,” McDowell said Saturday after his 3-under 68. “… It’s great in sports when we see emotions because sometimes these guys look like robots out here. We’re not robots. We hurt, and we hurt a lot sometimes.
“It’s a tough sport.”
The first Open Championship in Northern Ireland in 68 years has been an especially emotional one for the three golfers born here – McIlroy (from Holywood); McDowell (a native of Portrush); and Darren Clarke (a Portrush resident). While they’ve enjoyed being the homegrown favorites, they’ve also felt the weight of giving their fans a good showing.
Clarke was emotional as he hit the opening tee shot of the tournament Thursday morning, and was crushed when a triple-bogey at the 18th hole Friday moved him outside the cut line. The normally loquacious Clarke wasn’t able to discuss it with the media after his round
When McDowell teed off Thursday, he also acknowledged shedding a tear. His home club, Rathmore, sits just outside the main gate, and McDowell used to sneak on to Royal Portrush as a kid.
Three others from the Republic of Ireland – Padraig Harrington, amateur James Sugrue and 36-hole co-leader Shane Lowry – also understood the enormity of this week. Lowry said his legs were shaking on the first tee Thursday, and as the primary Irish contender now, he’ll have more support than anybody else this weekend. “There's no point trying to shy away from it,” he said. “It's an incredible feeling.”
As for McIlroy, the four-time major winner and a big favorite this week, he tried to keep his emotions in check, but it was apparent he felt like he had let down his fans after an opening 8-over 79. Friday’s heroic effort put a buzz in the air that might be difficult to match the rest of the week, his 6-under 65 matching the low round of the championship and leaving him at 2 over. Alas, that was a stroke too much.
Walking down the 18th fairway Friday, knowing he would come up a stroke short but receiving a standing ovation fitting of a Sunday champion, McIlroy finally felt the enormity of the week.
“I came here at the start of the week saying I wanted to do it for me,” McIlroy said afterwards. “By the end of the round there today, I was doing it just as much for them as I was for me.
“I definitely feel over the last week has been .. an eye-opener for me,” McIlroy said. “Sometimes you're so far away and you forget about all the people that are cheering you on back home. And then you come and play in front of them, it definitely hit me like a ton of bricks today.”
McDowell said watching McIlroy on Friday gave him a perspective he might not have felt the previous day.
“To watch him break down a little bit kind of … legitimized my tears in my eyes Thursday morning,” McDowell said. “I was on the first tee Thursday wondering what the hell was wrong with me. But when I saw Rory last night, I understand it means a huge amount to us all. …
“To show that raw emotion, to see how much it means to him, to see how much it means to all of us being out here and to bring this great tournament to Portrush, and for him obviously to not play the way he wants to play, the way he battled coming down the stretch says a lot about him as a person.”
McIlroy’s emotions touched others as well. Justin Thomas offered this tweet late Friday night.
Even though McDowell and Clarke have longer and more direct ties to Portrush, McDowell acknowledged that it was McIlroy who shouldered the biggest expectations. After all, as a 16-year-old, McIlroy set the course record at Portrush with a 61 (prior to renovations leading to the current layout).
“This was always going to be a difficult week for (McIlroy) because he was the Irish shining light coming in here,” McDowell said. “It’s all right for me and Darren and Padraig and guys like that saying it’s great. Rory was the guy with the spotlight on him this week. He was handling all the pressure. He’s done a phenomenal job. Rory is a rock star.
“He was coming in with the pressure of a nation on his shoulders and he was always going to feel a lot more than we did. So it obviously meant a huge amount to him … He was the guy with all the pressure on him this week. It’s a lot to handle.”
In addition to an entire country leaning on him, McIlroy was also hoping to end his drought in majors, one that’s now reached five years since the last of his four wins.
“He won’t finish on four,” McDowell said. “He’ll win more. I have no doubt in my mind.
“Five years is a huge gap for a man of his capabilities, no doubt about it. But people grow up at different rates. There’s so much happens in a man’s life. He’s met his wife, got married. Life gets in the way sometimes.
“I feel like he’s gone through that transition in his life and he’s spent this year trying to really get himself settled … I feel like mentally he’s settling back down and getting back into a rhythm again.”
McDowell said double-digits in majors is well within McIlroy’s grasp. At age 30, McIlroy certainly has plenty of time to achieve that.
“He’ll get fairly criticized this week for not playing well,” McDowell said. “But he had a lot of pressure on his shoulders this week. It’s difficult to come home and try and do what he tried to do this week with all that pressure and all that spotlight.”