One major down, three to go and maybe, this week, we might get an idea of what Rory McIlroy will look like at the upcoming PGA Championship.
McIlroy went into The Masters as one of the solid favorites to win a Green Jacket and complete the career Grand Slam.
Alas, Rory-boy had a totally uninspired first round 73 and followed it up with 71-71-68. Totally disappointing considering he’s supposed to be a superior player on wet golf courses and Augusta National was totally on the birdie-inviting side with greens that went unsprayed by ball repellant.
Still, five-under left Rory tied for 21st and his final round 68 was four of those five, with the pressure totally off.
Everyone was excited when Rory won The Players and it rang loud as a possible prelude to a great Masters run.
Didn’t happen.
Maybe it was that match with Tiger Woods in Austin that took the wind out of Rory’s sails. You might recall he was putting together a huge rally against El Tigre in their match and looked ready to take a one-up lead at the 16th until the Knave of Northern Ireland hit one of the worst wedge shots in recent memory and went on to put the ball in his pocket after Woods made par and Rory had no chance at a five.
Huge loss for Rory, big confidence booster for Tiger.
His Masters showing was his worst finish of the season, a season that would be a career-builder for most players.
But Rory’s 30-years-old now. Nick Faldo turned 30 without a major championship and went on to win six. Which begs the question — how many majors will Rory win over the next 10 years?
Rory’s been healthy and doesn’t mess with his swing so you figure he’ll have another 39 chances.
And that brings us to Charlotte this week and the Wells Fargo where Rory has won twice (2010 and 2015) and has performed well on this monster of a golf course. His finish last year was nothing to brag about (16th), so what can we expect out of Rory this week?
He’s got a pretty comfy pairing the first two days — Tony Finau and Sergio Garcia. Tony’s fifth-place finish at The Masters was surprisingly, his first top 10 of the year. As for Sergio, he finished second in the team travesty last week in New Orleans and is playing at Quail Hollow for the first time in six years.
Justin Rose (No. 2) is the only player in the field ranked highly than McIlroy (No. 4). So when you take into account Rory’s local knowledge, you’d figure he’s the man to beat this week.
Just as important, McIlroy will have a lot of eyeballs on him as his performance this week might give an indication of how well he may or may not handle the long, challenging Bethpage Black course in three weeks at the PGA Championship.
It’s going on five years now since Rory won a major — and he won two of his four in 2014 — The Open and The PGA.
What will he look like at Bethpage Black — contender or pretender?
Let’s see how he fares at Quail Hollow this week.
8 Comments
JimmyD5cc
I’m a Rory fan and it does seem that there is something wrong with his game – – especially his putting; So this week will be a good test for him; and we shall see if he plays better than he did at Augusta.
Tom Edrington
He needs to….
baxter cepeda
Feel like your asking me.
Rory is obviously a contender. But from what i remember of bethpage, disasters abound.
Rory is on tv now saying he will not look at Bethpage and expects it to be a ‘regular week’ setup.
Rory clearly doesn’t lack confidence entering pga championships; possibly too much confidence?
I don’t think it matters what Rory does at quail hollow. He rolls out of bed and shoots in the low 60s in Charlotte.
I certainly would put some cash on Rory this week.
But next week is a whole different monster; with those pesky first 9 and final 9 major pressures. And with so many men with a chance, sometime no bet is a good bet.
Tom Edrington
Baxter, yes we are posing the question…..kind of reminds me of the movie Mr. Baseball when the Japanese manager told Tom Selleck that he had “a hole in his swing”….Rory has a hole in his game somewhere and his game in majors gets washed down that hole….
baxter cepeda
Who doesn’t have holes ?
Rory has some holes; he is obviously not consistently world class at putting and wedge game. But he get those two right here and there and wins more than most.
Tom Edrington
So far, if you look at his career and see that he hasn’t won a major since 2014 and won two that year, you wonder how much he is or is not improving. Was 2014 a “flash-in-the-pan”? It’s going on five years now so quite frankly, the jury is very much undecided at this point.
baxter cepeda
How long was Tigers dry run?
Rory is no flash. There’s just a lot of depth.
I believe today’s tech is a disadvantage for Rory. He hits it great. But today’s tech allows many bombers to excel with less than Rory’s stellar swings. Imo Rory’s swing would shine in any era.
Rory is 3o. Upside wanes and improvement are never steady. Golfers have ups and downs. But McIlroy is already one of the most talented golfer so on Earth and that won’t change for 2 decades.
These days specifically He has a chance to win every week… except Masters week.
It takes patience but But It’s only a matter of time with Rory and majors, including the Masters.
Tom Edrington
Fell asleep on Friday….double-bogey, bogey finish…..bleah