Rory's Glory (22 page)

Needing to make something happen quickly, he tried to put more length into his drive on the ninth and it ended up almost out of bounds beside a fence. A microphone picked up the discussion between him and his caddy J P Fitzgerald:

JP:
‘Just hit it over the bushes…. chip it back on the fairway for your third.'

Rory:
‘Nah, I'm just going to have a go and see where it ends up.'

It was the wrong choice but he did well to come out of it with just a bogey.

Then at the very next hole, the putting fiasco came back to haunt him again. His second shot drew applause for finishing inside 20 feet from the pin and a possible birdie. But he took three putts to get down for yet another bogey.

On the 11
^th
he racked up his third bogey in a row and by this stage the wheels had come off. Down to four under, he was well behind the leaders and it was a case of trying to rescue some pride.

To his credit he finished with three birdies in a row on 15, 16 and 17 to finish with a +1, 71. He climbed back up to join Jim Furyk in a tie for second on eight under, which was three shots behind the winner and new Fedex Cup champion, Billy Horschel. The final Fedex standings were:

 

The Irish Times golf correspondent Philip Reid put it very well in his report next day. His opening paragraph read:

Rory McIlroy punched the wrong numbers into the ATM in the final round of the Tour Championship as he failed to cash in on the FedEx Cup's $10 million bonus payout.

As for Rory it seemed that his brilliant season ended in a sort of payback time and he also hinted at exhaustion when saying:

I'm disappointed. I made too many bogeys early on and I just didn't have the energy to get myself back up after that. When I did try, my putter let me down. So it was disappointing but I'm glad I finished well and made those birdies to get myself back up to a fairly respectable finish. So yeah, a little disappointing but overall I've had a great season.

Europe's Ryder Cup Captain Paul McGinley on hearing of Rory's words probably wanted him to get home to his Florida bed as soon as possible. He wanted a fighting-fit, fresh and raring-to-go Rory for the Ryder Cup a few weeks later.

*********************************

As far back as 2004, and before Paul McGinley ever registered on most people's radars to become a future Ryder Cup Captain, I knew that one day he was going to be appointed to that role. It was all thanks to some insider information from Christy O'Connor Junior.

When I met with Christy in his former apartment at City West Golf Club back then, he expressed his disgust that in the entire history of the Ryder Cup, there had never been an Irish captain.

Being a freelance journalist, I wanted to go to the press with this information and a story to the effect
‘Christy Junior Appeals for McGinley Captaincy'
but Christy swore me to secrecy and asked that I leave it for him to reveal in his future autobiography. I agreed.

For one reason and another, it took the pair of us eight years to get his book out and without going into his several pages of disgust on that ‘anti-Irish' subject this is a flavor of what he wrote in July 2012. In the chapter entitled ‘An Irish Jersey' he stated:

Why have all the various Ryder Cup Committees down through the years not made some of these great Irishmen a Ryder Cup Captain? That is a very serious question that needs to be asked.

It is high time we ask it and get answers because it cannot go on like that. The 2006 event in Ireland was the perfect opportunity to appoint an Irish Captain. It would have been almost like a 13
^th
man on the team. That was an opportunity shamefully missed.

Many years ago there was another Irish venue short-listed for the hosting of a Ryder Cup. The final decision came down to Lord Derby who had the casting vote. It was no surprise that Ireland lost it.

A long line of disgraceful wrongs can now be finally put right. I am sure that I am not alone in asking and appealing to the current Ryder Cup Committee to select Paul McGinley as the next Ryder Cup Captain for 2014.

Everyone saw how hugely popular Paul was when his team-mates flung him into the lake complete with tricolour after he holed the winning putt at the K Club. He was overlooked for the Captaincy before when he was made 2010 Vice Captain instead.

After he assists Ollie again in 2012, if Paul is not made Captain and this injustice continues then we know without any shadow of doubt that the selection committee are anti-Irish. Some of their reasoning just does not make sense either.

