GOLF: CADDIE'S ROLETHERE WAS no better setting in the United States of America than the old world stateliness of the Congressional Country Club for the coronation of the new 20-something King of the Majors, Rory McIlroy. The course was named in honour of the US Congress, and in the vicinity of it, the White House, the US Capitol, Supreme Court and Pentagon it was a significant symbol of power.
Or should that have been Rory McKill-Joy. There was a stark reminder of the early dominant days of Tiger Woods about the Boy Wonder from Holywood as he gave a four-round masterclass of power golf mixed with short game finesse.
He has it all Rory, and he showed every aspect of his unmitigated skill to us on one of the biggest stages of golf, the 111th US Open. Despite a past PGA Championship winner YE Yang keeping within a vaguely realistic challenging position of Rory since last Thursday, there was an air of inevitability about anyone else’s ability to knock the 22-year-old Ulsterman from his pedestal of power.
There was no good or bad side of the draw, there were no freak of nature happenings on the course but after Rory’s 11 under par two-round total and his six-shot advantage over his closest Korean challenger the rest of the field, who truly understand the game and how talent tends to ultimately prevail, were tacitly resigned to playing for second place.
What a difference a major makes. Rewind to Augusta in April and the dominant lead that young Rory enjoyed there going into the last round. With a shocking memory of his capitulating final round which made most of us squirm with sympathy, it is now easier to understand the importance of distinguishing spring from summer for a young superstar.
If I had the inclination I would love to drag up the disparaging post-Masters analyses of that horrible Sunday for the McIlroy team at Augusta. There were several suggestions that his caddie was not up to the task, that Rory himself was not a winner and finishing left him hopelessly exposed.
The fact was of course that he is only a young lad who needed to get an extra-curriculum grind in how to deal with the emotions of winning not only a golf tournament, but more knee tremblingly, a major.
His strategy was obviously to be aggressive and to take advantage of his powerful game. Any shots I saw him hit on Sunday seemed to be pin high, suggesting that he and his caddie JP Fitzgerald were in full control of their faculties.
Like most youngsters, Rory learned so quickly. Us older folks could only look back in awe of the absorbing ability of a young inquisitive mind coupled with a rare talent and wonder where our decades had gone.
Without heaping too much adulation on Rory, if I was to step back from the outrageous record -breaking feat for a few moments, the 111th US Open was one of the strangest course set-ups in recent US Open history.
The Blue Course at Congressional is a monster with most of the par fours on the back nine in the high 400 yard mark and the last hole over 500 yards long with the green surrounded by water. Nobody can argue that the game is not now almost exclusively dominated by long hitting. The USGA have both contributed to and accept this as a given.
We had been advised that course preparation had not gone according to plan due to unseasonably hot weather in the Washington DC area the week before the event.
The greens were on the edge of survival by the middle of last week and the rough was not penal by US Open standards.
Alongside some overnight storms the USGA were obliged to keep the greens soft so that they didn’t lose them for the final two rounds. The only way to combat the modern skilled golf professional is to have rock-hard greens. Firm, fast greens test top golfers both long and short. Soft greens, on a long course with non-penal rough, eliminates half the field. Alongside Rory, the majority of those who finished well were long hitters.
Despite Rory’s sublime play, it is always comforting for a long hitter to know that the rough is not ‘hack out’ material. It is also settling to know that you can hit towering iron shots to the heart of the greens and suck them back towards the pin.
Despite the sub-air system working overtime throughout the weekend in an effort to dry out the greens the fact was there was a soft ‘thud’ as most players’ approach shots landed on the greens rather than the hollow ‘thonk ’ that we expect at the event.
World golf, and particularly American golf, was desperately looking for a player or players to fill the void that the recent travails of Tiger Woods has left on tour. YouTube a hip-hopesque video of Ben Crane, Bubba Watson, Hunter Mahan and Rickie Fowler and you will witness the lengths they will go to in order to make the game appear more youthful and trendy.
The jaunty, almost cock-sure demeanour of the 111th US Open champion will surely fill that gap. You need to be confident to succeed at golf, Rory manages to have a swagger when he needs it and tempers it with humility when desired. It is a delicate and endearing balance that is good for the game.
Rory McIlroy has won his first major in a clinical and dominant style. Already, even the post-Masters sceptics are talking about his next major assault.
With a slew of records, from beating the lowest US Open total set by Tiger Woods by four shots, to hitting more greens in regulation since statistics were recorded, Rory McIlroy has been crowned King of the new era of golf in the shadows of the nation’s capital. There is no stronger symbol of power than that.
