ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Every morning this week at St. Andrews, Rory McIlroy looked out his window at the Rusacks Hotel, which stands adjacent to the 18th hole of the Old Course, and stared at the British Open’s distinctive hand-operated yellow scoreboard.
Every morning the 33-year-old from Northern Ireland stared at that scoreboard and imagined his name on top of it on Sunday evening, he stood on that 18th green, raising the Claret Jug to the gray Scottish sky as ‘Champion Golfer of the Year .”
When McIlroy awoke Sunday morning, he shared the top spot on that board with Victor Hovland as co-leaders entering the final round. He was 18 holes away from achieving his childhood dream, winning the Open at St. Andrews, “The Home of Golf.”
He could see it, touch it, taste it.
“I’m only human, I’m not a robot; of course you think about it and you picture it … and you want to picture it,” McIlroy said as he stood dejected and gutted after being outplayed by winner Cameron Smith, who overcame a four-stroke deficit to McIlroy to start the day to win his first major championship.
McIlroy said every time he looked out his hotel window at that scoreboard, “I try to imagine ‘McIlroy’ as the top name on this leaderboard and how that [would] I feel it. At the beginning of the day [Sunday]it was on top, but at the start of tomorrow it won’t be.’
Rory McIlroy’s drought continues after coming up short at the British Open. Getty Images
On that day, McIlroy, who shot a bogey-free 2-under 70 (six shots ahead of Smith) in the final round, couldn’t summon his best when he needed it most.
So for McIlroy, who hasn’t won a major since 2014, the rhythm continues. The same will apply to the questions every time he is first in a major.
No one had more pressure on him than McIlroy on Sunday at St Andrews.
He was the most accomplished player at the top of the rankings going into the final round.
He was the tournament betting favorite from the start of the week.
He was by far the most popular player in the field. If you had a penny for every “Come on, Rory” that echoes from the vast galleries, you could afford one of those rooms at the Rusacks Hotel.
He’s been in such good shape that more than once this week he’s talked freely about how all aspects of his game feel great.
Rory McIlroy plays a shot on the fifth fairway. AP
He is waiting to win his fifth career major in eight years.
He was the PGA Tour’s most outspoken, educated and unflinching spokesperson in its embarrassing battle with the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Tour.
That’s no excuse for McIlroy. Certainly not one he would make for himself. It’s just a fact. McIlroy carried the weight of all of those things with him around the Old Course on Sunday. Maybe at the end of the day it was too much.
He insisted afterwards that he didn’t feel as much pressure as “I might have allowed myself to feel before”.
“I try to do it for me at the end of the day,” he said. “Yeah, it’s great to get the support, but the luckiest person in the world if I won that board jug would be me.”
The second happiest people would be his wife Erica and their baby girl Poppy, who watched the tournament for much of the week from the window of the Rusacks Hotel.
Rory McIlroy REUTERS
“I’ll be fine,” McIlroy said without sounding quite convincing. “At the end of the day, it’s not about life or death. I’ll have other chances to win the Open Championship and other chances to win majors. I feel like I let it slip away, but there will be other opportunities.
“I just have to keep putting myself in position. Every time you put yourself in that shining light, you will have to deal with setbacks and setbacks. Today is one of those times. But I just have to dust myself off and come again, keep working hard and keep believing. So it’s just a matter of keep knocking on the door and eventually one will open.”
As McIlroy spoke immediately after his round, the champion’s ceremony took place on the 18th green, with Smith being presented with the caddy and introduced as “Champion Golfer of the Year”.
“There’s a decent winner right now on the 18th green,” McIlroy said. “I was beaten by a better player this week.”
Designing pure class through and through.
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