Rory's Glory (4 page)

In talking to the media after his loss, he said:

I'm happy with how I'm playing and hopefully it won't be long before I'm winning again. I've got two more tournaments before the Masters and that's what I'm really building up to.

At the beginning of every season Rory will always have his sights firmly fixed on just one golf tournament – the US Masters at Augusta, Georgia. Everything prior to that is geared towards getting himself into prime and peak form for that event.

That does not mean other tournaments are unimportant. Nothing could be further from the truth. Most events carry points for the world rankings and so they are food for Rory's big quest for world No 1.

In recent years, the hugely important Fedex Cup has also come along, but the Masters and its ‘Green Jacket' is the major that Rory craves most. He actually explained this in an interview before the Wells Fargo championship in Charlotte, Carolina, in early May 2012:

I don't want to be burned out by the time I'm 30. I want to try and prolong my career as much as possible. I sometimes take a little bit too much out of myself, especially at the end of a season.
[I referred earlier to his season end in 2011 when he was hospitalised].

Basically, the most important time for me is from the start of April until the end of August. That's when all the big tournaments are and when you want to play your best golf. All the stuff either side of that is more preparation work and making sure your game is getting ready and your body is physically ready for that time of the year. I know I've been criticised a little bit for not playing as much as some other guys leading into those weeks but that's because I know I've a big stretch ahead of me and I want to be as fresh as possible.

The first of those two events before the Masters arrived a week later, on 4 March. Rory teed off in the first round of the Honda Classic at Palm Beach in Florida. After an unremarkable first round at four under, 66, he was barely audible in the media tent, saying ‘I'm going to go to the gym after I've had a bit of lunch here.'

Journalists did not know whether he was dejected or fatigued after a round which, by his lofty standards, was very poor. He hit only 12 of 18 greens in regulation; found eight of 14 fairways; had five birdies and one bogey and yet he was still a very healthy four under par.

However, he did hint at fatigue as he added ‘I might take a little bit of a nap and catch up on some sleep as I've been up since 5.15 this morning.'

Things did not get any better for Rory the following day when he shot 67. But after shooting another 66 in the penultimate round, joint best of the day, he suddenly found himself in the lead going into the final round without setting the world alight.

In fact, the first three days had been rather dull and drab for one of the highest quality fields of the season assembled. The best was saved until last when fireworks flooded the final round. The chief pyromaniac in the field being Tiger Woods!

Woods was having one of those events where it looked likely that, after just making the cut, his effort would take its toll with a finish somewhere down the field. That looked to be the way things were going when he was nine shots adrift of Rory going into the final day.

But the greens and fairways suffered scorched earth from the hand of Tiger that day and the crowd went wild. As Rory teed up, and up until the midpoint of his round, he knew from the hollering and whooping of the crowds that Tiger was in the zone.

Soon he would see Tiger prowling up behind him on the leaderboard as Woods had hit three birdies and an eagle coming to his 17
^th
and penultimate hole. If he could birdie the final two holes then he would put Rory and the leaders under a good degree of pressure.

Tiger birdied the 17
^th
and was six under for his round. When that putt rolled in and Tiger, in his own inimitable way, walked spritely after it with that killer look of his, Rory had to contain the fact that the crowd, the media and almost everyone wanted Tiger to win.

He was now the people's champion after being in the wars the previous few years, usurped in the world rankings by Luke Donald and Rory. There was talk that Tiger was finished. That he would never be the same again. This round disproved all that.

Rory was on the 12
^th
and had not done anything of note in his round. Tiger was within three shots of his lead, having been nine behind overnight. It is one thing trying to play percentage golf to contain your lead, it is quite another to deal with a rampaging Tiger.

Incredibly, he eagled the 18
^th
! The explosion of noise all over the course must have rocked Rory off his feet. Tiger, from nowhere, had shot 62 in a round that included two eagles. He was just a shot behind McIlroy. It was his lowest final round score in 17 years.

