BETHESDA, Maryland (AP)—The proof of Rory McIlroy’s remarkable resiliency was the U.S. Open trophy at his side on Sunday and the pages of a record book that he rewrote over four mind-boggling days.
For his father, it was a phone call right after a crushing collapse at Augusta National two months earlier, when McIlroy shot an 80 in the final round to blow a big lead.
Gerry McIlroy, who worked three jobs to support his son’s junior golf, was home in Northern Ireland when the phone rang some 20 minutes after it was over.
“I said, Rory, are you OK, son?’ Because you always fear for your kids,” the father said Sunday. “And he says, ‘Dad, I have no problem with it at all. I hit a few bad shots. And if you play golf, then you’ll understand that.”’
Fast forward to Sunday, and a flag-draped Gerry was in the thick of a momentous celebration at Congressional, outside Washington.
The 22-year-old McIlroy buried that Masters memory the way he buried his competition in a breathtaking performance filled with the promise of more majors to come.
“I felt like I got over the Masters pretty quickly. I kept telling you guys that, and I don’t know if you believed me or not. But here you go,” McIlroy said, gesturing to the shiny prize on the table. “Nice to prove some people wrong.”
Four days of flawless golf finally ended when McIlroy polished off a 2-under 69 to shatter U.S. Open records that simply defy logic at the major known as the toughest test in golf.
The combined scores of the previous 10 U.S. Open champions were 14-under par.
McIlroy was 16 under.
He finished eight shots ahead of Jason Day, whose score of 8-under 276 would have been enough to win 26 of the past 30 U.S. Opens.
“It’s just phenomenal golf,” Day said. “He lapped the field, and for such a young age, how mature he is. Golf right now is in a really, really good spot where Rory McIlroy is right now.”
McIlroy nearly holed an impossible putt from the front of the 18th green to within a foot, and it was then he finally saw his father. He smiled and shook a clenched fist, and after tapping in for par, walked off the green and into his arms.
“Happy Father’s Day,” McIlroy told him.
It was the second straight U.S. Open title for Northern Ireland, and defending champion Graeme McDowell walked back across the bridge to the 18th green to embrace the new winner.
“You’re a legend,” McDowell told him.
Not many would dispute that now, not after a week like this.
Golf had been looking for a star ever since Woods’ personal life and formidable game spiraled out of control 18 months ago. This was supposed to be the “U.S. Wide Open” because parity had taken over.
McIlroy, who goes to No. 4 in the world, now stands above everyone going into the final two majors of the year.
“Nothing this kid does ever surprises me,” McDowell said. “He’s the best player I’ve ever seen. I didn’t have a chance to play with Tiger when he was in his real pomp, and this guy is the best I’ve ever seen. Simple as that. He’s great for golf. He’s a breath of fresh air for the game, and perhaps we’re ready for golf’s next superstar.
“And maybe,” he said, “Rory is it.”
This was more than just one major. It was the way McIlroy decimated the field with a golf swing so pure that he made had only four holes worse than par all week.
McIlroy finished at 268 to break the U.S. Open record by four shots. That record 12-under par by Woods at Pebble Beach? McIlroy matched it in the second round and kept right on rolling.
“I couldn’t ask for much more, and I’m just so happy to be holding this trophy,” McIlroy said. “I know how good Tiger was in 2000 to win by 15 in Pebble. I was trying to go out there and emulate him in some way. I played great for four days, and I couldn’t be happier.
“Going back to Augusta this year, I felt like that was a great opportunity to get my first major. It didn’t quite work out,” McIlroy said. “But to come back straightaway at the U.S. Open and win, that is nice. You can always call yourself a major champion, and hopefully after this, I can call myself a multiple major champion.”
Since the Masters began in 1934, McIlroy is the second youngest major champion next to Woods.
“What a performance from start to finish,” Woods said in a statement. “Enjoy the win. Well done.”
Day, a 23-year-old from Australia, closed with a 68 and was runner-up for the second straight major. Unlike the Masters, however, Day didn’t have a chance. No one did this week.
McIlroy opened with a three-shot lead, stretched it to six shots after 36 holes and eight shots going into the final round. No one got any closer over the final 18 holes.
Nicklaus invited McIlroy to lunch last year in Florida and talked to him about how to close out tournaments. He apparently wasn’t listening when he took a four-shot lead into the final round of the Masters, only to implode on the back nine and shoot 80.
“I didn’t think it was going to happen again, and it hasn’t,” Nicklaus said by telephone to NBC Sports. “This kid’s going to have a great career. I don’t think there’s any question about it. He’s got all the components. He’s got a lot of people rooting for him. He’s a nice kid. He’s got a pleasant personality.
“He’s humble when he needs to be humble, and he’s confident when he needs to be confident.”
Among the records he set in a U.S. Open unlike any other:
— The 72-hole record at 268.
— The 54-hole record at 199.
— The 36-hole record at 131.
— Most under par at any point at 17 under.
— Quickest to reach double digits under par—26 holes when he got to 10 under in the second round.
McIlroy also tied Woods’ record for a six-shot lead at the halfway point, and he joined Lee Janzen in 1993 andLee Trevino in 1968 as the only players to post all four rounds in the 60s.
Some of that had to do with Congressional, which was softened by rain and cloud cover. There were 32 rounds under par on Sunday. The previous record was 18 final rounds under par, at Baltusrol in 1993.
But there is no denying that one guy played far better than anyone else— eight shots better. McIlroy became the first player since Woods in 2002 at Bethpage Black to go wire-to-wire in the U.S. Open without ties, and his best might still be ahead of him.
“He’s still growing, and it’s just scary to think about it,” said Y.E. Yang, who played in the final group for the last two days.
Amid the celebration of McIlroy came growing concern about the state of American golf. For the first time since the Masters began in 1934, Americans have gone five majors without winning. They were on the verge of being shut out of the top three for the fourth time in the past five majors until Yang made bogey on the last hole for a 71.
That put the South Korean into a tie for third with PGA Tour rookie Kevin Chappell (66), Robert Garrigus (70) and Lee Westwood (70).
“The Americans struggle a little bit,” PGA champion Martin Kaymer said. “Since Tiger has been on a—how you do say?—little down, nothing has really happened. We’ve just become so much stronger.”
The game also is getting much younger.
McIlroy became the fourth straight player in his 20s to win a major, the longest such streak since 1897.
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