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Rory McIlroy must turn back the clock and reproduce teenage dream round in bid for Open glory at Royal Portrush

Rory McIlroy must turn back the clock and reproduce teenage dream round in bid for Open glory at Royal Portrush

Daily Mail​5 days ago
The deluge that had been promised all day finally fell upon Rory McIlroy as he walked down the 18th fairway at the end of his second round.
An army of umbrellas in the stands greeted him on the green and when he had completed a two-under-par round of 69, mist got in his eyes.
When he talked about a day's play that had moved him on to the lower reaches of the leaderboard and kept him on the fringes of contention for a tilt at the Open, his thoughts wandered back to 20 years ago last week when he played the North of Ireland Amateur Open here at Royal Portrush.
McIlroy did not win the tournament that year. In fact, he lost 4&3 in the third round to Andrew Pitcher, from the Island Golf Club, just north of Dublin.
But earlier in the week a 16-year-old McIlroy played himself into legend. In one of two qualifying rounds for the North of Ireland, McIlroy shattered the course record with a brilliant 11-under-par 61 that included nine birdies and an eagle.
Contemporaneous reports of the day recall the word going round that he was on the charge. 'McIlroy's got it going here,' people were saying. 'You need to see this.'
McIlroy brought up that round on Friday when he was asked about the emotion of playing in front of his home fans and avoiding the ignominy of missing the cut, the fate that befell him the last time the Open was contested here in 2019.
This time, he is very much in for the weekend.
'Six years ago, I feel like I let myself down more than I let the fans down,' McIlroy said. 'It was a hard pill to swallow. This time, I've just gotten better. I know what I need to do to get the best out of myself in an environment like this.
'I've been somewhat close to my best over the first two days in little bits here and there. I'm going to need to have it all under control and have it all firing over the weekend to make a run.
'It's incredible to play in front of these fans. It's 20 years ago that I played the North of Ireland here and never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd be coming back as a Grand Slam champion, with the support of a nation behind me, trying to win an Open.
'I count myself very grateful and very lucky that I'm in this position and I'm excited for the weekend.'
McIlroy may not quite need to shoot 61 today to force himself into contention for what would be a second Open win and a sixth major to equal the mark set by Sir Nick Faldo, the most successful European golfer in history — but he will have to go close.
He will certainly need to go considerably lower than he has done so far here on this spectacularly beautiful course on the Antrim coast, after he ended the day seven shots off the lead set by world No 1 Scottie Scheffler.
If the Northern Irishman, still revelling in his win at the Masters in April, is going to make a move, it is now or never.
McIlroy played better than he had on Thursday and even birdied the first hole that caused him so much anguish in 2019, when he carded a quadruple bogey eight there and exploded any chance he had of winning the tournament before he had even begun.
But he was still bedevilled by a series of wild drives, on the front nine in particular.
No sooner had he birdied the first than he sliced his tee shot on the par-five second into deep rough, so wide to the right of the fairway that it was almost out of bounds.
In the end the ball was found, but it was deemed unplayable and McIlroy took a drop. Only sheer brilliance allowed him to save par.
