WHO KNOWS? If the wind hadn’t whipped into a frenzy on Friday. If he’d managed a practice round in those conditions which blew his quest for a Claret Jug off course? If. If. If.
Yet, as Rory McIlroy drove the 18th hole yesterday here on the Old Course en route to a closing 68 which left him on 280, eight under, in a share of third place, there was no sense of injustice at the whims of Mother Nature. No recrimination, even if the thought crossed his mind, however briefly, of making the final walk up the final fairway.
“I couldn’t help but think about Friday going up the last hole there. You know, if I had just sort of stuck in a little more on Friday, held it together more. It could have been a different story,” said McIlroy, honestly and frankly, in allowing his mind slip back to that third-round 80 which blighted his championship quest.
When all the totals were tallied up, McIlroy signed for rounds of 63, 80, 69, 68.
He’d shot an opening 63 which ranked as the lowest in a major, and he’d gone a combined seven-under over the weekend.
Would he have nightmares of Friday’s 80?
“No, it’s not going to give me nightmares. I’m sure I’ll wake up in the morning and just look at, I was 16-under-par for three rounds of golf around St Andrews in the Open, and (had) just one bad round. It’s fine.”
Graeme McDowell, though, felt that McIlroy’s experiences on Friday, and the way he regrouped, will have a long-term and positive influence.
“Somewhere along the line, it’ll help him. There’s no doubt about that. Friday was unfair, to be honest. It was an unfairly testing day for the boys out there. He’ll pull on those experiences at some point, they will stand him in good stead. They hurt at the time.
“But I feel like I learned a lot from my tough days more than I do my good days,” said the US Open champion, who had a chastening experience of his own in the 2008 Open at Birkdale.
Yesterday, McIlroy, who started the day in tied-12th, leapfrogged up the leaderboard to finish alongside Henrik Stenson and Paul Casey. With five birdies, including the 18th where he drove to within 15 feet, but missed the eagle putt, and a sole bogey, on the short 11th, the 21-year-old Ulsterman further deepened the belief that he has it within him to win a major.
“I knew I had a good chance coming in here, and it was nice to be there for a while. I’m still a bit disappointed, to be honest, because I know it if I could have played anywhere decent on Friday, I could have been a lot closer to the lead. I’m not saying I could have got to 17-under . . .
“But when you start off shooting a 63 in any golf tournament, you fancy your chances going into the next three days. It just so happened it got very windy on Friday and I didn’t deal with it very well.”
With a glint in his eye, McIlroy, whose previous best-finish in a major was also tied-third, in last year’s US PGA, added: “It’s definitely in there.”
McDowell, for his part, finished with a 70 for 285, three under, which left him in tied-23rd position.
There was one juncture of his round where McDowell looked set to make a charge up the leaderboard, moving into the top-10 with five birdies in his opening 10 holes, only to falter at the death with bogey on the 16th followed by a double-bogey six on the 17th.
“I tried hard this week to be focused, it’s just difficult,” said McDowell, who claimed he lacked the “killer edge” which had led him to that maiden major win in the US Open last month.
“There’s definitely been a sense of coming down this week. I think Cloud Nine is down to about Cloud Five.
“There’s going to be a new (major) champion and that’s going to take the focus off me a little bit, and there’s definitely going to be that little bit of coming down.
“Which is good. I need to reset, rest up this week, and get ready for a big three weeks and then ready for a big end of the season.
McDowell is taking a week off before resuming play at next week’s Irish Open.
CHAMPION BIO: LOWDOWN ON LOUIS
1982: Born October 19th, Mossel Bay (Lodewicus Theodorus Oosthuizen)
1999: Joins Ernie Els Foundation, receiving guidance and financial support from his fellow South African.
2000: Wins World Junior Team Championship with Charl Schwartzel.
2002: Wins Irish Amateur Open Strokeplay title at Royal Dublin before turning professional with a handicap of plus six. Shoots a 14-under-par round of 57 at his home course of Mossel Bay.
2003: Gains his European Tour card at the qualifying school in November.
2004: Finishes 74th on the Order of Merit, recording two top-10 finishes.
2005: Fails to qualify for the British Open at St Andrews and finishes 139th on the money list, returning to the qualifying school at the end of the season to regain his card.
2007: Wins three times in South Africa and finishes 64th on European Tour money list.
2009: Records recording back-to-back second places in the Abu Dhabi Championship (behind Paul Casey) and Qatar Masters.
July– Misses cut in British Open at Turnberry and is a collective 23 over par for his three British Opens.
2010: March – Wins first tour title in the Open de Andalucia, thereby moving into the world's top-50 and qualifying for the US Masters.
April– Misses cut at Augusta after rounds of 75 and 77.
June– Misses cut in US Open at Pebble Beach with rounds of 77 and 74.
July– Wins British Open at St Andrews by seven shots. Held a five-shot lead at halfway and a four-stroke lead over Casey going into the final round.
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