The final nine holes of the now-completed U.S. Open saw a pack of big names throw themselves into the hunt — Rory McIlroy was one of them.
Rory made the turn in red numbers. He was four-under for the tournament and a major championship was within his reach with just seven holes to play.
Alas, Rory stumbled home, playing those last seven holes in three-over par — taking himself out of contention and tumbling back to a final tally of one-under, finishing in a tie for seventh.
What it did give Rory was a semblance of hope considering he missed the cut at The Masters and finished a lowly T49 at the PGA.
Which brings us to Ireland this week as we begin the countdown to the Open Championship, which gets going at Royal St. George’s in a quick 15 days.
Rory is the headliner at the Irish Open this week at the Mount Juliet Estate in County Kilkenny, which is in the Republic of Ireland, south of Rory’s home in Northern Ireland. Rory’s going to get in some serious European prep work as after this week, he’ll head to Scotland for the Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club in North Berwick.
But first things first. Joining Rory in this week’s field is Shane Lowry, the 2019 Open champion who still has the Claret Jug (a replica) in his possession. European Ryder Cup captain Paddy Harrington is playing as is long-hair Tommy Fleetwood. But make no mistake, world No. 10 McIlroy is the top name in this field.
The setting is not exactly conducive to prep work for a links course. Mount Juliet is what’s known as a Parkland course in the U.K. — which means it has trees and, in the case of Mount Juliet, a lot of water hazards. It’s a Jack Nicklaus design which means its an infant of a course by British/Irish/Scottish standards. It’s the centerpiece of the Mount Juliet Resort, which sits southwest of Dublin in the southwest part of The Republic.
It has some tournament history — it was home to the WGC event in 2002 and 2004 and the site of previous Irish Opens in 1993-1995.
McIlroy was at that 2002 event, won by Tiger Woods. Rory was a lad, only 13 years old and remembered the moment after Tiger won.
“The last time I was on the 18th green here was during the prize ceremony, when Tiger won,” McIlroy said this week. “I remember I somehow sneaked my way under the rope onto the back of the green, and I was standing right behind him and his glove was still in his back pocket,” McIlroy said. “I could have reached and got it and ran; it would have been a good story to tell him, but I obviously didn’t.”
For McIlroy, it was the first time he’d seen Woods play in person, and he was blown away by the experience. “I remember the first shot I ever saw him hit was a drive off the fifth hole, the par five, and he hit a 2-iron into the green,” he recalled. “It was really cool. I idolized him growing up, and to actually see the man in the flesh was pretty exciting. But yeah, really good memories coming back down here watching. Glad to be back, and certainly a lot has changed in the last 17 years since the last time I was here.”
For McIlroy, it’s important that he keep up the form that got him in the hunt at Torrey Pines. Good play this week and next week at the Renaissance Club could go a long way to boost his confidence going into the Open Championship — a major he won in 2014 at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake.
While this week’s Irish Open isn’t packed with big names, they will show up next week in Scotland. U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele, Lee Westwood, Tyrrell Hatton and Matt Fitzpatrick will all join Rory in North Berwick.
In the meantime, Rory can warm up starting Thursday. If all goes well, he’ll have 144 holes under his belt heading to Royal St. George’s.
How much confidence he brings with him remains to be seen.
Thursday Tee Times, Irish Open (note, times are five hours ahead of EDT):
On TV: The Golf Channel will carry the action beginning at 8 a.m. (EDT) on Thursday.