When I was bidding for it in 2004 - and I campaigned very hard with Sean Quinn - they turned me down on the grounds that a major winner should Captain the side. I have never heard such rubbish.

Sam Torrance never won a major and Mark James made one of the biggest balls-ups when he lost a huge lead to the Americans. I am absolutely disgusted with the attitudes and I have continually watched this go on since my uncle (Christy O'Connor Senior) was snubbed. He was never once asked to be Captain.

This was despite the fact that both Dai Rees and Bernard Hunt went on to lead the side on several occasions. With respect to those two great players they were nowhere near the level of my uncle.

The last word on the subject must concern the huge bands of loyal Irish golf followers. It is a huge miscarriage of justice on them. They have supported the Ryder Cup in every corner of the globe with the tricolour everywhere to be seen. It's a disgrace.

Paul McGinley was officially ratified as European Ryder Cup Captain on Tuesday, January 15
^th
, 2013. His appointment was met with delight by players and fans alike as he was as popular as Ollie.

2010 Captain Colin Montgomerie who put in a late bid said ‘we'll all get behind Paul now and we wish him well' while Graeme McDowell summed up the feelings of most everybody saying “thoughtful, articulate, prepared, motivated, fair and respected.”

Rory immediately sent out his own personal message of congratulations but also with a side swipe at those who dared to think of appointing Montgomerie at the 11
^th
hour. His tweet read:

Common sense prevailed in the end…Paul McGinley Ryder Cup Captain!!! I couldn't be happier for him. Roll on Gleneagles.

McGinley had finally become the first (and long overdue) Irish Ryder Cup Captain in the long history of the event. He sank the winning putt at The Belfry in 2002 and had never lost as a player, Captain or Vice-Captain in nine previous Ryder Cup or Seve Trophy matches.

With ‘Monty' in the melting pot, McGinley was relieved and ecstatic to get the job. It certainly helped that he had the unanimous support of the players. On his appointment he was so dignified in revealing what he would have said had he not been made Captain:

I had notes in my pocket about how I was going to project myself and what I was going to do. I assured George O'Grady and Richard Hills that I would act with integrity expected by the Tour. So if it wasn't going to be me, I would wish the winner the best of luck and leave it at that knowing that it was probably my last opportunity.

On Tuesday 2 September 2014 after the final ‘counting' event at the Italian Open, he announced his team to face the Americans at Gleneagles on 26
^th
September. He dropped Luke Donald and brought in Scotland's Stephen Gallacher as one of his three wildcards.

His team was: Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson, Victor Dubuisson, Jamie Donaldson, Sergio Garcia, Thomas Bjorn, Justin Rose, Martin Kaymer and Graeme McDowell, and his three wildcards (the old system was two) were Ian Poulter, Stephen Gallacher and Lee Westwood.

Forty-seven year old McGinley began the 40
^th
Ryder Cup by putting out Rory and Sergio Garcia in the very first match of the ‘Morning Fourballs' at 7.30 am. They faced Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley who had a fine and unbeatable record from Medinah.

The media actually tried to stir things up by using Mickelson's tongue-in-cheek remarks which insinuated that Europe, McIlroy and McDowell could be affected by the apparent disharmony between Rory and Graeme over various issues. McDowell had stated:

Everyone knows that there are well documented personal issues between myself and Rory over the past couple of years and now that he is world number one and the big star, the dynamic between myself and Rory has changed for ever.

At Medinah a couple of years ago – and Rory and I spoke about this – I found the better ball format very difficult with him because he likes to go first, I let him at it, and I kind of come second.

You know, he's standing there beating it 350 down the middle, and I put my tee in the ground thinking there's not really a lot of point in me hitting this tee shot and find myself throwing myself at it, and literally it kind of didn't help my game much at Medinah playing better-ball with him.

Foursomes I think is different. I think we could still play foursomes really well together.

