- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 354,432
- Reaction score
- 38
You must be registered for see images attach
From lockdown to meltdown. Rory McIlroy endured one of the worst front nines of his career on Sunday night as he spiralled from contender to also-ran in the PGA Tour’s grand return at the Charles Schwab Challenge. It was a bizarre and frankly, chilling finale, with Collin Morikawa missing a four-footer to extend a play-off against fellow American Daniel Berger. Without any disrespect to the champion - the son of Jay Berger, a former Davis Cup tennis player - this was an anti-climax that was sadly deserving of being behind closed doors. The leaderboard had been full of so many big names going the final day, but golf is never as simple as the script demands. While Justin Rose managed to finish in a tie for third, McIlroy’s demise was particularly unexpected. The world No 1 was one of the obvious favourites going into the denouement at the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, standing just three off the pace. But a calamitous opening seven holes saw his candidature for the trophy - the first presented in big-time men's golf in more than three months because of the pandemic - blow up in a hail of ignominy. It all added up to an embarrassing six-over 41 on that opening half and although McIlroy fought back with two birdies in the last three holes, the damage had already been done for the Northern Irishman. His 74 left him in a tie for 32nd, ending his streak of seven straight tournaments no worse than fifth. The portents were treacherous when McIlroy hit what looked conspicuously like a shank with his second on the par-five first. That bogey understandably seemed to have played on his mind when he went into the trio of holes known as “The Horrible Horseshoe” from the third. McIlroy struggled through that patch in two-over, courtesy of two missed eight-footers on the fourth and the fifth.
Continue reading...
