Dispatches From Planet Rory

As we all know, it's Rory's world and we're just lucky to live in it...

Think golf moves too slowly>  Miss any of Rory's Sunday march to the Claret Jug?  Then enjoy the supercut:

Worried about Rory's earning potential?  Concerned that Dad won't share any of the payout from his audacious bet that Rors would snag a Claret Jug before age 26?  Fear not, Peter Finch provides some background on the typical contractual terms for struggling Tour players:

"Almost all contracts have bonuses tied to winning, and to winning majors," agent Mac

Barnhardt of Crown Sports LLC told Golf Digest’s Ron Sirak earlier this year. "And the bonus for winning a major is two to four times higher than for a regular win. So we're talking bonuses from $100,000 to $500,000 per contract."

Sirak continued: “According to one agent who spoke on the condition of anonymity, [Justin] Rose's $1.2 million TaylorMade deal doubled in value after his Open victory. The same agent says [Phil] Mickelson got a $1 million bonus from Callaway for winning the British Open. A second agent says Rose and Masters winner Adam Scott will earn an extra $3 million to $5 million annually for winning a major."

No actual data is provided for Rory's Nike contract, but I'm guessing we can hold off on that rent party for the lad.

Next up, remember the indignity of Rory playing with a marker after making the cut at the Masters?  Well, with the whole world looking past the PGA and towards Rory's first attempt  at a career slam, he's channeling his inner Johnny Mercer to "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive":

"I've always been comfortable from tee to green at Augusta," said McIlroy, who wound up shooting 69 the day after his Saturday pairing with amateur Jeff Knox "And it's taken me a few years to figure out the greens . . . if I can just figure out the greens a little bit more. What really helped me last year was playing with Jeff Knox in the third round. He's my amateur marker and he's the best I've ever seen on Augusta's greens." 

Of course, Knox isn't just any amateur. The longtime member of Augusta National has played in two U.S. Amateurs, is a two-time mid-amateur champion in Georgia, and holds the Augusta National course record from the members tees with a 61. He has been a noncompeting marker if there has been an odd number golfers to make the cut in the tournament since 2002 and reportedly upset Sergio Garcia by beating him in the final round in 2006. In this year's third round, Knox shot 70 to McIlroy's 71, but McIlroy reacted much differently.

Well, let's first note that that was the old, spit-in-the-cup Sergio, not the current high-on-life incarnation.  Phil Casey had this from Knox:

And Knox declared last night that he could save McIlroy a handful of shots which might make all the difference to his bid to join Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods in winning all four major titles.

 Good on ya mate for your openness to help from unexpected sources.  

And Rory also grabbed himself a Sports Illustrated cover:

He does look the Very Model of a Modern Major Winner, doesn't he?  Bonus points for those who got the oh-so-clever Gilbert & Sullivan reference...And G&S and Johnny Mercer in the same post?  You guys should be paying for this stuff.  But I digress...

Though Ed Sherman found the Masters Preview reference to be be a none-too-subtle dig at the PGA:

I imagine this headline on the cover caught the attention of the PGA of America: “Masters Preview 2015: Why wait?” 

Michael Bamberger’s story already is pumping up the anticipation of McIlroy trying to complete the career Grand Slam at Augusta National next April. Still, I’m sure next month’s PGA Championship in Louisville will feel a bit overlooked. At last check, it still is considered a major.

Yanno, from the start of the year I liked him best at Valhalla.  It's a target golf course and in the sweltering heat of Louisville in August, you have to figure the course will begetting lots of water.  Oh, and when Rory wins, he tends to win them in bunches.

Like me, are you wondering how the Claret Jug is holding up under the stress of keeping up with a youngster?  It's had a bit of a tough week, per Josh Sens:

Having partied hard with the Claret Jug in the wake of his big win at Royal Liverpool, British

Open champion Rory McIlroy showed up empty handed Tuesday at Stormont Castle, the seat of government of Northern Ireland. 

“Sorry I don’t have the Claret Jug,” McIlroy told his home country’s First Minister and Deupty First Minister Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness, according to the Independent newspaper. “It is not going everywhere with me. It is getting a bit of clean up after last night.”

McIIroy, it seems, had spent the previous evening at Ollie’s nightclub in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter, camped out at a table in the VIP section in the company of buddies, beer and Red Bull—and the iconic Open trophy.

You mean it's not dishwasher safe?  That's what's wrong with the Old World, it's, you know, old!

Are you despondent that Rory and Nadia Forde are just friends?  Do you worry that he didn't have that special someone with whom to celebrate the big win? Let your heart be light, as Luke Kerr-Dineen informs:

Who knew flappers are back?

But new reports are surfacing that Rory has been seeing someone else: 23-year-old part-time model, part-time receptionist Sasha Gale. The two have been spotted around town, and The Sun quotes an anonymous source saying their romance was "blossoming."

And if you can't believe The Sun, who can you believe?   

Looking for an update on former BFF's Rory and Graeme?  Gotcha covered as always... We noted Graeme's day-of comments earlier, here's what he had to offer after further reflection:

However, McDowell feels the talented new generation in the game will make it impossible for his fellow Northern Irishman to match Woods at his prime, the former world No 1 winning

seven of his 14 major titles between August 1999 and June 2002. 

"I don't think we'll ever see the dominance of Tiger Woods in the late '90s, early 2000s. I don't think we're ever going to see that again," said McDowell, who was one of 15 different winners of the 16 majors played between 2009 and 2012. 

"For every Rory there's an Adam Scott and Jordan Spieth and Sergio Garcia and a Tiger and a Phil (Mickelson). There's too many good players now. It's so deep. It's so strong. Everyone is so good.

I thinks that's absolutely true, but wonder if in the context of the litigation if it's ripe for misinterpretation.  I also think Jeff Rude makes a valid comparison here:

Rory McIlroy, newly minted Open Championship winner, has a remarkable record that actually has characteristics of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. 

Besides Woods, he is the lone rare separation player in decades. Not only is McIlroy three corners into the career Grand Slam, he won two of the major championships by eight strokes apiece and had a seven-shot lead on Sunday in the other. That’s Woodsian stuff. 

The performance tendency of McIlroy, because he is only 25, will take a certain unknown shape over the next decade or so. But until now, his graph chart for winning resembles the up-and-down of Mickelson way more than the regular success of an in-prime Woods. Like Lefty, the trend shows that when McIlroy is on, he’s really on, and when he’s not, he can resemble just another player.

Are you, like me, staying up nights in the hopes that Rory will settle his suit against his former management company so that he and Graeme can rekindle their spark?  The news on that front isn't encouraging, as per the Belfast Telegraph:

Sources close to ongoing talks between lawyers for both sides indicated the case is likely to go to a full trial next year. 

Those talks, which have been ongoing for several days, have been limited to the issue of documents that may be involved in the case. 

There has been no discussion about a possible resolution of the complaint made by McIlroy against Dublin firm Horizon Sports Management.

Well, we do want it to drag on past the Ryder Cup, don't we now?   I don't put a lot of stock in the value of team room awkwardness, but we Yanks need all the help we can get.