Rory McIlroy loses publicly

Portrush in Northern Ireland – For a moment, all you can hear is the seagull.

When Rory McIlroy introduced the ball, hit the foot and looked at the hole for a final look, the crowd was silent, hiding it in the rear quadrant of 15-15. One of Linksland’s most epic perspectives extends behind him: the top 9 in Royal Porthush. Seventh and its huge Dunescape. Fifth and its spacious beach. Towering white cliff. Outside the ruins of the medieval Dunlus Castle.

In minutes and hours ago, thousands of fans filled the first nine hills and tested Lopellian as they watched McIlroy at the arena nervously- Their Arena – and make a comeback. Now, the crowd is compressed into the last four holes. Except for a group of seagulls that piled up and restored the familiar territory, the others were empty. Every Open is epic, but the courses outperform the competition, and the Seagulls outperform the competition.

McIlroy waved his putt back and shot his birdie putt into the hole. Thirteen feet later, it fell into the middle of the cup, roaring from the stands behind the green. McIlroy has no chance to win – any hope for the miracle is suppressed under double bogey in the 10th place – but their applause is urgent. This open is heading towards the end and the chances of roaring are decreasing.

It’s always a complicated week For Rory McIlroy. At an open in Northern Ireland, his home event may not be more keen on golfers than McIlroy. This week is important as McIlroy comes from a small town in this small golf country. This is important because he is important in a larger golf world. This is important because he has a new green jacket. This is important because getting home is always emotional, especially when you are not.

“It’s great to be back. I don’t spend a lot of time in these places anymore,” he said in a pre-match press conference. Several media visited McIlroy’s family club, Holywood, just an hour away. He still has the same coach, Michael Bannon, who is the child of Holywood. He returned to the club and donated the state-of-the-art gym as part of the new practice facility. But his last trip’s entire course?

“I haven’t played Hollywood yet, maybe I’m going to say 15 years,” he said.

If you read about the game in a TV story or watch McIlroy in a TV story The last In 2019, the competition held at Porthush is the first time the Open returned to Ireland in nearly 70 years. He showed up with emotional favorites and betting favorites and under pressure, he was even bigger than he realized.

“I remember the clapping I received on the first tee on Thursday and wasn’t ready for how I felt,” he said before the event this week. That was the first time McIlroy realized what he meant to these fans. He hooked the opening t-shirt and opened it at 79. But this is a difficult game in the second round.

“I remember the Friday run,” he said. “I remember I was trying to lay off staff, and then I hit 6 irons, I remember the roar in the crowd. It got a little dark and gloomy, and for whatever reason, I remember that shot and roar, going to that green green, going to that green, getting the desire to stand–it was really special.” It was special. ””

McIlroy missed a shot with 65 shots. After release, he conducted a tearful interview, admitting that he was overwhelmed by support even in failure. It’s an amazing moment, and when we watch sports, we crave two things: something unexpected and something real. And, this makes this year’s return of the book even more compelling, knowing that each side hopes it will be better.

It changed what McIlroy returned with a longer resume. As you can hear, he is the Masters champion and professional grand champion. Maybe this relieves the stress, but it certainly doesn’t relieve the wonder. A coffee shop in town renamed itself Rory and Bert’s. An ice cream shop sprinkled McIlroy’s face. The event at Royal Portrush sold out almost immediately, with more than 200,000 tickets, each showing up early, eager to see the sequel.

In the last few holes of McIlroy Some moments are important. He escaped a curling par at the signature of the 16th Stadium, a demonic 3-shot, which brought the crowded hillside to joyous applause. At No. 17, he performed a superb short side up and down subversion from a green space bunker, and after he abandoned his par putt, he waited for a minute, then two minutes, then three, then three, and then three, his caddie, Harry Diamond, completed a picky rake job so that the two sons in Northern Ireland could walk to the final hole together. After the neat chips of Long in 18th Green, McIlroy marks his two-footed player’s PAR, giving the player Matthew Fitzpatrick the end first. He tasted the moment, and the capacity stands of the past did, and they cheered as he threw away his last putter and removed his hat and waved in each direction, wandering for the last few seconds before he disappeared into the tunnel. He finished T7 and scored seven from Scheffler’s winning score. Any other week would be a disappointment. It seems more this week.

McIlroy has had a lot of post-tearing master’s moments in recent years, but that’s not one of them. He spent a little time forming himself on the way to score. When he talked to the reporter, he knew exactly what he wanted to say.

He raved about the out-of-control winner Scottie Scheffler, saying his current game is the most prolific in gaming history. McIlroy added: “And he’s a great guy and I think he’s also a great ambassador for our game.”

He shines on the host’s venue, calling the Royal’s portrayal “one of the two or three venues for the Open best.” This corresponds to the general sentiment of the players this week; in a sense, St Andrews’ old course ranked first by default, but portraying measures until any other site on the rota.

He briefly explained what this week meant to him, trying to express his gratitude in the process. He said he was very proud: “I come from these shores.” He said he was happy to be back publicly. He said he remembered himself at No. 18 for a long time.

“It’s been a fantastic week and I feel so grateful and fortunate that I can do it in front of this group of people,” he said. “Hopefully I’ll open one or two here, and if R&A decides to keep coming back, it may be that I’m still competitive, the other is that I’m grayer than before, and the other is a competitive one.”

That was a humble confession. We’re so used to McIlroy being the top five players in the game that his idea one day no The competition is fierce. But there is a scarce force; part of what makes this openness so meaningful is knowing it won’t be back anytime soon.

Overall, for McIlroy, this week was like the closing. He arrives at the Royal Portrait along with the unfinished business. He left the more respectful finishes and memorable moments. Sunday’s final round also marked the conclusion of a major championship season, which brought McIlroy’s wildest golf dream to life, but also sometimes frustrated and lost. Therefore, it is worth noting that McIlroy admits that he wants peace.

“I’ve got everything I want this week except for the fuchsia jugs,” he said.

McIlroy was driven away when a reporter caused another problem. McIlroy said he tried to control his emotions throughout the week. Is there a moment of gravity – worship, pressure, applause, pure meaning – that has landed? It hit him, what does it mean to go home?

He smiled.

“Not yet,” he said. Therefore, he defined it from the podium and headed to the exit. Schefler’s coronation is about to begin. McIlroy has finally strided into the evening alone for the time being. The seagull cried over his head.

Dylan Dethier welcomes your comments via dylan_dethier@golf.com.

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