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June 19 2011
9:30 pm
Inside the numbers on McIlroy, others
· Rory McIlroy made 14 birdies (or better) on Congressional’s par-4 holes during this week’s U.S. Open. This is the most at a U.S. Open on the par-4s since Phi Mickelson made 13 in the 1995 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills. Mickelson finished in a tie for fourth place that year.
· Rory McIlroy did not card a single score over-par on Congressional’s front nine. Over the past 20 years, no player has accomplished this feat at a U.S. Open. The last time a major winner accomplished the feat was Tiger Woods during the 2006 PGA Championship held that year at Medinah. It also is a personal best for McIlroy on the PGA TOUR. Never before had McIlroy played all four rounds of an official TOUR event and not recorded a hole over-par on either the front or back nine. McIlroy’s previous best came during the 2010 the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance, when he carded just one score over par on the front nine at Muirfield Village.
· Jason Day had another good major championship showing, finishing in second place at this week’s U.S. Open. Day finished the week with a streak of 45 holes without a bogey. The 45-hole bogey-free stretch is a personal best for Day on the PGA TOUR, whose previous high was a 37 hole stretch during the 2008 Shell Houston Open. The 45 consecutive bogey free holes also sets a high water mark over the past 20 years at the U.S. Open. The previous high was 39, which ironically was tied by Bo Van Pelt during today’s final round. Before Van Pelt today, you have to go back to John Cook during the 1994 U.S. Open held at Oakmont.
· Current Masters Champion Charl Schwartzel posted a top-10 finish during this week’s U.S. Open Championship at Congressional. The last time a current Masters Champion, not named Mickelson or Woods, finished in the top 10 at the U.S. Open was 2003, when Mike Weir finished in a tie for third place at Olympia Fields.
· During this week’s U.S. Open, the field combined to make 1,218 total birdies. This is the most birdies made by the field at a U.S. Open over the past 20 years. The previous high over this time span came in 1996 at Oakland Hills, when the field made 1190 birdies.
9:19 pm
Day a major force…again
By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.COM
BETHESDA, Md. — Two majors. Two second places.
A tie at the Masters. Solo at the U.S. Open.
So if you’re not paying attention to Jason Day, you should be.
The 2010 Byron Nelson champ, the 23-year-old from Queensland, is turning into a major force. He shot a 64 in the second round of the Masters; a third-round 65 here at Congressional Country Club. He shared second — two shots behind winner Charl Schwartzel — with fellow Aussie Adam Scott at the Masters and finished 8 shots behind Rory McIlroy here, closing with a 68 to McIlroy’s 69.
"Obviously it’s my first U.S. Open,” said Day, who has seven top-nine finishes on the TOUR this year. "Very excited that I finished second. I’m not going to go home and cry because I got whooped.
"But Rory, you can’t beat a guy that’s gone out and played as well as he has this week. He just didn’t miss a beat, played phenomenal golf, and I played really, really solid golf over the weekend, which I really wanted to do, and I’m very, very happy to finish second, which is nice."
In so many other years, 8 under would have won. This week, Day’s remarkable week was just the second lowest score by one of the fast-rising 20-somethings.
"Yeah, obviously if you go around to each country, each country has their own rising star coming up,” Day said. "This is the start of it, and obviously Rory is leading it, and there’s a bunch of other great golfers out there that obviously we need to work a little harder to get to the level of Rory. But you’re right, we really are going to start a new generation, and it’s really fun. I think it’s great for golf."
7:52 pm
Congratulate McIlroy on his win
Rory McIlroy became the youngest winner of the U.S. Open in 88 years and turned heartbreak into triumph at Congressional on Sunday, where he set or tied a dozen records. Congratulate him here and we’ll pass it along.
7:30 pm
McIlroy wins the U.S. Open
BETHESDA, Md. – On a golf course frequented by presidents and politicians, Rory McIlroy was clearly the people’s choice as he won the 111th U.S. Open on Sunday.
McIlory was nothing short of dominant at Congressional as he won his first major championship – doubling the score on his nearest competitor. McIlroy closed with a 69 to finish at 16 under and eight strokes ahead of Aussie Jason Day.
“Overall the whole week has been incredible,” McIlroy said on NBC afterward. “I’m just so happy to be holding this trophy.”
No one had ever gotten so far under par in a U.S. Open. Not even Tiger Woods when he won the storied championship by 15 strokes at Pebble Beach in 2000.
“I know how good Tiger was winning by 15 at Pebble, and I was trying to go out there and emulate him in some way,” McIlroy continued. “I couldn’t be happier.
“Augusta was a very valuable experience for me. I knew what I needed to do today to win and I learned a few things about myself and my game and put a few different things into practice and it paid off. It means the world. Happy fathers day dad. This one’s for you.”
