As Rory McIlroy sank to his knees on the seventh fairway after hitting into a greenside bunker he didn’t look like the ‘luckiest guy in the world,’ as he was later to describe himself after another ever-fluctuating par round, more as if he were a football manager on the touchline letting off steam at errant charges. We all search for answers to the enigma of McIlroy’s seven year blank streak, as if the demons within must be burning the soles of his feet, but they are not. There are a couple of technical issues he’s addressing – “keeping the club face stable as it’s gone a bit flippy” or hitting with the body, not with the arms and hands – but essentially his karma is good, he is at one with the world.
When it was put to him that he might be trying too hard, he gave the inquiry the sort of resounding knockback as if it had been struck with his driver, saying “I have four Majors and a wonderful family”. Just as important is the fact that he has perspective, a gift more precious than all the millions he has accrued, although a few pennies does help. McIlroy admitted that he was “a bit nervous standing on the 18th tee after back-to-back bogeys but he avoided the cut with a final hole birdie (for the second day running) and plays on into the weekend, something he didn’t manage to do on the home turf of Portrush two years ago. You won’t find a dissenter as to the legitimacy of his presence at Sandwich. As he put it: ‘My life is perfect…I want for nothing’.
As he moved through the throng that followed him after missing an absolute tiddler on the 16th, there was nothing but encouragement from the gallery. No cat-calls, no mocking tones, no taunts of how useless he might be. To think it was only a few days ago at Wembley that a different scenario unfolded when a few footballers duffed their shots the way McIlroy did at several junctures, notably with successive bogeys at the start. But the band played on as roars of appreciation cascaded round Royal St George’s. Form is temporary, class is permanent.
McIlroy was obliged to back off shots on two or three occasions due to noise from the sidelines, normally the bane of a golfer’s life. Not for our Rory.
“It is definitely the better alternative to have (people) there than not,” said McIlroy. “There were camera and phone clicks but I’d rather have that than no-one there.”
There were a couple of police officers in attendance nearby as he teed off in mid-morning, a precautionary ploy after McIlroy had his club filched by an interloper recently at the Scottish Open. There was no such excuse to resort to as explanation for his horrible start, such a let-down for the five-deep crowds and also for the man himself who had felt confident overnight after his birdie finish.
McIlroy is at one with the peaks and troughs of this ‘quirky’ links course for that is where his golf is, an undulating experience, a brow-creasing, spirit-churning adventure ride. Up on the hillocks following every moment of soaring hope or plummeting deflation was his father, Gerry, who kept an even face throughout, as masterful a performance as any out on the course.
Like Longfellow’s little girl, when McIlroy is good, he is very good. But not often enough as he himself was to acknowledge. He continues to work with Pete Cowen on his game but there is no Holy Grail out there, no switch that will flick on and illuminate the seeming darkness. Far from it. McIlroy has faith in himself and his equanimity makes for a reliable witness.
Who could gainsay his shot into the fourth that teed up his first birdie of the day or the studied up-and-over approach to the ninth that enabled him to putt for a heartening birdie to even things up at the turn? His fabulous wedge at the 11th opened up the possibility of an eagle but it was not to be.
There was apprehension in the Kent air as MclIroy moved to the 18th, a sense that he might battle to beat the cut. Even the punters in the hospitality suites put their glugging and feasting on hold to watch the mid-afternoon drama. Rory held firm with a lovely second into the heart of the green, holing the putt for birdie.
Triumph and disaster, he is proving just the man to deal with those imposters. At some point, the golf work itself out.
Andy Sullivan leads the English charge
by Kate Rowan at Royal St George’s
Sports fans can be fickle sometimes. There was no better example than in Sandwich after Tommy Fleetwood, who had started the day at three under just three shots off the overnight lead. So, it was no wonder that as an Englishman and crowd favourite had a gallery up to nine deep on his opening holes. However, after bogeying both the eight and ninth holes – there were quite a few fans thinking out loud “Let’s go watch Andy Sullivan, think that might be more fun!”
So despite all the shouts of “Go on Tommy”, some of his large gallery left to watch Sullivan, who shot a second successive 67 to put himself in with a strong chance heading into the weekend at six under, five shots behind the leaders and tied for sixth.
35 year-old Sullivan hailing from Nuneaton was inspired as a youngster to pursue his passion for golf by fellow Midlands man Lee Westwood and he showed great composure in his round. Having birdied the fourth, all remained even until he had something of a mini purple patch birdying the 12th and 14th only to drop a shot on the following hole. But he bounced back immediately on the three par 16th. His putting was consistent and he held tight on the last to seal his round.
Sullivan was delighted with the fans that joined him on his round. “I really love this event at the Open. It’s really special, and when the fans are here it adds that extra buzz,” he said. “And with the weather out there being absolutely fantastic, there’s such a buzz out there, and when you’re holing putts and you get the roars and the screams, it’s brilliant. You can’t describe it. It’s an amazing feeling.”
The world No85 spoke of how his level mind-set helped him become the leading English player heading into moving day. “I felt like I was really disciplined out there today. I didn’t really try and chase too many flags down. I just put it into areas where par was an easy score to make and you might have a sneaky chance at birdie,” he said. “I felt really in control of myself today, and it was obviously nice to hole that clutch par putt at the end there on the last hole to really make things sweeter.”
In 2016 en route to a Ryder Cup spot, Sullivan finished one-under, tied for 12th at Troon, part of the glut of players behind eventual winner Henrik Stenson and runner-up Phil Mickelson. This year he believes he can have a chance over the weekend to get closer to the Claret Jug but he returns to the theme of keeping calm and carrying on, which has served him well over the past two days. “I’ve got to go out there and just do what I did today, be disciplined, be patient. St George’s is going to through some challenges at everybody on the weekend,” he said. “I’m not disillusioned by it’s going to come my way. It’s just going to be how I’m going to handle that challenge when it comes to me.”
Another player in with a chance of attempting to end the 52 years since an Englishman – Tony Jacklin – was last Open Champion on English soil is Paul Casey. The 43 year-old was another who has been able to keep his cool on Royal St George’s undulating surfaces to also post a 67 that took him to five under par. Casey showed impressive mental fortitude, having bogeyed the second, to go on a purple patch of three consecutive birdies from the seventh through to the ninth only to drop a shot on the tenth but he bounced back with further birdies on the 12th and 14th holes. Behind him by a shot is Danny Willett, who currently sits pretty at four under.
After a nightmare start with bogeys on the first three holes, putting himself initially in danger of missing the cut, Justin Rose showed his pedigree and also his status as a home favourite to finish his round on three under, back where he began the day. Another big beast proving his mental fortitude buoyed by staunch support was Lee Westwood who secured his place for the weekend with a 67 to leave him two under par.
Fellow Englishman and fan favourite Ian Poulter was playing with Casey. He looked rather festive, sporting pale pink and blue plaid trousers – apt on such a sunny day. He had an impressive round, taking himself from in danger of missing the cut to head to the weekend at two under with a 66.
Poulter and Fleetwood are joined by two more Englishmen at two under – Jack Senior who dropped a shot and Jonathan Thomson whose 67 was greatly aided by a hole in one on the sixteenth.