|
Post by Bob Forsythe on Jun 17, 2011 16:46:21 GMT -8
I've hyped Rory McIlroy a lot, but I think it's pretty obvious that he's something special. Courtesy of CBS Sports:
* His 36-hole total of 11-under 131 is a new record for the lowest U.S. Open score at the halfway point. The previous record was 132, set by Ricky Barnes in 2009 at Bethpage Black.
* The 11-under total is also the lowest number in relation to par after 36 holes, by a whopping three strokes. Barnes and Tiger Woods (Pebble Beach, 2000) were 8 under through 36 holes.
* McIlroy moved to 13 under for the tournament with a birdie on the 17th hole Friday, the lowest in red numbers any player has reached in Open history. Woods and Gil Morgan each had climbed to 12 under at some point at previous Opens.
* He joined Jim Furyk, Morgan, Woods and Barnes as the only players ever to reach double figures under par at the national championship.
* When McIlroy eagled the eighth hole from 114 yards with a wedge, he reached 10-under par in a span of only 26 holes. No player had ever reached double figures under par faster. The previous mark set by Morgan, who required 39 holes.
* McIlroy finished the second round with a six-shot lead over Y.E. Yang, equaling the 36-hole record previously set in 2000 by Woods.
When I wrote more than a year ago that he had the potential to be be as good as Woods Josh scoffed a bit, but I think he's proving my point.
=Bob
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2011 20:09:21 GMT -8
I didn't scoff at his talent. He is an amazing talent. I scoffed at some of your wording. I said, let's wait until he wins a major or two before annointing him the next great one....because, we have seen a pattern of young European golfers have early success on Tour, and then fade to black. Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott, they were both supposed to be young challengers to the crown. Well, now it's anyones crown to wear. He should have won at Augusta this year, but had an epic choke job on the back 9. Greg Norman status. He then went out and blew another Sunday lead a week or two after at the Malaysian Open. He's young, but he can't use that as an excuse for not closing the deal if he is indeed "The next Tiger" type talent. Tiger Woods set a Masters scoring record when he was 21 years old, and never looked back. At 25, he won the US Open at Pebble Beach by a whopping 15 strokes, which was THE most dominating golf performance I ever saw, and the conditions of the course were pretty tough, alot of fog. I think McIlroy is here to stay, and I think he is going to win plenty of majors. He is so damn good. There's a ton of talent from overseas right now......Rory, Martin Kaymer, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Charls Schwartzel. Young studs. Time will tell if McIlroy has the mental toughness. He may win by 6 or 7 strokes this weekend if he keeps playing well. I, for one, as a fan with Irish blood, am anxious to see how he does the next time he walks into Sunday of a major with a 3 stroke or less lead. Maybe if someone else gets hot, it will happen this weekend. I am pulling for him.
|
|
|
Post by Bob Forsythe on Jun 19, 2011 17:12:12 GMT -8
I didn't scoff at his talent. He is an amazing talent. I scoffed at some of your wording. I said, let's wait until he wins a major or two before annointing him the next great one....because, we have seen a pattern of young European golfers have early success on Tour, and then fade to black. Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott, they were both supposed to be young challengers to the crown. Well, now it's anyones crown to wear. He should have won at Augusta this year, but had an epic choke job on the back 9. Greg Norman status. He then went out and blew another Sunday lead a week or two after at the Malaysian Open. He's young, but he can't use that as an excuse for not closing the deal if he is indeed "The next Tiger" type talent. Tiger Woods set a Masters scoring record when he was 21 years old, and never looked back. At 25, he won the US Open at Pebble Beach by a whopping 15 strokes, which was THE most dominating golf performance I ever saw, and the conditions of the course were pretty tough, alot of fog. I think McIlroy is here to stay, and I think he is going to win plenty of majors. He is so damn good. There's a ton of talent from overseas right now......Rory, Martin Kaymer, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Charls Schwartzel. Young studs. Time will tell if McIlroy has the mental toughness. He may win by 6 or 7 strokes this weekend if he keeps playing well. I, for one, as a fan with Irish blood, am anxious to see how he does the next time he walks into Sunday of a major with a 3 stroke or less lead. Maybe if someone else gets hot, it will happen this weekend. I am pulling for him. I'll disagree a bit on the Malaysia Open because he shot a 68 in the final round. And I really don't think it comes down to mental toughness but rather obsession with being the best and that I'm not sure Rory does have. Still, he's got such a beautiful game ya gotta figure he'll win his fair share of majors. Jason Day is also quite impressive with two second place finishes in the last two majors, but his game at this point is a bit like Phil's; he was missing fairways and greens and scrambling all day. The other kid who really impressed me was Cantlay, the 18 year old amateur out of UCLA. Nicklaus and Mickelson trophies winner in his frosh year and a final score of even in the Open. I also found it interesting that some of the commentators were bemoaning the state of American golf. Well Hell, all these really good, young Euro players have emerged since the PGA took over the Euro tour. =Bob
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2011 17:51:09 GMT -8