His celebration was as understated as McIlroy is in real life. The modest 22-year-old tapped in for his final par and shook his clenched fist slightly seven times. No roars or upper-cut pumps. Just a big smile. And then a big hug for his father on that special day.
The win was the third of McIlroy’s career and his first since the 2010 Wells Fargo Championship. He missed the cut at last year’s U.S. Open — watching his good friend and fellow Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell win — but his performance in the majors since has been exemplary.
McIlroy opened with a major championship record-tying 63 at the British Open and tied for third, finished third again at the PGA after missing a putt on the 72nd hole that would have landed him in a playoff.
Even the Masters was amazing. McIlroy led each of the first three rounds before squandering a four-stroke advantage on Sunday.
“I think Rory has set himself apart now in potential,” Padraig Harrington, a three-time major champion, said. “Other guys have been in contention and failed to win majors. Rory has been lapping the field.”
7:25 pm
Garrigus, Chappell low Americans
By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.COM
BETHESDA, Md. — Robert Garrigus and Kevin Chappell low Americans?
Who’d have figured that?
Certainly not Garrigus, who couldn’t even conceive of someone telling him at the start of the week he’d finish 10 shots off the lead — let alone tied for third and low American — and shoot under par everyday day.
"If you had told me I was going to do that,” he said, "I might have slapped you in the face. I just didn’t understand the scores."
What he did understand? Walking off the 18th green.
"It gave me goosebumps for sure,” he said. "That was one of the things I will never forget. Besides it being Father’s Day and to have my son there afterwards and everything, this is a pretty special day. And to make that putt, I get into Augusta, that’s probably one of the coolest things I’ll ever get to say is I am playing at Augusta next year."
Chappell might agree.
For those of you who don’t know, Chappell is a 24-year-old UCLA grad and PGA TOUR rookie. He’s the one who closed with a 66 and wasn’t sure what this would mean. Garrigus is the 33-year-old who hits it a mile and putts with a tiny — think junior club — putter. He closed with a 70.
"Being low American, that’s great,” said Chappell, whose finish, coupled with a tie for second at the Valero Texas Open, ensures him his 2012 TOUR card. "I don’t think the state of American golf is where everyone expects it to be, but I think it shows that someone like myself can play out here, and I think it’s definitely going to end up going in the right direction here sometime soon.
Ryder Cup Captain Davis Love III led the next low All-American group (Heath Slocum, Brandt Snedeker) at 3 under in a tie for 11th. The 47-year-old Love struggled with his putter all week and bristled a bit at the notion that American golf was struggling.
"Really I guess a little bit of an exception with Lee Westwood, but most of them are guys that are over here playing a lot, week in and week out,” Love said. "Rory (McIlroy) I guess we’ve seen him a lot in the last year. Everything goes in streaks, you know. We might be talking about how four Americans win the next four.
"We don’t look at it that I way, we’re just playing the golf course. We don’t play nationalities, we’re playing golf and trying to win. If it’s Kevin Chappell that shoots 17‑under or Rory, it doesn’t make any difference to me, I got whipped."
7:20 pm
Garcia posts 16th major top-10
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM
BETHESDA, Md. — Sergio Garcia’s comeback trail continued at the U.S. Open as he turned in a solid tie for seventh.
The Spaniard shot a 70 on Sunday to finish at 5 under and post his phenomenal 16th top-10 finish in a major championship. He shot par or better in every round at Congressional, the first time he’s completed a tournament in that manner since the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational 10 months ago.
"I think it was a good result," Garcia said. "Obviously a shame, the last couple (he bogeyed No. 18 on Sunday). But overall I think that the first day we played really well and then we managed to stay very patient the next three days without having our best game. I’m happy about that, so that’s a positive, and then we’ll just hopefully keep moving forward."
The seven-time PGA TOUR champ took a two-month sabbatical from the game last fall. He’s come back strong in 2011, though, and he’s now posted top-20 finishes in six of his eight starts on the PGA TOUR.
"It’s getting there," Garcia said. "There’s always things I need to get better at. Yesterday, I felt a little bit jumpy, a little bit nervous. Today, I feel a little bit more calm. But I still had a little bit of trouble trusting a few shots here and there, trusting my draws with the driver. But I know what happens. I know exactly what happens, what is the problem. My body doesn’t get through the ball and then I start hitting it right.
"But I think, like I said, overall it was a solid week, and that’s all I can ask."
Garcia’s most recent close call in a major was in the 2008 PGA where he finished second to Padriag Harrington. He lost in a playoff to Harrington at the previous year’s British Open, too. When someone asked Sunday whether he thought he’d ever win a major, the 30-year-old was surprisingly candid.
"I don’t know," he said. "I think maybe I’ll get lucky one day, but like I said, I’m just trying to get better. I know at the moment it’s probably tough for me to get one because things are still not right. But it’s getting there, and hopefully it’ll get there soon."
