Tuesday, June 18, 2024

Tuesday Tidbits - Open Detritus Edition

With 24 hours to process, any further thoughts?  No, well then it's fortunate that I've got a handful....

The Summer of Rory's Discontent - A gut punch for sure, but this was as predictable as day following night:

After enduring a searing loss at the U.S. Open on Sunday, Rory McIlroy declined to speak to the media, zipping out of the parking lot in his courtesy car and heading straight home to Florida.

He remained in this week’s Travelers Championship field, the eighth and final PGA Tour Signature Event of the season, and was even listed on the interview schedule for Wednesday afternoon, after the pro-am.

But on Monday, McIlroy issued a lengthy statement on social media, outlining his plans for the next several weeks — which do not include tournament golf.

I know it's uncharitable to kick a guy when he's down, but it's almost as if scheduling the PGA Tour's most important money grabs the week after the U.S. Open isn't optimal.  Remind who was on the Players Advisory Council when this was agreed to?

Like most, I'm not put off by his skipping out on a presser, though perhaps he should have found a moment to congratulate the winner:

“Yesterday was a tough day, probably the toughest I’ve had in my 17 years as a professional golfer,” McIlroy wrote. “Firstly, I’d like to congratulate Bryson. He is a worthy champion and exactly what professional golf needs right now. I think we can all agree on that. As I reflect on my week, I’ll rue a few things over the course of the tournament, mostly the putts on 16 and 18 on the final day. But, as I always try to do, I’ll look at the positives of the week that far outweigh the negatives.

Excessive parsing is what we do here, but I find the bolded words just a touch odd.  Bryson had a great week with the crowd and I myself have been reevaluating the man, but is he a Hero of France?  Seems a bit of a stretch and an odd concession in the midst of those heated negotiations.

As for the last bit, it ain't just a river in Egypt.

“As I said at the start of the tournament, I feel closer to winning my next major championship than I ever have,” McIlroy continued. “The one word that I would describe my career as is resilient. I’ve shown my resilience over and over again in the last 17 years and I will again. I’m going to take a few weeks away from the game to process everything and build myself back up for my defense of the Genesis Scottish Open and The Open at Royal Troon. See you in Scotland.”

Resilient?  Fragile?  Whatev.....

But what interests me most is how Rory's  existential crisis intersects with the world he helped create.  As I understand things, he will not be replaced in the Hartford field.  So, imagine you're the guy that would have been next in.. Rory has carved out a slot in the small-field money grab for himself and then can't even be bothered using it.... But all that means is that Patrick Cantlay has to fight off one less guy to grab his super-sized check.  It all sort of works out for them, doesn't it?

Folks are spinning out their Winners and Losers posts, and this from ESPN seems about right:

Losers

Rory McIlroy

There's no way to sugarcoat it: McIlroy had his best chance to end his nearly 10-year drought without a major championship, taking a 2-stroke lead with five holes to play, only to endure one of the worst final-round collapses by a leader in history.

While McIlroy has suffered plenty of heartache during that stretch, including an epic collapse at the 2011 Masters and a near-miss at last year's U.S. Open, this one is going to sting for a long time.

McIlroy carded bogeys on three of the last four holes, inexplicably missing a 2½-footer for par on the 16th and a putt of 3 feet, 9 inches for par on the 18th. He hit his putt on the 16th too hard, his attempt on the 18th wasn't hard enough.

Since winning the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla, McIlroy has posted 20 top-10 finishes in majors, including nine top 5s. He just hasn't won his fifth major.

"At the end of the day, we are all human," Pavon said. "Rory has been chasing another major [for] many years. He is one of the best players in the world, a true champion. It shows you how tough it is. The more you want it, the tougher it gets, and the highest expectation you have for yourself, the tougher it gets, the more pressure you get into.

"Maybe this is a little bit of pressure that got him today for sure, but Rory is just a massive champion. I'm sure he will fight back really soon."

Golf is a game of mistakes, and all the greats have let majors get away.  They say that Jack never missed a putt that he needed, but they lie.  Look no further than the 17th green at Turnberry for a short one he missed.  But I can't help feeling this is different.  Just in the last two years Rory has had three instances where they were about to etch his name on a trophy that he squandered needlessly.