I didn't scoff at his talent. He is an amazing talent. I scoffed at some of your wording. I said, let's wait until he wins a major or two before annointing him the next great one....because, we have seen a pattern of young European golfers have early success on Tour, and then fade to black. Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott, they were both supposed to be young challengers to the crown. Well, now it's anyones crown to wear. He should have won at Augusta this year, but had an epic choke job on the back 9. Greg Norman status. He then went out and blew another Sunday lead a week or two after at the Malaysian Open. He's young, but he can't use that as an excuse for not closing the deal if he is indeed "The next Tiger" type talent. Tiger Woods set a Masters scoring record when he was 21 years old, and never looked back. At 25, he won the US Open at Pebble Beach by a whopping 15 strokes, which was THE most dominating golf performance I ever saw, and the conditions of the course were pretty tough, alot of fog. I think McIlroy is here to stay, and I think he is going to win plenty of majors. He is so damn good. There's a ton of talent from overseas right now......Rory, Martin Kaymer, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Charls Schwartzel. Young studs. Time will tell if McIlroy has the mental toughness. He may win by 6 or 7 strokes this weekend if he keeps playing well. I, for one, as a fan with Irish blood, am anxious to see how he does the next time he walks into Sunday of a major with a 3 stroke or less lead. Maybe if someone else gets hot, it will happen this weekend. I am pulling for him. I'll disagree a bit on the Malaysia Open because he shot a 68 in the final round. And I really don't think it comes down to mental toughness but rather obsession with being the best and that I'm not sure Rory does have. Still, he's got such a beautiful game ya gotta figure he'll win his fair share of majors. Jason Day is also quite impressive with two second place finishes in the last two majors, but his game at this point is a bit like Phil's; he was missing fairways and greens and scrambling all day. The other kid who really impressed me was Cantlay, the 18 year old amateur out of UCLA. Nicklaus and Mickelson trophies winner in his frosh year and a final score of even in the Open. I also found it interesting that some of the commentators were bemoaning the state of American golf. Well Hell, all these really good, young Euro players have emerged since the PGA took over the Euro tour. =Bob I just said he blew a lead at Malaysia. It's true, he did.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2011 17:54:08 GMT -8
I didn't scoff at his talent. He is an amazing talent. I scoffed at some of your wording. I said, let's wait until he wins a major or two before annointing him the next great one....because, we have seen a pattern of young European golfers have early success on Tour, and then fade to black. Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott, they were both supposed to be young challengers to the crown. Well, now it's anyones crown to wear. He should have won at Augusta this year, but had an epic choke job on the back 9. Greg Norman status. He then went out and blew another Sunday lead a week or two after at the Malaysian Open. He's young, but he can't use that as an excuse for not closing the deal if he is indeed "The next Tiger" type talent. Tiger Woods set a Masters scoring record when he was 21 years old, and never looked back. At 25, he won the US Open at Pebble Beach by a whopping 15 strokes, which was THE most dominating golf performance I ever saw, and the conditions of the course were pretty tough, alot of fog. I think McIlroy is here to stay, and I think he is going to win plenty of majors. He is so damn good. There's a ton of talent from overseas right now......Rory, Martin Kaymer, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Charls Schwartzel. Young studs. Time will tell if McIlroy has the mental toughness. He may win by 6 or 7 strokes this weekend if he keeps playing well. I, for one, as a fan with Irish blood, am anxious to see how he does the next time he walks into Sunday of a major with a 3 stroke or less lead. Maybe if someone else gets hot, it will happen this weekend. I am pulling for him. I'll disagree a bit on the Malaysia Open because he shot a 68 in the final round. And I really don't think it comes down to mental toughness but rather obsession with being the best and that I'm not sure Rory does have. Still, he's got such a beautiful game ya gotta figure he'll win his fair share of majors. Jason Day is also quite impressive with two second place finishes in the last two majors, but his game at this point is a bit like Phil's; he was missing fairways and greens and scrambling all day. The other kid who really impressed me was Cantlay, the 18 year old amateur out of UCLA. Nicklaus and Mickelson trophies winner in his frosh year and a final score of even in the Open. I also found it interesting that some of the commentators were bemoaning the state of American golf. Well Hell, all these really good, young Euro players have emerged since the PGA took over the Euro tour. =Bob As for the main point....Rory really was something, wasn't he? What a performance. It was fun to watch. With his talent, he's my pick as the favorite going into the British. I wonder what the status of Tiger's health will be, but 3 years removed from his last major win, he certainly isn't in the list of favorites. Though, he made me a fan of golf, and I will always pull for him above all others. The Euros are kicking our ass in golf right now. They hold all 4 major titles. But I ain't worried about it. It goes in cycles, man. We have some good young players too. Tiger and Phil were #1 and #2 for years. U-S-A!
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2011 17:56:29 GMT -8
The Open next year is in San Francisco. I am going to look into going. Although we don't get along personally, maybe Bruce and I can do business. Business, not personal after all, right? I don't mind paying above face, as I know I am going to have to, but hopefully Bruce's site has some good deals.
|
|
|
Post by Bob Forsythe on Jun 20, 2011 12:06:01 GMT -8
I'll disagree a bit on the Malaysia Open because he shot a 68 in the final round. And I really don't think it comes down to mental toughness but rather obsession with being the best and that I'm not sure Rory does have. Still, he's got such a beautiful game ya gotta figure he'll win his fair share of majors. Jason Day is also quite impressive with two second place finishes in the last two majors, but his game at this point is a bit like Phil's; he was missing fairways and greens and scrambling all day. The other kid who really impressed me was Cantlay, the 18 year old amateur out of UCLA. Nicklaus and Mickelson trophies winner in his frosh year and a final score of even in the Open. I also found it interesting that some of the commentators were bemoaning the state of American golf. Well Hell, all these really good, young Euro players have emerged since the PGA took over the Euro tour. =Bob As for the main point....Rory really was something, wasn't he? What a performance. It was fun to watch. With his talent, he's my pick as the favorite going into the British. Apparently, when Rory was 15 his father and some of his buddies pooled their bucks and bet pounds that Rory would win the British Open by the time he's 25. I love the Brits - they'll take a bet on anything. =Bob
|
|