US OPEN Recap
Jun
19
Written by:
6/19/2011 10:17 PM
I guess Mickelson’s performance was still better than that of Ernie Els, Adam Scott, Ian Poulter, Jim Furyk, David Toms, and KJ Choi, all of whom failed to make the cut.
Rory McIlroy is your 2011 US Open Champion. If you are interested in all of the statistics that were continually brought up during today’s broadcast, here you are courtesy of pgatour.com.
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McIlroy's 268 sets the lowest 72-hole score at the U.S. Open, bettering the 272 by Jack Nicklaus (1980), Lee Janzen (1993), Tiger Woods (2000) and Jim Furyk (2003).
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• McIlroy's 16-under is the most strokes under-par for 72 holes in U.S. Open history. The old record of 12-under was set by Tiger Woods in 2000.
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• McIlroy is the first player in U.S. Open history to get to double-digits under-par in the first two rounds.
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• McIlroy has held at least a share of the lead in seven of his last eight rounds in majors.
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• McIlroy (22 years, 1 month, 15 days) is the youngest major winner since Tiger Woods won the Masters in 1997 (21 years, 3 months, 14 days).
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• McIlroy is one of nine players 22-years-old and under with multiple wins with at least one of the wins being a major. The others are Tiger Woods, Gene Sarazen, Young Tom Morris, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Creavy, Johnny McDermott, Seve Ballesteros and Jerry Pate.
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• The last time the U.S. Open saw back-to-back winners from Great Britain was in 1924 (Cyril Walker, England) and 1925 (William Mcfarlane, Scotland). Last year, Graeme McDowell was the first player from Northern Ireland to win the U.S. Open.
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• McIlroy (2011) and Graeme McDowell (2010) both from Northern Ireland are the first back-to-back winners of the U.S. Open from the same country (outside of the U.S.) since 1920 (Edward Ray, England) and 1921 (James Barnes, England). Tiger Woods (2008) and Lucus Glover (2009) were the last back-to-back winners from the U.S.
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• McIlroy is the first wire-to-wire winner (no ties) at the U.S. Open since Tiger Woods in 2002. Rocco Mediate at the 2010 Frys.com Open was the last wire-to-wire winner on TOUR.
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• McIlroy is the seventh wire-to-wire (no ties) winner at the U.S. Open: McIlory (2011), Tiger Woods (2000, 20002), Tony Jacklin (1970), Ben Hogan (1953), James Barnes (1921) and Walter Hagen (1914).
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• McIlroy becomes the first player to win the U.S. Open with all four rounds in the 60s since Lee Janzen in 1993.
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• McIlory has shot par-or-better in 11 of his last 12 rounds in a major.
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• At 22 years, 1 month, 15 days, McIlroy is the ninth youngest winner of the U.S. Open and the youngest to win the U.S. Open since Bobby Jones in 1923.
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• McIlroy is the ninth winner in his 20s on TOUR this season, compared to 10 (12 total wins) winners in their 30s.
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• McIlroy finished 36th in the FedExCup standings in 2010.
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• McIlroy's eight shot win is the largest on TOUR since Tiger Woods won by eight shots at the 2009 BMW Championship. Brian Gay won by 10 shots at the 2009 RBC Heritage.
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A few other observations from the US Open
Other than possibly MLB, there seem to be more angry reporters covering golf than any other professional sport. Following a few media members on Twitter Sunday, many were more concerned with the scores these guys were posting at Congressional versus celebrating the performance of the players. The overall tone was Congressional was not set up difficult enough to be a “true US Open.” 117 rounds below par for the week places the 2011 US Open second behind Medinah in 1990, where there were 124 rounds under par. Tim Rosaforte made a comment Sunday evening saying on the Golf Channel that he was not certain the US Open would come back to Congressional after this weekend, saying the USGA would have to meet in a room and decide since there were some question marks. Many within the media commented on how easy the setups were and asked a loud why the USGA did not alter their plan for Congressional. When planning for the Open, the USGA expected a certain level of rain to help grow in the rough and when it didn’t come, the course was left as it was. These are also many of the same members of the media that said the greens at Shinnecock got away from the USGA a few years ago. I applaud the USGA for sticking to its guns and having a course that was playable versus letting it get away from them. One question asked after the round was does the set-up cheapen the victory for Rory? No ! Easy answer as he was playing the same course everyone else was. Scores were a bit lower than many would have liked, but when a player of McIlroy’s talent level gets it going, it is a pretty thing to watch. My fear is that next year at Olympia Fields the USGA goes over the top and risks losing the course to appease many critics.
While Rory McIlroy’s performance does remind us of Tiger at Pebble Beach in the 2000 US Open, that is about it. The comparisons to Tiger need to end there immediately. Someone said let McIlroy catch Andy North before comparing Rory to Tiger. Jack Nicklaus was interviewed during the round Sunday and it was brought up by Dan Hicks that Rory is now ahead of Jack’s pace for 18 majors. While I understand this was said jokingly, some have taken to making the comparisons to Tiger and Jack. Well, Rory is only 13 behind Tiger and 17 behind Jack now, so that seems fair. Let’s see Rory get to ten majors before the age of 30 before we add that pressure to this kid. Also, the depth of these tournaments, with players in their 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s, winning for anyone will be tougher than ever. Patrick Cantlay, a rising sophomore at UCLA, was the low amateur this week, shooting even par for the week, so that shows the depth of fields now.
The biggest takeaway from the week is the major sense of camaraderie the European players have versus the Americans. After McIlroy’s meltdown at Augusta, a photo was posted on Twitter of Rory on a plane heading to a tournament with Charl Schwartzel, the gentleman that won the 2011 Masters. Today, Graeme McDowell and Lee Westwood were both seen waiting around and watching McIlroy finish up his round. When was the last time American players stuck around for a friend to celebrate a win? This has to explain why the US seems to struggle in both the Ryder Cup and President’s Cup. The explanation for years was that the European’s travel together to tournaments and across the water a lot and have developed friendships off the course with each other. Many of the Top American players when done, hope on their planes and head home or to the next town they are playing in. This is not a trend that I foresee changing in the near future, but how cool would it be to see Dustin Johnson or a similar player win a tournament and have a Mickelson or Woods waiting to celebrate that victory.
Looking at the new World Golf Rankings that are to be released tomorrow, only three Americans (Stricker #5, Mickelson #6, Kuchar #7) are in the Top 10. Does this say more about the state of golf in the USA or how well the International players are?
Royal St George’s is hosting the Open Championship and Atlanta Athletic Club is hosting the PGA Championship. The winner’s of the first two Majors in 2011 have been in their 20’s. Does this trend continue for the remainder of this 2011 golf season?
Biggest disappointment this week…Phil Mickelson 74-69-77-71-291 +7. Mickelson finished only 23 shots behind McIlroy. Mickelson opened up on #10 Thursday and placed his first tee ball in the water. That should have told me everything I needed to know about his performance for the weekend.