I don't know why I keep doing it to myself, hoping for a McIlroy win at a major. It's starting to feel like he is destined to never win another one.
Golf 2022
- Thread starter calodo2003
- Start date
I was hoping today too but well played Smith totally deserved. Rory is in contention most of them again now though so maybe not long to wait.
Young ended up on -19? 
So the two greatest non-winning scores in history then. -17(x2) being the previous record. -18 has only been beaten a whopping 4 times in history, in all 4 majors.
So the two greatest non-winning scores in history then. -17(x2) being the previous record. -18 has only been beaten a whopping 4 times in history, in all 4 majors.
YepYoung ended up on -19?
So the two greatest non-winning scores in history then. -17(x2) being the previous record. -18 has only been beaten a whopping 4 times in history, in all 4 majors.
What an absolutely incredible round, but especially back 9, by Cam. I really thought the wait would finally be over for Rory but sadly not to be.
That's what happens when you have an open links course with no wind, and players that average over 300 yards easily off the tee. It was always the worry with this tournament, although I personally don't think it takes away from it.Young ended up on -19?
So the two greatest non-winning scores in history then. -17(x2) being the previous record. -18 has only been beaten a whopping 4 times in history, in all 4 majors.
Not at all. It’s easy to look at the numbers and go eurgh, but to actually make use of those distances and hit low scores, even with low wind, you need to really be super accurate. Or be magic with the putter from 20-40ft.
Rory didn't do much wrong,that back 9 from Smith was just incredible.
I honestly thought it'd be between Rory and Hovland I was hoping for another Stenson,Mickleson battle i couldn't see anyone else getting close.
Excellent championship though.
I honestly thought it'd be between Rory and Hovland I was hoping for another Stenson,Mickleson battle i couldn't see anyone else getting close.
Excellent championship though.
Not sure what your point is? Literally one of the biggest talking points before this Open was if the modern game is too much for the course, it's fairly obvious that it is, at least from an old school 'the Open should be very hard and the scoring should be relatively low' perspective. It's not even really debatable. There is very little true trouble that you can get in, in comparison to most other Open venues.
To be fair he was too conservative. Even if left is the safe shot he doesn’t have to hit it extreme left to make sure he gets there.
The man will be taking two putts to slip it into the girlfriend tonight.
Rory also didn't do much right by way of knocking down putts in a major championship 4th round. He two-putted every single hole in the 4th round. Cannot win a major when Sunday scoring is like a Thursday and you're just not sinking putts.
I’d hope not. He’s been married since 2017.
The point was it’s not all about low scores or high scores. Yes it was possible to score low on this course in these conditions, and very few opportunities for total disasters. But it certainly wasn’t a walk in the park to get low scores here. You still needed near perfect iron shots and be on your putting game. I disagree therefore that this course is not appropriate.
Of course you still need to be a very good player to play well and go low, I don't know why that even needs to be said. The point is that the course may now be inappropriate in the context of the ethos of the tournament. They were literally using parts of other courses to try and add some length to it to mitigate this.
The ethos of the tournament is to have low scoring? I don’t think so. I think the ethos is to be challenging. A course can still be challenging even if the scores aren’t as low as normal.
Par is completely irrelevant and if you get conditions like this week the scores are going to be low. It is the greatest strategy test in all of golf, you have so many choices on each hole. It’s the best Open venue alongside Muirfield.
Rumours that Smith might be about to leave for the LIV tour (along with Stenson, who will lose the Ryder Cup captaincy, Scott, Leishman and Matsuyama). Makes it even worse for McIlroy who has been the most vocal defender of the PGA and European tours.
Tbf, Rory is playing the long game here. Wait for every other half decent golfer to piss off to LIV and be banned from playing in majors and then it's Rory's time to shine.
I don’t think Rory was too conservative today, he was taking driver on a few holes where others were laying back. He was almost perfect tee to green today, at no point was a bogey even a remote possibility.
He lost today because he didn’t make a single putt. I reckon the longest putt he made was about 3 feet. Smith’s back 9 was epic, but a couple more putts from Rory and he’d have held him off.