He did bogey the third, but then birdied the fourth before bogeying the fifth after finding a bunker near a knoll at the front of the green as the North Atlantic glowered behind it. It seems to bethe McIlroy template — wild mixed with sublime. It is part of what makes him such an enthralling player to follow.
On the back nine, he stabilised. On Thursday, he only hit twofairways out of 14. On Friday he hit four fairways on the back nine alone.
On the 12th, he struck a monster 380-yard drive and left himself a 30ft putt for eagle. It flirted with the hole but would not drop and McIlroy leaned so heavily on his putter in frustration that his torso was perpendicular to his legs. He tapped in a birdie.
Another huge drive down the centre of the 14th paved the way for another birdie that took him to three under and within a couple of shots of the lead, but McIlroy could not keep the momentum going.
He avoided calamity on Calamity, the forbidding 16th hole where a cliff of green vegetation falls away to the right of the green, but he missed birdie chances there and on the 17th, where he pushed a 12ft birdie putt just left. Then the deluge came.
'I'm excited for the opportunity,' McIlroy said of the chance to close the gap on the leaders in the two days that remain.
'I didn't have this opportunity six years ago, so to play an extra two days in this atmosphere in front of these crowds, I'm very excited for that.
'I feel like my game's definitely good enough to make a run. I don't know if you can ever flow around here.
'This golf course is very demanding. It's quite visually intimidating off the tee. You know the holes you have to make par, you know the holes you have to make birdie. If you have one of those out of the blue days and you can get it going…'
McIlroy conjured one of those days 20 years ago. Now, he is 36 years old and there is some grey in his hair and he needs to conjure another one.
ROYAL PORTRUSH TEE ROOM BY JAMES SHARPE
Rain won't rattle Westy
Lee Westwood was playing the final hole of his second round when a torrential downpour struck Royal Portrush. The 52-year-old knows all about the challenges this great course can provide after tying for fourth place here in 2019, and the old timer sunk a 27ft putt to save par and sit at three under. 'Links golf is all about adapting,' said Westwood.
Imperfect 10 for Norris…
Poor Shaun Norris. After the South African (right) put his tee shot on the fourth hole out of bounds, he stuck his second in a fairway bunker, took four shots to get out, then pulled his approach into the rough before getting up and down for a 10. And he still birdied the fifth!
Par-anormal activity!
Justin Thomas tried to summon his own version of golfing magic.
His superb 29ft birdie putt on the par-three third looked destined for the hole only to curl around the back of it and dangle over the lip. When it wouldn't drop, two-time major winner Thomas pointed at the ball as if casting a spell and shouted: 'Go!' Sadly, his powers failed.
Bradley's Ryder Cup solution
US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley faces the awkward decision of whether to pick himself as a wildcard for the clash with Europe. But the issue could soon be taken out of his own hands. Bradley would become the first playing captain since 1963 and, following a round of 67 to go three under, he is playing himself into contention for one of the six automatic spots. 'We have a plan,' said Bradley. 'We have a "for instance" that could happen.'
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The golf is fine but it is the scenery I love the most
The golf is fine but it is the scenery I love the most