Inexplicably, Shack has Rory as his second winner:

Champions

Rory McIlroy. Given his gracious 99% of the time, I’m in the minority in not caring about the

runner-up’s decision to flee town immediately after Sunday’s loss. Yes, he did miss an opportunity to congratulate DeChambeau which was a shame since Bryson seemed genuinely appreciative to compete against McIlroy down the stretch. Not that it would have made the flight home easier. For those flustered at his getaway: post-loss press chats in a locker room corner are so last century. Now the sessions are televised with transcripts and the occasional performative question looking to elicit tears. It’s no secret McIlroy has had stuff going on with his marriage. On the course, he has a lot to reconcile after hitting 46 of 56 fairways (82%) while making the key birdie putts on Sunday that eluded him last year at LACC and at St Andrews in 2022. McIlroy took to Twitter Monday in a note that could not have been fun to pen. But he did congratulate DeChambeau in perfect style. As for the short missed putts down the stretch? The hard-breaking left-to-righter on 18 has been unfairly compared to cringey misses by Doug Sanders and Scott Hoch. The putt on 16? It’s the one he’ll rue since it was his first miss of 496 inside three feet this year. But playing the closing five holes +5 over the last three days ultimately cost McIlroy the win. Still, he delivered stellar play on a golf course that might have annoyed him a decade ago. McIlroy once again reaffirmed an immense drive and all-round skill very deep into a career that appears to have more years of great golf ahead.

Geoff does make a good point or two, but that guy skipping out on the post-tourney presser doesn't feel much like a champion....

The best point that Geoff makes is that this is a golf course we shouldn't expect Rory to like, far too firm for his tastes.  The fact that he got himself in position to win is notable for that reason, although of course he racked up his birdies on Thursday when the course was softest.

But what Geoff ignores is that it wasn't just the two short misses.  he also blew the greens at Nos. 15 and 17, and that's a recurring feature of Rory's game.  I completely agree that the putt on No. 18 was testy, and reject the comparison's to Sanders and Hoch as in ____.  But, of course, the putt on No. 16 was easier than than either of those two examples, so where does that leave us?  And it's not like he put a confident stroke on that 18th hole putt...

Dylan Dethier has an interesting take on that effort:

ONE SWING THOUGHT

From Rory McIlroy.

I’m happy to defend Rory McIlroy‘s final miss at No. 18; that was just a four-footer but it was a slippery four-footer that would have terrified me.

Still, when I saw a replay from a side angle it triggered a memory of something McIlroy had said ahead of the Masters:

“Sometimes I can let the putter rise up a little bit too much on the way through, and then I can catch the ball sort of more on the equator, rather than like more of a level,” he said. “Like, when I strike a good putt, it almost feels like the ball comes out of the top of the face instead of the middle of the face. So, yeah, focused a little bit on strike, a little bit on just that sort of transition.”

Watch the putt again and you’ll see the putter strike the equator. It looks low on the face. Did that make the difference? Sigh. We (and he) can only wonder.

Regular readers of the blog know that for many years I have over-interpreted one factoid as a reflection on Rory's commitment, to wit, that he would rather be comfortable than great.  Interestingly, this popped up in my Twitter feed:


Two missed putts combining for just over seven feet in length cost McIlroy at Pinehurst No.2 as he failed to convert a late two-shot lead on Sunday.

But two-time DP World Tour winner Eddie Pepperell has insisted that the Northern Irishman would have walked away with a fifth major title if he had a ‘stronger’ caddie.

Speaking on The Chipping Forecast podcast, Pepperell claimed one key club decision was ‘inexplicable’ before calling for McIlroy to hire a new caddie.

“Sometimes, to win a golf tournament, you need to limp over the line, and I’m adamant that it is your caddie on occasions like that can really be the difference,” the Englishman said.

“My immediate takeaway is that with a stronger caddie, he would not have made the bogey he made on the 15th.

The childhood best friend on the bag has always struck me as profoundly unserious.

Not only does he pull the wrong club more than the other guys, but he's always seemed to me an especially poor green-reader.  Seems he could use a stronger hand on the whip, but it's hard to fire that kid you grew up with.

The is actually pretty funny:

“He looked so comfortable and in control and he just needed to hit it to the front part of that green on 15. And I really think he would have walked away with that trophy.

“That was an inexplicable club decision on 15 and possibly the last too.”

McIlroy teamed up with childhood friend Harry Diamond in 2017 after parting company with his long-standing caddie JP Fitzgerald.

“I wouldn’t have said this If he had won but I think he needs a new caddie. I hate saying that about Harry because I’m sure he’s a lovely guy. And I’m sure he’s a good caddie.

Don't forget No. 17 as well...

But you've just cited disastrous club pulls in the final stages of an Open, so why are you so sure Harry is a good caddie?   Seems to me the data says something entirely contrary.

