Rory McIlroy will hop on a plane with his European teammates for a Ryder Cup scouting mission on Sunday night, but the Masters champion put in a strong performance at Wentworth
Rory McIlroy fired a warning shot to Team USA ahead of the upcoming Ryder Cup, but lamented “too many bogeys” as he carded an up-and-down back nine at Wentworth on Sunday.
McIlroy heads to New York tonight with his European teammates for a Bethpage Black scouting mission, and heads into the Ryder Cup looking to round off the best year of his career. The Northern Irishman completed his career goal in April by winning the Masters and finally finishing the career grand slam, before winning the Irish Open last week.
In his final competitive round before play gets underway in New York, McIlroy put together a solid round of seven-under, but he’ll likely miss out on a top-ten finish despite an eagle on the last. McIlroy made the turn at nine-under par, knowing he needed to put something together if he was to make an unlikely run at the overnight leaders.
Backed by thousands of fans stomping their way around the plush Wentworth estate he now calls home, some even clamboring towards the chain-link fence to get a look from the unticketed area, McIlroy revelled in the adulation he was receiving.
“He high fived me! He high fived me!” one excited young fan sprinted past me shouting towards his father, who responded with disbelief. Despite not being in contention, McIlroy was the man of the hour.
A nice par on nine, which was inches away from being a birdie, was then followed up with another on ten, but the trouble on the back nine started on 11.
A wayward drive brought out a shout of “Fore right!” as his Taylormade ball drifted towards the fans standing by the ropes to the side of the rough. Thankfully, his ball landed in a shrub bush, and had avoided any fans.
Despite the lie of the ball being terrible, McIlroy and caddie Harry Diamond deliberated for a few minutes, before he pitched a brilliant wedge shot to the center of the green. The brilliance of the shot was evidenced by the gasps of fans surrounding him, and a cheeky grin from Diamond.
He didn’t have to wait long for his next moment of brilliance. McIlroy tapped his putt home for par, before sending his tee shot on 12 crashing through the rough to the right. Another shout of “Fore right!” went out, and McIlroy found himself with an uncomfortable situation of hitting from near the pathway.
A discussion with Diamond suggested he was “195 yards up there,” and McIlroy pulled out a fairway wood.
Much to everyone’s shock, McIlroy drilled his approach shot straight at the flag. Rather than laying up, he’d managed to save himself and put his ball at the back of the green.
A lovely putt left him with a tap-in for birdie, and all of a sudden he’d moved his way up the leaderboard from the most unlikely of scenarios.
“Give ’em hell at Bethpage, Rory!” was the shout as McIlroy left the tee box at 13, the mood from the crowd clear.
McIlroy had spoken this week about still wanting to fix things about his game, but it was hard to imagine what those things would be after watching him on the 18th hole.
The 36-year-old ripped a long drive with his three-wood over the tall trees on the right hand side, landing perfectly in the middle of the fairway.
While his two playing partners chose to lay up, McIlroy went for the green. As he did, he yelled out after his ball in clear frustration. It’s a testiment to his brilliance that he was unhappy with his shot. His ball cruised over the water hazard and straight into the right side of the green, where it stopped perfectly, giving him an unlikely look at eagle. His playing partners had hit their approach shots to the edge of the fairway, some 50 yards back from McIlroy’s.
After standing over his ball for a few moments, walking the green and assessing the lie, he stepped up and drained his putt for eagle, leading to rapturous celebrations from the grandstand and thousands of adoring fans to the side of the green. McIlroy, sensing the moment, raised his putter in celebration and took a few moments to soak in the praise.