The Herald Scotland

time12 minutes ago

  • The Herald Scotland

The golf is fine but it is the scenery I love the most

To be honest, despite 40 years - more or less - of living in Scotland, if I say the word home I still usually mean Northern Ireland and that corner of the province at the top of the map slightly to the right of Derry/Londonderry. Which meant when it came to the TV coverage of the Open all I wanted to see were the drone shots of the coast. The golf I could take or leave. Read More On radio, though, the sport had a rather meditative, relaxing quality. Golf, like snooker, is the nearest sport to an ASMR video (autonomous sensory meridian response, but you all knew that), or, in the circumstances, ASMR audio. The BBC could package the whispery commentary, the satisfying smack of golf club on ball and the polite applause that results; the BBC could easily package it as a well-being broadcast. It probably helped that on Sunday there wasn't much sporting tension or jeopardy. Scottie Scheffler's road to Open victory was, for the most part, a procession. Local hero Rory McIlroy was one of the many who couldn't get close to him. Golf - with its inbuilt gaps in play as players hustle to catch up with their ball - requires its commentators to fill the airtime with little word portraits and that's the fun of it. Commentator Katherine Downes probably offered up my favourite, describing the fifth hole 'tumbling down towards the sea' at Royal Portrush. 'This green,' she began, 'It just looks even better today on this clear day. The sea, that patchwork of blue … these lazy, low, frothy waves collapsing onto the beach after the long trip across the Atlantic, the white jagged cliffs carved into the coastline. It is magnificent.' Yes , it is, Katherine. I've cleaned that beach. Some 25 minutes later, admittedly, she slightly overegged things. 'I don't know if you can hear it overhead,' she said, 'but just as Rory McIlroy is lining up this putt there's an enormous flock of seagulls that have come calling and corring down the hill as if to cheer on McIlroy. 'They're supporting the Northern Irishman, the Northern Irish seabirds, circling overhead.' Well, maybe. But they could also have been Scottish gulls on an awayday. 'They're must be 50, 60 of them,' she continued, 'and another flock, white flecks out to sea, settled on the blue water as McIlroy settles his feet into the green. This for a birdie. And in it goes.' It was all really rather soothing. Earlier on Sunday morning Northern Irish presenter Colin Murray was clearly enjoying his trip home for 5 Live. 'I want to start by giving you some stats. Six scoops of ice cream from Morelli's, five packets of Tayto crisps, four packets of Ritchie's Cinnamon Lozenges, three Maine pineappleades two Ulster fries and a cheeky Chinese from the Red Dragon in Ballycastle; the Open has ruined any chance of me making my summer weight.' That sounds like a perfect Northern Irish summer if you ask me. Oh, and you can get Morelli's ice cream in Tesco in Scotland now, by the way. There was something rather ASMRish too about Five Leaves Left Revisited, a new 6 Music documentary which aired in the early hours of Tuesday morning. All that delicate music and whispering vocals from one of British folk music's lost boys. Presented by Radiohead's Ed O'Brien, the programme explored - as the title suggests - the story behind the creation of a new box set dedicated to Nick Drake's first album Five Leaves Left. Drake's own story has always been defined by its tragic ending - he died aged just 26 from an overdose of antidepressants - and by the fact that no one was much interested in his music when he was alive. But this documentary wasn't really interested in the shorthand legend of the man - the stellar talent crippled by stage fright and mental health issues. No, it was more interested in the music. And so we got early recordings of the songs that made up his debut album - just Drake and guitar and tape - as well as input from his engineer John Wood and producer Joe Boyd, as well as his sister Gabrielle. The result was like an extended feature in Mojo or Uncut, where every last detail of the recording process is nailed down. Rather nerdy for the uncommitted listener, perhaps, but Drake fans will love it. And listening to those songs again had the same anaesthetic effect as listening to golf club on golf ball. I was happy to let it wash over me. Radio as comfort blanket. Listen Out For: Acqua Alta, Radio 4, Sunday, July 27, 3pm Even radio likes a good murder mystery. Julian Rhind-Tutt plays Commissario Guido Brunetti in this new two-part drama featuring author Dona Leon's Venetian detective.

Darts star launches into a bizarre rant about Scottie Scheffler's stunning existential monologue: 'He doesn't have to get an EasyJet or a Happy Bus'
Darts star launches into a bizarre rant about Scottie Scheffler's stunning existential monologue: 'He doesn't have to get an EasyJet or a Happy Bus'

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  • Daily Mail​

Darts star launches into a bizarre rant about Scottie Scheffler's stunning existential monologue: 'He doesn't have to get an EasyJet or a Happy Bus'