Rory actually responded to this by saying that at the pre-Ryder Cup dinner, he and G-Mac had a go at Mickelson in jest saying ‘we're going to call in the FBI!' This referred to part of Phil Mickelson's financial affairs which are currently being investigated by the FBI.

It all made for an intriguing match where Mickelson and Bradley had the last laugh. They won on the very last hole after an inspired display from Bradley. He took the match by the scruff of the neck with brilliant winning approaches on 17 and 18.

McIlroy was visibly disconsolate as he took off his cap afterwards and on the way off the green he had his head down. The Americans went on from this and by the end of the morning, they held a 2 ½ - 1 ½ point lead.

The Captain sent Rory out with Sergio again for the ‘Afternoon Foursomes' but this time in the last match against Ricky Fowler and Jimmy Walker. Things went from bad to worse for Europe and for Rory as the American pairing were giving them a real lesson.

Although America's lead had been turned upside down and into a 4 ½ - 2 ½ deficit, Fowler and Walker were playing well and as the last match out on the course, they were 2-up with just 17 and 18 to play.

It looked like they would cut the gap to just a point overnight but then came some Rory magic when it was needed most. Garcia left his ball 34 feet from the pin for birdie on 17 and Rory calmly sank the monster putt. They were one down with just the last to play.

With their dander up, Rory teed up his ball and you could see from his stance that he was priming himself for one of his boomers. He let loose but then winced as he saw his ball shoot out to the right towards a forest.

He got lucky. His ball hit a pine tree and at just short of 300 yards, it plumped down in the light rough and was sitting up nicely. Garcia then took out a five wood and knocked the ball to within 15 feet of the flag.

The roars bellowed out as Rory and Sergio pumped their fists together and a few minutes later all hell broke loose as Europe won the hole. They secured a precious half point to win the afternoon games by a whopping three points to a half point. Rory was very relieved:

I'm really happy. Sergio's shot was fantastic and you know, if we'd lost both matches today I don't know how I'd have felt. It would have been very hard to take especially after all the work put in and then to get nothing out of it. But to get a half point feels as good as a win and that's fantastic for the team. I'm happy.

On Saturday morning Rory was out again but this time with another change of partner. As had been expected in the days before the Cup there would be no Graeme McDowell, as Rory was paired with ‘Mr Ryder Cup' Ian Poulter versus Rickie Fowler & Jimmy Walker.

However the pair could not find a spark to ignite a win and in the end they looked on anxiously as it all came down to Ricky Fowler on the last hole. He had an eagle putt from 12 feet to win the match but it slid by. Rory was again relieved to ‘win' a half point.

There were three big talking points from that Saturday. The score had been a carbon copy of the previous day. America won the morning session each day by 2 ½ - 1 ½ and Europe were revitalized in the afternoon to win 3 ½ - ½ meaning they held a 10-6 overnight lead.

Rory and Sergio were reunited that afternoon and they finally recorded a sweet victory as they enjoyed a relatively easy 3 and 2 win against Hunter Mahan and Jim Furyk. Rory having started out a little rusty on Friday morning was visibly getting better and better.

So too were his team, but the major story from that day concerned Justin Rose who was involved in one of the greatest games ever seen in the history of golf, never mind the Ryder Cup.

Rose and Stenson came back from an early deficit to absolutely blitz their American opponents Bubba Watson and Matt Kuchar. They struck no less than 10 birdies in a row – with Rose recording seven of them - from the seventh hole to the 16
^th
. It broke all Cup records.

Two-down through six holes, Henrik Stenson birdied the seventh and when Justin Rose followed with birdie on eight, the match was all square. Rose then birdied nine, 10 and 11; Stenson birdied 12; Rose the 13
^th
; Stenson the 14
^th
and Rose the next two to win on the 16
^th
3 and 2.

Meanwhile there was bad blood developing in Camp America as Mickelson and Bradley were dropped. In the case of Mickelson, it did seem very harsh as he has a history of righting wrongs from a previous day. It was also his first full sit out in his 20 year career.