He lost today because he didn’t make a single putt. I reckon the longest putt he made was about 3 feet. Smith’s back 9 was epic, but a couple more putts from Rory and he’d have held him off.
Yep. His putter has always been his liability.
Seemed like he was putting well, but they just weren’t dropping in
His lag putting was very solid but he missed a few good looks in the first 12 or so holes, everything after that was an outside chance but he didn't make any of them either and you need a couple of those to win a major. His strokes gained putting ranked 61st out of 83 players today while Smith was 6th. Tee to green McIlroy was 21st and Smith was 7th, that wouldn't have been anywhere near enough for a 6 shot swing if the putting had been anyway similar.
He only needed a couple of those early ones and things would have been very different.
It must be a really hollow way to lose a major to be honest. We've all seen countless examples of players making big mistakes, putting balls out of bounds, dunking balls repeatedly into water, trying rediculous shots and just plain playing badly. None of that was the case yesterday, he lost because 4-5 putts missed by an inch. Must leave him feeling pretty empty.
Tough to beat a back nine of 30 with only 12 putts.
That said, Rory is probably the best driver of the ball ever & should have taken advantage of the driveable par fours better.
Hardly a choke à la Van de Velde though.
That said, Rory is probably the best driver of the ball ever & should have taken advantage of the driveable par fours better.
Hardly a choke à la Van de Velde though.
It wasn't the biggest bottle job ever, but certainly was one. All he had to do was play well to win, and he played average. That score in the context of yesterday was average, as demonstrated by most of the other very good players out there. He had some simple chances on the front 9 especially, and didn't take them. Cam Smith played incredibly, but Rory also just completely left it open for him to do so, if he'd tucked away some of the early missed chances, who knows what effect it would have had on Smith.
Yeah, agree with this. If Rory had started at -6 or so I’m fairly certain he’d have made 65/66 in those conditions. As it was, we saw the same problems with a suddenly “cold” putter as is often the case when he’s in with a chance over the last 8 years. His driving held up relatively well but the approach play also lost its accuracy (save for an excellent shot on the 17th).
I’ve said before that I don’t think he will win another major. I haven’t changed that view. He isn’t going to get a better shot than leading at St Andrews in perfect conditions for his game and he still couldn’t hold a 4 shot lead.
If he'd shot -4 and Smith still shot -8 and then he lost in a playoff, that would be completely fine, he played well and just came across someone having a worldie of a day. You can't claim he played well yesterday if you watched his round and know how the course was playing.
I agree with this. -2 isn’t a bad round in isolation but in context, it’s below the average I’d say of yesterday.
He drove well. His putting went cold yes, but I’d really put it down to his iron play. He really could and should have got closer to the holes than he did, which may be because he was too conservative or maybe he was slightly off. Yes he missed some putts but a lot of his first green putts were far too far away.
Any time he's in a really pressurised environment, his short irons and wedges seem to go to shite. It's basically scripted that he will hammer a drive down the fairway and then there will be an image of him leaning after his approach swing, with a camera transition to the ball landing 25ft+ from the hole.
Former Euro Ryder Cup captain. Won the Open Championship one time using a 3 wood off the tee.
Only noteworthy due to the RC expulsion.
Calibre of field?
Im looking forward to none of these guys being able to play in majors in a few years time. There’s zero chance it gets sanctioned for points.
Im looking forward to none of these guys being able to play in majors in a few years time. There’s zero chance it gets sanctioned for points.
This tee shot. “He’s one of us!”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/62325369
So if I'm reading this right the 14 event tour where players can "spend more time at home and with family" has become at least 25 events. Considering they are hoping/expecting to be allowed to play in majors and WGCs, that's over 30 events a year. Certainly shines a light on the "more time at home" bull.
So if I'm reading this right the 14 event tour where players can "spend more time at home and with family" has become at least 25 events. Considering they are hoping/expecting to be allowed to play in majors and WGCs, that's over 30 events a year. Certainly shines a light on the "more time at home" bull.
Yep… I, for one, am shocked that the “more time at home” reasoning wasn’t legit.
The ‘Urban Meyer’ excuse / reason rarely ever pans out.