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Scheffler, who has now won £78.7million over the course of his glittering career, explained ahead of last week's major at Royal Portrush that he was 'wrestling' with thoughts over why he wanted to win so badly and that playing golf was 'not a fulfilling life'. After picking up the Claret Jug on Sunday, he appeared to claim that he hadn't articulated his point as well as he could. 'Am I grateful for it? Do I enjoy it? Oh, my gosh, yes, this is a cool feeling. But having success in life is not what fulfils the deepest desires of your heart,' he explained. "He doesn't have to get on an EasyJet. He doesn't have to get on a Happy Bus." 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I know I'm one of the best, probably top 10 in the world at the moment. Now I go home to see my wife, Arthur and Alfred [his children]. I'm winning. None of this is important. It's really not.' Wade was then quizzed on Scheffler's comments at Royal Portrush. 'I've got no idea what's happening in darts, let alone golf,' he replied, admitting he was unaware of who golf's world No 1 was. Wade then added: 'It sounds really disrespectful, I don't really care what's happening in darts.' The darts star admitted he 'tipped his hat' to those playing on the PGA Tour and DP World tour, adding that they were playing golf to 'provide for their family.' Earlier in the week he had suggested that he wasn't feeling 'fulfilled' by playing elite-level golf Wade, meanwhile, claimed victory at the World Matchplay on Tuesday night, but appeared to claim that the lives and golfers and darts players were 'not comparable' Wade, who has won eight PDC Premier events in his glittering career, then interestingly commented on how different the lives of darts players are to those of elite-level golfers. 'I'm not really interested in what another golf player says because golf players aren't even close to being on the pressure or the pedestal that darts players are put upon,' Wade told reporters at Blackpool's Winter Gardens. 'You can't compare that. When he gets in his private jet... he doesn't have to get on an easyJet, he doesn't have to get on a happy bus, he doesn't have to do all those things. 'So it's not comparable really. He added: 'It's quite amazing that darts players achieve when they don't have all that. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to be on a private jet and use a backward [private] entrance at an airport. 'But I'm a darts player. I will use easyJet, Ryanair, because I am what I am.' He went on to praise darts players for the way in which they go about their craft. 'I think what darts players do and how much they travel and where they go and how they get treated is some kind of bloody miracle,' he said. 'When someone like yourself compares them to golfers, it's not relevant, it's detached.' Wade stated that 'I don't really care what's happening in darts' claiming there were more important things in life He then challenged a reporter to follow darts players around the world to compete, while also referencing that it was not about the prize money that darts players can win. 'It's nothing about money, it's just how they travel. Would you travel 12 hours to get to a floor tournament?' Wade, though, was keen not to cause any offence to Scheffler directly. He added: 'Sorry, I didn't mean that in a rude way. That's just how it really is. 'There's no PDC player that gets any special treatment. I wish I was. I wish I did. 'If this guy wants to invite me on his private jet to go to a tournament, I'm your man.' He joked: 'I might even wash his car before it.' Scheffler: 'This is not a fulfilling life' Speaking last week ahead of The Open, Scheffler, who has now picked up 17 career wins on the PGA Tour, stunned reporters at Royal Portrush, by appearing to question why he was playing golf. Scheffler made similar comments last week in Portrush, stating that winning majors was 'not fulfilling from a sense of the deepest places of your heart' But upon winning his fourth major, Scheffler went on to clarify the comments, stating that he was 'grateful' to win The Open 'This is not a fulfilling life,' he said. 'It's fulfilling from the sense of accomplishment but it's not fulfilling from a sense of the deepest places of your heart. 'There are a lot of people that make it to what they thought was going to fulfil them in life, and you get there, you get to number one in the world, and they're like, 'what's the point?' 'I really do believe that because, what is the point? Why do I want to win this tournament so bad? That's something that I wrestle with on a daily basis.' Scheffler was clinical. In typical fashion he once again showed why he is the World No 1, beating his nearest competitor, Harris English, by four shots, posting a card of 17-under-par for the week. 'I've worked my entire life to become good at this game and play for a living. It's one of the great joys of my life and to win The Open is a feeling that's hard to describe,' Scheffler said after lifting the Claret Jug. He clarified his comments earlier in the week, admitting that he was hugely grateful to be able to have this level of success but that there were other things in life that motivated him. 'Am I grateful for it? Do I enjoy it? Oh, my gosh, yes, this is a cool feeling. But having success in life is not what fulfils the deepest desires of your heart. On the 18th green, Scheffler was joined by his young son Bennett and his wife Meredith. His face immediately lit up when the American, who now only needs to win the US Open to win the Career Grand Slam, saw his family 'Just because you win a golf tournament doesn't make you happy - but I'm pretty excited to celebrate this one.' On the 18th green, Scheffler was joined by his young son Bennett and his wife Meredith. His face immediately lit up when the American, who now only needs to win the US Open to win the Career Grand Slam, saw his family. 'When I saw my family, that was a pretty special feeling,' Scheffler said, after he had admitted that he'd quit golf if it ever had an effect on his family. 'It's one that's very hard to describe. It's something I'm very grateful for and something that I'll hold on to for a long time.'