7:12 pm
Schwartzel not surprised by McIlroy
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM
BETHESDA, Md. — Charl Schwartzel won the Masters when he closed with four straight birdies at Augusta National two months ago.
Of course, Rory McIlory had a back-hand in that victory when he squandered a four-shot lead and made triple bogey from between the cabins well to the left of the 10th fairway. Schwartzel, who flew with McIlroy to Malaysia for a tournament the next week, was impressed with the way the Northern Irishman handled defeat.
Given that bond of sorts, Schwartzel, who finished at 4 under to tie for ninth, was happy to see the way McIlroy responded at Congressional. And he was hardly surprised.
"You know, the way he reacted, the way he handled it afterwards, it looked like it was going to be around the corner," Schwartzel said. "He put it behind him very quickly. I think you guys sort of took it a bit further and tried to see why, and he just said, well, it happened, and he sort of got on with it a lot quicker, which for him was very good, and the results are showing."
Schwartzel called McIlroy’s performance "very spectacular," and said he looked like "he was playing a different course." The South African noted that Congressional played to the 22-year-old”s strengths this week — McIlory hits a high ball a very long way — but added "you’re not going to be making scores like that if you’re not playing really well."
Schwartzel closed with a satisfying bogey-free 66 on Sunday, his lowest round of the week and his second under par. The PGA TOUR rookie nearly holed two iron shots — coming within inches of an ace at the daunting par-3 10th — and called his play "pretty spectacular."
One of the nicest things this week, though, was the increased recognition from the fans.
"I was saying to my caddie that a couple years ago, five, six years ago when I came out here, you would walk down the fairway and people would recognize you,’ Schwartzel said. "They’d say we’ve seen you somewhere, but they don’t actually know who you are. Sometimes you’d hear, ‘Who’s that guy?’ And now I really had a lot of support, and that’s nice. It’s very encouraging."
6:08 pm
Kaymer amazed at Rors
By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.COM
BETHESDA, Md. — Martin Kaymer walked off the course amazed at Rory McIlroy’s performance.
He didn’t see a lot of shots, but he saw enough to call McIlroy’s game fantastic.
"The way he plays golf, it’s a different golf,” said Kaymer, who won his first major last August at the PGA Championship. "It’s close to perfect.”
". . . .It is great for him to win the event early in his career. He’s only 22 years old and especially after what happened at the Masters, you know, all the eyes on him. And to finally to bring it home and to win not only, I would say, the biggest over there, anyway, besides the Masters, but it’s the U.S. Open, if you are the champion of the United States, it’s quite impressive. And to be the second Irish. I mean, I’m very happy for him and for his family, as well. He has great parents. It’s great to see.”
Kaymer did say, though, that Congressional was . . . well, not Pebble Beach or Pinehurst.
"It’s not really a U.S. Open golf course, to be honest,” Kaymer said. "It plays softer. You have birdie chances the first nine It plays fairly easy. If you hit the fairways, you can go straight at the flags. And the greens, they roll along. Still, 16‑under, or wherever he’ll finish today, it’s very impressive and I’m very happy for him.”
McIlroy’s expected win will also give the Internationals a string of five consecutive major championships for the first time ever. Internationals held four in a row in 1994 — Jose Maria Olazabal (Masters), Ernie Els (U.S. Open) and Nick Price (British Open, PGA).
When asked what he thought that said about American golf, Kaymer said, "It says, I think, that the Americans struggle a little bit. Since Tiger (Woods) has been on a, how do you say, a little down.”
He added that the advent of the World Golf Championships have strengthened international golf, but that it was Padraig Harrington, who won three of six majors (2007, 2008 British Opens; 2008 PGA Championship) "gave us at least the belief that we can win here in America, as well."
5:25 pm
Standing room only @ Holywood
By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.COM
BETHESDA, Md. — Wondering what the scene is like right now at Rory McIlroy’s home club — Holywood in County Down?
Keith Rundle tweeted that it’s standing room only, but no sign of champagne . . . Yet.
5:22 pm
McIlroy begins back nine march
BETHESDA, Md. – Rory McIlroy just rifled his tee shot at the par-3 10th hole over the pin, then watched as it trickled back toward the cup and stopped about two inches away.
The fans, clearly behind the young Northern Irishman, tried to coax the ball in for the ace to no avail. Not to worry.
As he began the final nine holes of the 111th U.S. Open, McIlroy owns a commanding eight-stroke lead. Y.E. Yang, who just birdied the par-5 ninth, is as close to McIlroy as anyone has been all day.
McIlroy tapped in for birdie, then Yang made his to move to 17 and 9 under, respectively.
Interestingly, the Korean is a birdie away from becoming the second person this week to reach double digits under par at a U.S. Open – only four players had done it before McIlroy joined them this week.
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