LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA | There was a moment Friday afternoon in what was an otherwise disappointing second round at Torrey Pines’ South Course for Rory McIlroy when he turned his 3-wood into a paint brush.
Facing a 270-yard second shot into the par-5 ninth hole in heavy sea air, McIlroy made that swing – the sublimely athletic move that somehow looks as smooth and easy as syrup being poured over pancakes.
McIlroy admired his handiwork, holding his 3-wood at arm’s length for a moment before giving it an exaggerated twirl as his ball settled 12 feet from the hole. He missed the eagle putt and spent the second round moving backward when he needed to move forward, but it was another captivating snapshot in a career that feels like an ever-expanding mural.
Arriving at the Farmers Insurance Open last week, McIlroy had been away from tournament golf since late November, taking a needed break after playing 53 tournaments across two years. He and his wife, Erica, spent part of the holidays in Northern Ireland, decompressing and enjoying the life he’s built.
McIlroy sees a big world, his horizons stretching far beyond whatever golf course he may be playing. His opinions carry weight not just because of his world ranking but because he is thoughtful and insightful.
McIlroy is 30 now and there’s a sense that he’s come through his 20s poised to make the next decade a big one both personally and professionally. He played so well at the end of 2019 – McIlroy had two victories and seven top-six finishes in his last eight starts – that he could have replaced Brooks Koepka atop the world ranking with a victory at Torrey Pines.
He almost got there but Marc Leishman was too good and McIlroy wasn’t quite good enough.
Only Tiger Woods, Greg Norman and Nick Faldo have spent more weeks than McIlroy at No. 1 in the world and while McIlroy needs just two more weeks there to tie Faldo, other goals drive him.
Regaining No. 1 in the world did not make McIlory’s 2020 to-do list. His goals are process-oriented, improving various strokes-gained numbers, which leads to results which leads potentially back to No. 1. It’s not sexy but it’s necessary nourishment to McIlroy.
“I don’t want to say it feels like it’s just a matter of time but if I just keep doing what I’m doing … I’ll have my chances,†McIlroy said.
The joy in watching McIlroy these days is appreciating the sense of confidence and completeness he carries with him. He has worked hard at his game, significantly improving his putting with some guidance from Brad Faxon, and immersing himself in books centering on self-improvement and understanding.
The game comes and goes like the tides but for McIlroy, the shifts seem minimal. Some weeks are better than others, generally because of a couple of putts here or a wedge shot or two there. He is justifiably proud of ranking inside the top 25 on tour last season in strokes gained around the green and putting.
Some players are forever searching. McIlroy has found what he’s looking for.
This is the prime of McIlroy’s golf life. He established himself as a generational talent when he piled up four major championship victories, including a pair in 2014.
It’s that success that underpins the one nagging question that follows McIlroy: When, if ever, will he end his run of 19 consecutive major championship starts without a victory?
He wonders, too.
For all of his 2019 accomplishments, McIlroy’s year was judged in part by his failure to make the weekend at the Open Championship at Royal Portrush in his homeland. He slapped his opening tee shot out of bounds, made 8 on the first hole, shot a “what-just-happened†79 and golf gasped.
It was Shane Lowry, not McIlroy, who brought the Claret Jug home.
As McIlroy sorted through his major championship season, he was undone, at least in part, by flat starts. When he’s won major championships, McIlroy has tended to start fast and go from there. Other than the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, where he opened with 68, McIlroy was in chase mode by Thursday night at the majors.
Careful golf leads to conservative golf and McIlroy found himself being too careful.
“Play sort of protective golf a little bit and that’s never really been in my nature. I’m the other way, right?†McIlroy said. “It doesn’t serve me as a golfer to try to be careful, to try to play conservatively or maybe the way some other people play. I have my own style of play and most of the time it works, sometimes it doesn’t.â€
After the Portrush disappointment, McIlroy tried to make sense of what happened. He had been overwhelmed by the support he felt that week, especially on Friday when he desperately tried to play himself into the weekend.
The cheers from his homecoming live on in his head and his heart, a source of inspiration when McIlroy needs one.
He is at peace with decisions he has made, striking an agreement to play the European Tour again along with the PGA Tour and professing his desire to represent Ireland in the Olympics this summer after brushing off the opportunity four years ago when he let pressures about who he should represent (Ireland or Great Britain) influence his decision.
It’s as if he has come out on the other side of something or maybe it’s just the clear-eyed vision of a man who knows precisely what he wants.
“I basically said to myself after Portrush, ‘I’m 30 years old, I have basically achieved everything that I’ve wanted to achieve in the game, why would I be careful?’ †McIlroy said. “Why would I not go out there with the most carefree attitude and think everything beyond this is just gravy?â€
Why not?
Pass the gravy ladle.
E-Mail Ron