Rory McIlroy's 'disgusting behaviour' claim from PGA Tour star's dad rubbished by Open winner
Rory McIlroy's 'disgusting behaviour' claim from PGA Tour star's dad rubbished by Open winner

Daily Mirror

timean hour ago

  • Daily Mirror

Rory McIlroy's 'disgusting behaviour' claim from PGA Tour star's dad rubbished by Open winner

The father of Xander Schauffele has sensationally claimed he will not be attending the 2025 Ryder Cup following Rory McIlroy's behaviour in 2023, and one golf legend has now hit back Two-time major champion Tony Jacklin has fired back at the father of 2024 Open winner Xander Schauffele, after he stated he would boycott the Ryder Cup. Stefan Schauffele criticised Rory McIlroy's conduct at the 2023 Ryder Cup as "disgusting." ‌ McIlroy was involved in a confrontation with members of the US team and exchanged heated words with Patrick Cantlay's caddie, Joe LaCava, at Italy's Marco Simone Golf and Country Club. Europe ultimately secured a 161⁄2-111⁄2 victory at the event. ‌ The dispute escalated when McIlroy felt that Cantlay celebrated his match-winning putt for too long, preventing him from finishing his own game. The altercation continued in a car park, where McIlroy was overheard calling the situation "a f*****g disgrace." ‌ The issue was eventually resolved, with LaCava reportedly offering an apology, reports Belfast Live. However, Schauffele Snr's remarks have irked 81-year-old Jacklin, a Hall of Famer and former Ryder Cup captain. Speaking to Champions (UK) Plc, a business consultancy based in the Midlands, Jacklin defended the competitive spirit of the Ryder Cup. He said: "One thing that p****d me off was the comments from Stefan Schauffele, when he said the Ryder Cup is losing its lustre because of the behaviour of the players and fans, and said Rory's reaction last time was 'disgusting'. "But Rory was absolutely right in what he did. You'll always get heated moments in matches. I remember in Boston when the Americans ran on the green, I was the first to say there was no malice behind it, and that it was just pure exuberance. "Obviously there has to be that mutual respect between the teams, but there's always elements of the media that take them out of context. The Ryder Cup is still a must-watch, a hugely important event in the game of golf. I have every reason to believe Europe can do it again." ‌ The 2023 incident also saw Shane Lowry quickly usher McIlroy away from the clubhouse and into a courtesy car after the golf star was seen angrily shouting near Justin Thomas' caddie Jim 'Bones' Mackay. McIlroy later admitted that he experienced a moment of "red mist" during the altercation but assured that they resolved the issue afterwards. "Things happen in the heat of the moment, tensions were high," McIlroy said to the BBC."Joe LaCava came into the European team room on the Sunday night and had a drink and a chat." ‌ Last week, Schaufelle Snr shocked the golfing world by announcing his decision to skip the New York-based competition in September. Stefan expressed his frustration with the abuse Lowry's wife, Wendy, endured at the 2021 contest at Whistling Straits and the ongoing controversy over US stars receiving payments to play in the prestigious tournament. "I'm not going to the Ryder Cup," he said. "I'm afraid of what's going to happen in New York. I was there [at Whistling Straits in 2021] when they called Shane Lowry's wife a w**** in front of him. I couldn't believe my ears. "I saw what happened in Rome [in 2023]. That was utterly disgusting, claiming this money bulls***. And Rory behaved disgustingly in my opinion. It's only going to get worse. It's ruined my appetite for the Ryder Cup. It becomes unwatchable." The 45th Ryder Cup is set to take place at the Bethpage Black Course in Farmingdale, New York, from September 26–28, 2025.

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