by Deep in the third day of open and Rory McIlroy still surfing gigantic waves of dynamics and goodwill. At that time he jumped to six, only four shots from the lead, with each birdie sounds like a sound boom over portrush. It is manic, messianic and lots of fun. And then it gets strange. Dawn zone strange.
McIlroy just turned a trip to the Rough on the 11th. For a moment he fears that his ball will be lost, just to make it all clear from the Marshal. Better still, he will play in front of trample soil. He takes a break. Aims. And then, when his ball flows tiredly into the air, the title ball of a member who was buried deep below the floor suddenly jumps next to him.
Advertising
McIlroy smiles in disbelief before he said to his caddy: “I was on a golf ball!”
“It has never happened to me,” he says later. “Just a really strange – I obviously had no idea that there was a ball somewhere near my ball.
“It was so strange. I thought I would get a plane and I looked up at my ball and I could see how he turned against the wind.”
It costs Mcilroy a Bogey Five, and to increase further insult, he hears the Roars, which means that Scottie Scheffler has just moved to 12, seven shots from his score. But after the cruelty comes the divine.
McIlroy is now on the 12th and caresses a 56-foot eagle putt on the right to the left. It continues to turn on, before it seemed to lose 10 feet from the hole. “It has to go,” says Golf Digest man and crouches right in front of the green. And it does. Just to slow down again. “It has to go,” he says again.
Advertising
The Roars tells them what happens next. The ball disappears in the hole. And suddenly the fans jump. Many throw their hands into the air. There are screams from “Rory! Rory!”. He is now seven under and shines.
“The eagle at 12 was one of the coolest moments of my career – it is one of the greatest Roars I’ve ever heard on a golf course,” he says later. “It was nice to bring these shots back immediately.”
The crowds that McIlroy avoided in the third round were so deep in the third round that many supporters were forced to rely on secondary senses to find out what was going on. The frequent outbreaks from the galleries. The urgent screams of encouragement. And especially in the first holes, the smell that something mystical is in the air.
No wonder that people were excited, especially after Mcilroy made birdies on the 1st, 2nd and 4th birdies. But then the chances begged. The 375-YARD-PAR-Four 5th was one of the simplest holes all week. But after a booming trip to the Hellen Rough, McIlroy could not go up and down for Birdie. While he achieved a value of 4.53 on the 7th par, which achieved a value of 4.53, another chance.
Advertising
Nevertheless, another birdie on 15th had the northern Irish signed for a 66 and was fourth with eight substrates. He is six shots behind Scheffler. But he still hopes for a miracle.
Related: The air of inevitable floors when Scottie Scheffler submits control over the open decision
“It was incredible,” he said about the atmosphere. “It was so much fun. I had the perfect start, three under [on the day] Up to 4.1th, as at the end of the front nine there, at least 11, the par on 7 like a Bogey and then the Bogey on 11.
“Then to play the last seven holes with three holes.
Advertising
The same could not be said for defending champion Shane Lowry, who shot a three-over-saving 74 and then revealed that he was used up with stomach bugs most of the night. “I’m not great,” he says. “I haven’t eaten today. I tried to get a protein drink after eight holes, and I wanted to come across the place anywhere. Yes, it was a hard day, but I will not make excuses. I played bad today and obviously had a bad finish.”
Lowry, who is now three for the tournament, adds: “You will come home late and have to stay with cramps in the stomach at 2.30 a.m.”
McIlroy will hope for a smoother night before the Mayhem starts again. “I started Oppenheimer last night,” he says. “Try to survive for another hour this evening and maybe end it tomorrow morning.”
However, he knows that the way Scheffler plays would take something out of a Hollywood film to defeat it.
