ST. Andrews, Scotland-Major Championship appeals to all five senses. They are often four days of continuous exercise with sensory overload. This 150th Open Championship is no exception. When Rory McIlroy put his hand on the second Claret Jug, the sight, sound, smell, feel and taste of St Andrews were all present on Saturday.
McIlroy and his playing partner Viktor Hovland Shoot 66 and co-lead with 16 under Enter the final round at St Andrews. They are sitting four away from the field. McIlroy won the last four majors, leading or co-leading in the last 18 holes. This is not the position since the 2014 PGA Championship in Balhara.
The sound came first. After hitting the ball into the first bunker this week, McIlroy canned a drop-in eagle shot on the 10th hole. An explosion occurred at the northernmost tip of the course. Echoing what was sung in town the night before the chanting of “Ro-ry! Ro-ry! Ro-ry!”, I circled the distant loop of the world’s most famous truck.
After midnight, off Market Street, at an underrated pizzeria called “Big Boss,” a grown-up man sang the only important name in St Andrews this weekend. There is no doubt who the town and perhaps the entire golf world are looking for. stretch.
Then came the touch. Hovland made a birdie at number 10 and then hit McIlroy with his fist. In the midst of Saturday’s best ball 63, he competed for both in this year’s most important majors. Their pairing was combined to win one eagle, 11 birdies and one bogey in a round. When they declared their future pairings in the next three Ryder Cups, they were almost expecting them to cross their arms and leave the 18th.
“Rory is a good person, so you can say’good shot’to him,” Hovland said. “That is, ignoring the situation you’re in, like the bunker shot he hit number 10, it’s just a dirty bunker shot, so you have to go a bit.” Hey, it’s sick. It was a shot. Yes, that is, it’s only part of the game. ”
“As soon as I hit the bunker shot, I thought it would be close. I didn’t expect it to come in,” McIlroy said. “Winning this kind of tournament may require such luck. It was a real bonus. I played well from there, but [it was] Definitely the highlight of the day. “
The world’s number one Scottie Scheffler, five behind the co-leaders, was more concise. “I think he’s definitely a favorite of the crowd. Why can’t he support Rory?”
How about the smell? When the penultimate group returned home towards the town, they blew off from the right. If you have participated in a major championship, you know that they have a unique scent. For example, Masters do not smell like grass, cigars, beer or mud. It smells like a master. This open does not smell like hay, the sea, stones, and the ever-present rain threat. It just smells like open.
Then came the sight. As McIlroy stood on the 12th tee and fans ran through the right side of the hall, the sun peeped from behind a typical Scottish summer sky as if he wanted to see what the fuss was. The North Sea’s fingers danced from the surface of the water at the only corner of the course where they met the largest land ever formed in 18 holes. This was the only time the sun was shining all afternoon.
90 minutes later, McIlroy moved up to 18th place as a co-leader of the tournament, which is undoubtedly desperate to win. He broke the bounce he had fallen into when it worked and allowed himself to drink in one of the better scenes of golf. Rory looked around and saw the scene.
“The gallery was huge,” McIlroy said. “The applause coming to the green on the big stand walks up the 18 and walks through the scene, knowing which room we’re in, so look for parents, Erica and Poppy in Rusak’s window. I am. “
It leaves just a taste. This is the first time McIlroy has passed 54 holes since 2014 and no one is in front of him. Rory is one of the great front runners of our time. He went forward and all you’ve ever seen is the “back” and “house” at the bottom of his spikes. McIlroy closes as the champion is supposed to close.
“I’ve been knocking on the door for a while, and this is the best chance I’ve had for a long time,” he said. “I need to stay in my little world for another day. Hopefully I can play enough kinds of golf to get the job done.”
McIlroy can enjoy this open.
I have 6th Feel about this place as well. The best major hosts have a magical air, which applies to St Andrews.This is difficult because it takes your finger Assumption It’s hard to tell.
Rory’s little ode to Tiger Woods on Friday was magic.. Did the best player ever come home as the best player of the generation behind him to play in the most important majors of the last decade and meet on stage in the middle of town? Now it’s a fairy tale. You may get another one on Sunday.
In Christopher Clarey’s wonderful book “Master” on Roger Federer, he explains something about Federer that seems to be true about McIlroy related to the senses. Federer internalizes the outside and draws in everything that is happening around him. It’s not the only way to compete, but it’s certainly the most adorable because of the way it ends frequently.
Federer’s fine-tuned antenna is part of the post-match tear account, which is now less frequent, but still part of his persona. They seem to be more than just an expression of joy or disappointment, but a liberation after all the inputs he absorbed in court. It’s not just his emotional investment in matches and tournaments.What is it about Everyone Emotionally invested in matches and tournaments.
McIlroy will definitely cry if he wins the 150th British Open Championship in St Andrews on Sunday. He did a very nice job this week to keep his emotions away, but it’s still noisy when he’s sleeping on a 54-hold co-leader. Why couldn’t you? Eight years after his last major, he has been fighting for the future of golf all year round.
Being Rory McIlroy makes an invisible sacrifice that he internalizes every day. I need an outlet.
McIlroy said last week that he hadn’t yet considered finishing 18th on Sunday, leading “not me”. Indeed, on a private moment on Saturday night or Sunday morning, he imagines it … just a moment. His fifth winning sound. A view of the swaying town when he returns home. The smell of silver. The feel of his father that his son opened on the old course. How about the magical taste?
Indeed, it will slip through his mind, even in his subconscious.
“I’m grateful for that moment, and I’m grateful for the fact that it’s incredibly cool to have a chance to win the British Open at St Andrews,” McIlroy said on Saturday.
“That is the origin of the dream, and tomorrow we will strive to make it come true.”
