Rory, Rory Halleluiah

     All week long, Rory McIlroy kept his head whilst all about him were losing theirs.  The 22 year old from Northern Ireland dusted the 111^th U.S. Open field in record fashion finishing at 16 under par, eight strokes ahead of runner-up Jason Day, and surviving the largest media driven hype-storm since some guy by the name of Eldrick had a pretty good tournament at the 1997 Masters.

     For the most part, the cyclone of hyperbole surrounding McIlroy during the tournament was predictable, even if it reached farcical proportions by the time the press conferences ended on Sunday night.  Given his epic final round collapse at the Masters in April and the torrid pace he set from the opening round 65 he carded on Thursday, it was inevitable that the Tiger starved golf media machine was going to flog every conceivable “Rory story” line to death, ranging from the dire “Rory gory” predictions of collapse to the divine “Rory glory” predictions of an historic career taking wing.  Even some of his fellow players got caught up in the hype machine, with Padraig Harrington predicting McIlroy would break Jack Nicklaus’s professional major championship record based on his performance that week.  One presumes that Harrington meant McIlroy would break the record later in his career, rather than somehow being awarded 19 major titles based on an admittedly stellar week of play.

     At the center of it all was this sprightly, mop-topped kid with the grown up game who calmly went about dismantling a very tough Congressional Country Club layout.  Despite the weather challenged course’s conditioning difficulties (the local area experienced hot, dry weather in the weeks leading up to the tournament and rain the week of the tournament, exactly opposite the desired pattern), Congressional’s  Blue course played tough for everyone in the field not named McIlroy, despite much softer that normal conditions..  No, McIlroy gave in neither to the hype nor to the supposed demons that his final round collapse at Augusta spawned to torture his young psyche, and simply turned in the best score ever seen in the 111 times the U.S. Open has been contested. 

 

     For all his brilliance inside the ropes, his best performance may have been in handling the public and the media during the week.  After every round, and with increasing hysteria, McIlroy was questioned about the influence of his Master’s final round, the increasing sense of inevitability concerning his strong play turning in to a win and what he felt his future level of success in major championships would be.  At every turn, Rory was humble, down to earth, humorous and solidly grounded.  His answers were polite, frank and he refused to be drawn in to the realm of speculation.  He pointed out that he had learned some lessons about himself at Augusta and was trying to apply those lessons to his play during the present tournament, that until the final putt dropped he hadn’t won anything or really accomplished very much, and that his major total stood at a total of one after that final putt did drop.  It was a performance that was refreshing for its genuine tone, especially in an age where so many agent coached athletes give only canned and often grudging answers when questioned by the media.

     The simple fact is, Rory’s performance last week needed no hype to be compelling and spectacular.  His golf was sublime and afforded a rare glimpse at an athlete in the midst of a transcendent performance.  At the same time and under intense pressure and scrutiny, this very young man allowed us to see how much fun he was having and was gracious and funny when questioned about the experience.  Rory’s future is, like that of all athletes and especially like that of all professional golfers is uncertain but wide open; an unfinished work in progress that fills all fans of the game with hope and anticipation.  Only time will tell what the future holds for Rory McIlroy, but mindless speculation will only sully the eventual result.  Even if the future holds no more major championships for Rory, he has still placed a shining example of skill and sportsmanship in the trophy case for us to admire.  If more come with time, let’s resolve to admire those as well and as they come.  Trying to label Rory as the next Jack or next Tiger won’t make them any more enjoyable, and may well take some of the fun out of the discovery.

Photo courtesy ESPN