One last indignity for the Ulsterman.  Earlier this year Rory passed a certain Aussie in Tour wins and gloated that fact.  Rory doesn't seem to get that in even noting such a thing he's punching down, but this header is uniquely positioned to ruin his day:

Rory McIlroy's U.S. Open collapse calls to mind the legacy of one Great White Shark

Everyone Is A Winner - The venue seems to have garnered mostly raves:

Pinehurst No. 2. The course made a magnificent return after 2014’s U.S. Open(s) left folks
wondering if the “anchor site” commitment was such a grand idea. Good weather coming in this time and an overall maturation of the turf and natives served as a reminder that it was still just too new a decade ago after Coore and Crenshaw’s overhaul. Investment by the Dedman family and hard work by many to dial in the sandy scrub seemed to draw unanimous praise this time. Several greens at 14 on the Stimpmeter are over the top and need to get back to Donald Ross’ elevations and tie-ins (to be discussed in the Missers edition) if those speeds are the new normal. Still, everyone seems excited about the return in 2029, a refrain not always heard after a U.S. Open.

Hopefully that follow up will not be paywalled, but any track will be stressed when the greens are running at 14 feet.  While I'm not a fan of locking down major venues decades in advance, it being folly to think we can anticipate the game's arc, but it's hard to envision No. 2 not being an Anchor Site in perpetuity.  Especially as the sandhills provide firm and fast conditions in the heart of summer.

I completely agree with this as well.  I wish they could have shown more of his play, although I understand that the three top dogs were going to grab the available oxygen:

Matthieu Pavon. An incredible 2024 season continued with a fifth-place finish. He hit 43 of 56 fairways, gained seven strokes on the greens, but hit only 43 of 72 greens. With slightly improved
iron play he should be one of the favorites at Troon and in the Paris Olympics. A fast player with a great attitude and a well-rounded game makes him one of the year’s best breakthrough stories. He also handled the difficulty of playing in a pro-DeChambeau crowd. “That was just a super nice experience,” Pavon said. “I enjoyed every moment on the golf course. The crowd was nice, very fair to me, pushing for the home guy. It was nice to feel that sort of energy. To drop some birdies on my back nine to finish fifth was really nice.”

Good player and seemingly a good guy.  I'm sure we'll see him at Bethpage as well.

One thing I most certainly missed was that dramatic finish of the two amateurs:

Neal Shipley. A big body and a big personality to go with the historic accomplishment of grabbing Low Amateur at the Masters and U.S. Open. He did this with a one-stroke penalty on his card. It’s always fun to see a later-blooming, up-and-comer who was not raised in an AJGA puppy mill. No wonder he has something more than a nice game: passion and drive without gobs of entitlement. He acknowledged his ball moving and called over an official. (Something the World No. 1 did not do at the Masters on Sunday.) Even Shipley’s Arby’s sponcon headcover won over in a charming amateurism-is-dead kind-of-way. The in-car video reading off a stilted script? Be yourself next time Neal. You got this.

At least until that heart-breaking miss by Luke Clanton.  I was rooting for the two kids to share it, but Shipley is having quite the summer. 

The "L" Word - Shack hasn't posted his losers yet, but ESPN did and that's where the fun is to be found.   This guy sure had an odd week:


Everything about Pinehurst No. 2 screamed Scheffler. The fact that he had come into this week following yet another PGA Tour victory seemed to indicate that he was in peak form, ready to add a third major, and his second of the year, to his résumé.

And yet, as Scheffler pointed out after his second round, he was fatigued, he had not prepared as well as he could have and -- perhaps most importantly -- he had not embraced the unpredictability surrounding some of the course's native areas and greens.

Scheffler will likely still be the favorite at the Open Championship next month and will probably add another win to his total before then. He's just been that good. But for at least one week at the U.S. Open, Scheffler showed us he's human too.

A pretty dreadful week on the greens for Scottie.  There's something about these greens, as I remember Tiger having a similarly inexplicable putting week there in 2005.  

This guy had about as bad a week as anyone:


Just when we thought Thomas had made a breakthrough as he finished T-8 at the PGA Championship earlier this year, he regressed at Pinehurst by missing the cut and shooting 11 over through the first two rounds.

Thomas has now missed five cuts in the past seven major appearances and looks miles away from contention. What was more worrisome this week is that, though Thomas' putting has been his Achilles' heel, he instead struggled to hit his irons well, which is usually his strength.

It's unclear where Thomas goes from here, but as more majors and more time passes by, the possibility of Thomas reemerging as one of the top players in the game and one of the contenders at the sport's biggest events is starting to feel more and more like a far-fetched reality. 

We'll see how things look after Troon, but I've been anticipating a Prez Cup without JT and Jordan for some time now.

That's it for toady, kiddies.  Golf tomorrow, but I'll try to get back with more Open thoughts on Thursday. 

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