McIlroy steps on path to greatness

You can be blessed with natural talent but if you lack mental strength you will never attain the heights. That, plus the small matter of 10,000 hours of practise. But as Matthew Syed points out in his excellent book “Bounce; The myth of talent and the power of practice”, even that can be scuppered by “the curse of the choke”. No sport is spared from its grip and none more so than in the confines of individual games and particularly those involving prolonged gaps in play allowing time for demons to poison the mind. Snooker, tennis and golf all seem to fit that template and are littered with examples of players whose natural talents were never fully recompensed by silverware. If you are of a certain vintage then the names of Jimmy White, Ilie Nastase and Greg Norman will resonate.

There was a time – not that long ago – when one wondered about the mental strength of young Rory, his infamous collapse at Augusta being on such a cataclysmic scale that healing the wound might never be fully achieved. He had a reputation as a streak player, unbeatable when on song, catchable when under pressure. Into the former category do I place his victories at the US Open in 2011 and the US PGA the following year both by big margins. That second major seemed to hint at greater things but then came 2013. A new management team was engaged, he signed with Nike, changed golf clubs, started baking cakes in silly adverts, embarked on a “celebrity” relationship with a glamorous tennis star and then took out a writ against his old management team. Hardly any surprise that under the weight of this turmoil his golf suffered and if ever a year was a write off it was 2013. Indeed so bad did it become that one wondered whether he would ever recapture the form that had catapulted him to the world’s number one slot.

2014 began in inconsistent style seemingly incapable of finding the necessary consistency to string four good rounds together. And when he did get into contention - such as at the Honda Classic in February - he finished with a 74 to squander the lead he had taken into the final round. He eventually lost to Russell Henley in a four way play off. So the fragility was still there.

Then out of the blue he decided to split from Caroline Wozniaki. Freed from the circus surrounding that relationship the form almost instantly returned as he went out and won the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. Two months later came The Open Championship at Hoylake. For three days he played imperious golf. Could he keep it going to cross the line to his third major? It was never going to be easy, given the weight of expectation on his young shoulders and the strength of the pack following in his wake. But he did it to claim a memorable and deserved victory. The mental steel was being created.

And so to the US PGA, the final Major of the year. As the form horse he was odds on favourite to claim his second major of the year and few were surprised to see him atop the leader board with one round to go. But after eight holes of his final round things were not going to plan. Playing tentatively he was the only player in the top ten not to be under par and had slipped to two behind leaders Ricky Fowler and Phil Mickelson. At one point he fell to three behind, before the turning point at the par five 10th. Of those playing he was the only one to find the green in two, close enough to hole the putt for an incredible eagle. He was back in the thick of things and with two further birdies on the murderously tough back nine he stood on the 18th tee needing a par for victory.

With the light fading Fowler and Mickelson magnanimously stood aside to allow him to hit both his drive and approach shot to the final green. His third, a difficult bunker shot finished 18 yards short of the hole from where he rolled his first putt to within the ring of friendship. Holing the putt he rightly punched the air knowing that he had ground out an historic win to put him alongside both Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods in winning four majors by the age of 25. Hats off too to Fowler and Mickelson who, though fierce rivals, were constantly praising each other’s play and thoroughly enjoying the challenge. Ever since young Ricky shot that extraordinary third round in awful conditions at the 2011 Royal St Georges Open has he gone up in my estimation. He plays with a smile, never gets down on himself and putts like a god. I hope his time to win a major is not long hence.

As for Rory what is there to say? Interviewed this morning on Radio 4 Simon Dyson made mention of what a delight he is to play alongside – always chatting, easy to get on with, no hint of intimidation other than what he can do with the golf ball. The game of golf has its new superstar.

Read also: http://youneverplayedthegame.blog.com/2014/07/20/mcilroy-fulfils-his-promise/