Rory: “We’re not used to having to land balls before the edge of the greens to let them run on."
/Brutally honest stuff from defending champion Rory McIlroy on his play at Olympic Club, via Brian Keogh. Just some of the revealing quotes:
He made just three birdies in two days and must now come up with a viable game plan when taking on hard and fast tracks in future.
He said: “I think the thing is that we’re just not used to playing this sort of golf course week in, week out. You have to, of course you have to adapt and you have to adjust.
“We’re not used to having to land balls before the edge of the greens to let them run on. And it’s just something that you just have to adjust to in this tournament, and I wasn’t able to do that very well this week….
From Dave Kindred on Rory's 77-73 and post-round press chat.
A year ago, McIlroy's victory in the Open caused a lot of jumping up and down by observers, experts and other soothsayers always on the lookout for Anyone Who Isn't Tiger. They saw McIlroy's masterwork at Congressional as only the first of many. Well. Here's what he has done in the four major championships since: T-25 in the British Open, T-64 in the PGA Championship, T-40 in the Masters, and now, ingloriously, MC in this Open. After the 16 under at Congressional, he is 33-over par in the majors. Not that he was alone in his suffering here. Olympic's greens are firm, not yet concrete but on their way.
**Jim Litke on the Rory of 2012 vs. 2011.
Beyond the demands of his long-distance romance with tennis star Caroline Wozniacki, McIlroy has shed his former manager, adopted a schedule that is heavy on high-paying events and focused on the majors — a la Woods — and light on almost everything else. For a while, the changes seemed like a good fit.
McIlroy started the year with a win and nothing worse than a tie for fifth in his first five events. In his next five, he sandwiched three missed cuts in a row between ties for second and seventh. Last week at Memphis encapsulated his season so far: He had a two-stroke lead after four birdies through 11 holes in the final round. Then he skidded to two bogeys and a double at No. 18 after hooking his 3-wood off the tee into the water.
For all that, the kid is almost too good and too young to know what a drought feels like.
