Rory McIlroy: 'I feel I've been golf's nearly man for the last three years'
Sheer sporting theatre. Under the golden Parisian sun at the formidable Le Golf National, the best players in the world served up a stunning final day of Olympic golf. The leaderboard gradually took its extraordinary shape, a powder keg of unbridled emotion that would blast six players to the most extreme of places.
For Rory McIlroy, that meant another botched shot down the stretch and deep dissatisfaction with being cast in the same tragic role.
“I feel I've been golf's nearly man for the last three years,” he said after dropping a wedge from the middle of the fairway into the water on the 15th hole. His podium challenge sunk with that ball.
“I obviously want that tide to turn and to go from the nearly man back to winning golf tournaments. It is all well and good saying 'I’m close, I'm close, I'm close', but until I step through the threshold and turn these close misses and close calls into wins, that is what I need to do.”
Look at the dramatic scene all around him. Metres away, Scottie Scheffler is celebrating with his two-month-old son in his arms after blitzing the back nine for six birdies on his way to gold. England’s Tommy Fleetwood took silver, Hideki Matsuyama of Japan is on the practise green celebrating bronze.
McIlroy finished two shots off a medal, in a tie for fifth with Spain's Jon Rahm on 15 under. Every golfer who fell short was dealing with their own kind of heartbreak. Rahm made the turn three clear at 19 under, six up on Scheffler, only to endure a nightmare back nine. Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee labelled it the biggest choke of the year alongside McIlroy’s US Open.
Victor Perez was roared around the course by a raucous home crowd but couldn’t find a final push.
Nicolai Højgaard told McIlroy during their round it was the best tournament he has ever played in. The Dane has already played in the Ryder Cup. Tom Kim came through the mix zone with tears streaming down his face before the Northern Irish man.
A sub-plot all week was the fact that Kim could avoid mandatory military service in his home country of South Korea by medalling. That, he stressed repeatedly, was not what had him emotional. The 22-year-old admitted he had “struggled” earlier this year and really wanted to make the Olympics. He fulfilled that ambition.
So much for golf not belonging in the programme. The production was thrilling on a wild Sunday of Olympic sport. It started for McIlroy on the tenth with a birdie. Then he repeated the trick. A quick glance at the board told him he was six shots off Rahm at the top. He felt there was no chance. Little did he know what the script had in store.
“I looked at the board again after I’d birdied 14 and I was one behind and I was like, ‘Holy shit. what just happened?’ I played well on the way in. Even that wedge on 15, I hit the shot I wanted to hit. The two boys in front of me Nicolai (Hojgaard) and Hideki (Matsuyama) they got their balls up in the air a little bit more and the wind carried it.
“They went 25, 30 feet past so I hit the shot I wanted to hit, I just didn’t get the ball in the air enough for the wind to carry it that extra three or four yards that it needed. But I tried to stay aggressive, tried to land the wedge between the front edge and the hole. Missed the spot by maybe three or of four yards and that is going to end up costing me a medal.”
On Tuesday, McIlroy referenced the obvious void that is a ten-year Major absence and how gold in Paris could help fill it. This plotline is taking its toll. For some time now, he has given more to the game than the game has given to him. He continues to provide on-course brilliance and clubhouse story lines. That makes him a joy for tournament organisers and broadcasters and the watching masses.
The first tee on Sunday was raucous. Every imaginable accent was humming his tune. Cries of ‘Allez’ and ‘Get in de hole’ are not new. He has heard it all before. It played all day Thursday. A sizeable Irish crowd came out for Lowry for his opening round, Perez was backed vehemently by locals all week long, but McIlroy pulled a 20-deep crowd along on Sunday.
His play was terrific too. Le Golf National is advertised as not a bomber’s course although kind weather softened those super-slick greens and fierce undulations. Where the storyline twisted was at a familiar turn. In golf, an increasingly popular concept is Strokes Gained.
Put simply, Strokes Gained is a database of averages, where the ability of golfers can be compared against a specific benchmark. It produces a positive or negative score for every area of the game of golf.
McIlroy was ranked second in strokes gained off the tee and sixth in approach. His usual flaws around the green and putting were 29th and 27th respectively. Nothing medal-costly there.
Across his four rounds before that howler on 15, his lowest return on approach to green was -0.7. His worst mark on that hole was -0.008. Then, when it mattered most, he hit a -1.786. Effectively two shots dropped. The difference between weight around the neck and hands on knees. His biggest error was when it mattered most. It makes his feats an extraordinary spectacle, just not the one he craves. His box office allure only expands because of how much he cares.
Not simply about his game. He cares about the game.
“I still think the Ryder Cup is the best tournament we have in our game,” he articulated afterwards. Why?
“Pure competition and I think this has got the potential to be right up there with it.
“I mean when you think of how much a shit show the game of golf is right now and you think about the two tournaments that might be the purest form of competition in our sport… We don’t play for money. So, it speaks volumes of what is important in sport and I think every single player this week has had an amazing experience.”
