“The game is testing me at the moment,” Rory McIlroy said. In truth, after the Northern Irishman’s finales to the last two weekends, the patience of Job would be at breaking point.
Another Sunday, another agonisingly close call for McIlroy. Yet on exiting the West Course the world No 3 was determined to keep his ‘head held high’ after being denied in a gripping play-off by Billy Horschel.
No doubt, the Northern Irishman’s stoicism was commendable, but away from the glare he must be wondering what he has to do to win a fourth title of the year and the first since May.
The previous week he watched in despair as an eagle putt on the last at Royal County Down slipped by and cost him a chance of winning a second Irish Open title in a shootout against Rasmus Hojgaard.
Seven days later, a 30-footer for an eagle from Horschel dropped in and meant McIlroy would not win a second BMW PGA Championship crown. From Ulster to Surrey, it all felt awfully familiar.
However, McIlroy was correct to differentiate the experiences. “Last week was a tough one, but this one I leave with my head held high,” he said. “ If someone had told me here on Wednesday ‘you’re going to shoot 20-under,’ I’d have taken that.”
Essentially, he lost it to Hojgaard, standing two clear with four to go and bogeying the 15th and three-putting the 17th. On the West Course, he was two behind with two to go and eagled the 17th to get into sudden death with Thriston Lawrence – the South Africa who, with a 65 featuring chip-ins on the first two holes, built an imposing lead in the clubhouse on 20-under – and McIlroy’s playing partner Horschel, who birdied the last two holes.
Granted, McIlroy had an opportunity to triumph in regulation when he stood over a 239-yard approach to the green of the conclusive par-five. A birdie would have sufficed. As it was he was fortunate to make a par, with his ball finishing a yard or two on the other side of the hazard. “I was lucky that it didn’t go in the water and stayed up,” he said. “Maybe I should have laid it up and try to hit a wedge in close, just like what Billy did. But when you’re only 225 yards to the front, you sort of feel like you have to go for it.”
He actually showed fortitude in birdieing that same 513-yarder not once but twice. With Lawrence ducking out with a par on the first occasion, McIlroy and Horschel returned to the tee and were magnificent in locating the putting surface in two, albeit leaving themselves long-range efforts.
McIlroy missed his and after his season – which will most be remembered for the painful loss to Bryson deChambeau at June’s US Open, where he bogeyed three of the last four holes there was almost a sense of inevitability that Horschel would convert his 30-footer to take the £1.1 million prize and the silverware of the Tour’s flagship event for the second time in three years. Even the victor’s heart went out to the vanquished.
“I am thrilled, excited for the way I played, but at the same time, I am a little disappointed.” Horschel said. “Rory is a really good friend of mine, he is a generational talent and he has been so close this year. He has the most supporters outside of Tiger Woods and is great for the game.”
‘I’m happy with where my game is’
For his part, McIlroy refused to get bogged down in the woe that by nightfall was mixing nicely with the mud after the repeated downpours that blighted the weekend. What else can the 35-year-old do, but celebrate his extraordinary consistency?
“Two weeks in a row I’ve played well. Just not quite well enough,” he said. “All I can do is keep showing up and playing the golf that I have been and sooner or later it’s going to end up in a win. If you think of my career as a 30-career journey, this is only one of those and hopefully the other 29 are a little more productive. But I’m happy with where my game is and where it’s trending. I’ve got a week off, and then get back at it in the Dunhill Links.”.
Horschel is a good man and a great golfer, who has matured beyond recognition from the over-hyped patriot who fell out with Mcilroy at the 2007 Walker Cup. He is one of the few Americans to travel and fully deserves what he craves above everything else in golf – a place in Team USA.
Yet again, he was overlooked for next month’s Presidents Cup in Montreal and on this evidence Europe captain Luke Donald will hope this tremendous putter is bizarrely snubbed again for next year’s Ryder Cup.