The way he played that final hole was a flashback to the genius and Woods of old. A perfect drive was followed by a five iron from 216 yards over water guarding the green. His ball came to rest eight feet away, stone dead and job done after a great day at the office.

Woods freshened up after signing his cards and went to watch the television. He had one eye on the Dodgers ball game and the other on how Rory and those up front were playing. More importantly: how they would respond and react to his gallant efforts.

At the time of his magnificent eagle, young Rory was on the 13
^th
green lining up an eight-foot birdie putt of his own that would move him two shots ahead of Tiger. McIlroy nailed it and made pars the rest of the way home for a two shot win and the coveted top ranking.

He was world No 1 at last after trying so hard for so long for the win that would leap him over Luke Donald. It was richly deserved. He had shown real ‘champion' qualities and this Honda Classic was one of the most important wins in his career, for a variety of reasons.

More pertinently, the victory can be seen as a turning point. In holding Woods at bay, it really signaled a changing of the guard. Tiger had his glory in his prime as a young man and this is a young man's game. Rory was tops.

However, more than anything else, this win really showed that Rory now knew how to hold a lead and how, after his Masters collapse, he would not panic. When he birdied on the 13
^th
for a two shot lead, he knew that with a par five to finish he just had to play sensibly.

Rory referred to this in his media briefing afterwards. He talked about the noise all over the course and how he could not ignore it. But he said that he knew if he rolled the birdie putt in on the 13
^th
that he was virtually home and hosed.

A champagne moment as he was now making news all across the globe as golf's new number one player. Luke Donald immediately tweeted him a message of congratulations which read: ‘Congratulations. Enjoy the view!'

The response from Rory in tweets, newspapers and with friends was always the same: he stated that ‘it might only be for 15 minutes'; ‘it won't last long' and that he was only ‘keeping the position warm' for Luke.

Nevertheless, it was a monumental moment. World No 1 status is a feat that only the true greats of the game achieve. This is one area that there can never be anything lucky or fluky about it. It is earned through hard work, skill and, above all, consistency.

Since the USPGA in August 2011, he played in 11 ranking events and finished outside the top five in only one of them. That was the sort of top drawer form that won him this coveted accolade. When asked what it meant to him he replied:

It means an awful lot to be able to call yourself the No 1 player in the world; it is a great achievement. I am very honoured to join the list of guys who have held that spot. Hopefully I can keep a hold it for a little while.

Rory McIlroy also became the first golfer from the island of Ireland to achieve world No 1 status.

In downplaying somewhat the length of time he would remain as world No 1, it was as if Rory could sense that Luke Donald was still playing his best golf and that he would be around for a while yet and challenging him at every corner for the position.

If that was the case then he was so right. Donald had become the best player in the world in May 2011 when he won the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in England. He had held it for almost a year – 40 weeks to be exact – until Rory won that Honda Classic.

But he would become world No 1 again soon. In fact, between the pair of them, they would exchange top honours on no less than four occasions throughout that season. In the meantime, McIlroy further stretched his world rankings lead the following week.

Traveling a relatively short distance from Palm Beach to Doral to contest the WGC Cadillac event, Rory narrowly missed out on a second successive victory. A poor first round 73 was a spoiler before rounds of 69, 65 and 67 lifted him to third place.

Another very consistent top five finish, and the perfect form and results from those two tournaments in advance of his ‘holy grail' – the US Masters. He was now in better shape than the previous season when he won the US Open as he was improving hand over fist.

He was also officially the best player on the planet and his decision to leave ISM was, if not vindicated, then certainly a move in the right direction towards peace of mind and reaching his true potential.

The rankings after his Honda win read: McIlroy 9.30, Donald 8.97 and Westwood 8.19 but he now increased that lead to almost a full point on 9.85. However, on 18 March and fully two weeks after Rory hit top spot, Luke Donald leapt back to the top!

Donald won the Transitions Championship in the States to become the first of the two to hit a perfect ten with a rankings score of 10.03. Humorously, Rory immediately tweeted: ‘Well, I enjoyed it while it lasted! Congrats @Luke Donald. Impressive performance.'

By this time Rory was now under new management. He had joined up with fellow Irish players Graeme McDowell and Shane Lowry under the umbrella of the Dublin based Horizon Sports Management company, run by Conor Ridge.

Both Ridge and McIlroy soon took up a very special invitation to meet Barack Obama, the President of the United States, just a few days before St Patrick's Day. Like a scene from the film ‘Reservoir Dogs', they both looked dapper in black suits and ties.

At the plush dinner Rory was also introduced to British Prime Minister David Cameron, but as Obama is a very keen golfer himself, both Rory and Barack were seen in deep demonstrative conversation.

It transpired that the President informed Rory that he was not happy with his own golf swing. He sought out some tips from Rory who, talking about the experience, tweeted the President next day: ‘Unbelievable experience at the White House last night! Big thanks to @BarackObama for the invite! We'll get that golf swing sorted soon!'

When the President visited Ireland on 17 June the following year for a summit of world leaders in Enniskillen, he mentioned his meeting with Rory in the White House saying: ‘I met Rory last year and he offered to get my swing sorted.'

On hearing of Obama's remark, Rory later tweeted: ‘Nice of @ BarackObama to mention me in his speech in Belfast today.'

It is a fact that 15 of the last 18 US Presidents played golf. The exceptions were Herbert Hoover, Harry Truman and Jimmy Carter. Dwight Eisenhower could not get enough of it. He had a putting green installed close to the Oval Office!

Barrack Obama took up golf as a teenager when he lived for a while in Hawaii. He remains tight-lipped concerning his golf game but rumour has it that he is somewhere around the 17 handicap mark.

The word is that he is desperately trying to get that mark down and has been criticised in some quarters for playing too much golf. It is not always possible but, weather permitting, he tries to get in one round of golf a week.

In fact, President Obama played his 200th round of golf on October 12th 2014 when he got in a Sunday morning game at Fort Belvoir Golf Club in Alexandria, Virginia. But he has some rounds to go before getting anywhere near two former ‘Commander-in-Chiefs'.

President Woodrow Wilson is documented as having played 1,600 rounds of golf and Dwight Eisenhower played around half that – 800. Eisenhower was such a fanatical golfer that he was a member of Augusta National.

Fittingly, after Washington, Rory's next golfing port of call a fortnight later was 2604 Washington Road in Atlanta, Georgia, and a drive up through the splendour of Magnolia Drive to Augusta National. It was all systems go for the US Masters.

But as Rory prepared to be driven up there for the 2012 event, there is little doubt that his heart would be pumping fast. He would be a bundle of nerves as he recalled memories from an unbelievable, unforgettable and ultimately forgettable tournament in 2011.

Almost exactly a year before, as Rory was driven through there, he was leaving with his tail between his legs after one of the most infamous collapses in US Master's history. The whole episode gave rise to a well-known euphemism: ‘Rory's Masters Meltdown'.

W
hen Rory McIlroy returned to the scene of his infamous collapse at Augusta the previous year – now euphemistically known as ‘Rory's Masters Meltdown' – he was quite engaging, relaxed and full of fun at the pre-Masters press conference.

The nightmarish memories of squandering a four shot lead and shooting 80, which included a triple bogey at the 10
^th
, seemed to have been put firmly in the past. He also revealed that earlier, he had ventured out on the course to take a look at that 10
^th
hole.

Rory revisited the exact location where his ball came to rest between cabins in 2011. His drive ricocheted from a tree branch and came to rest in woods between cabins. In living memory, no golfer had ever ended up in there before. An incredulous McIlroy said: ‘I can't believe [now] how far off the tee the cabins are. They must be only 50 yards away.'