finish their third round, Rory and the big Fijian Singh were a shot ahead of Australian Adam Scott. By the end, at seven under, he stretched his lead to three shots over Petersson and Trevor Immelman after hitting -5, 67.
The final round was full of twists and turns and acts and episodes that no scriptwriter could even dream of. And have you ever noticed how in sport, lightning really does have this habit of striking twice, and even thrice?
Sports competitors like to term it âluck evening itself outâ. Carl Petersson was a case in point. You may recall that in the USPGA the previous year, a small boy picked up Roryâs ball and left it back behind a tree.
Well incredibly and increduously, almost exactly a year later, a small child picked up Carl Peterssonâs ball in this final round, but not before the most amazing bad luck befell the big Swede at the very first hole.
Starting the day three shots behind Rory in second place, he incurred a two-shot penalty after he was adjudged to have touched a leaf with his club on the backswing when playing from a hazard. Touched a leaf!
Replays and replays over and over again (and slowing it right down) failed to show where the actual infringement occurred â if there was one. As Rory said himself a few years later when he was penalised: âthere are some really stupid, silly rules in golf.â
Poor Petersson ended up with a double-bogey six and viewers may have thought it was the end of him and his bad luck. But valiantly, he made a couple more birdies before he was dealt another savage cruel card.
On the sixth hole, a kid picked up the Swedeâs ball and when Petersson asked for a ruling, he had to replace the ball. When he did, it ended up in a worse situation than where it had originally been.
However, whether it was his anger or frustration (or both), or loosening his elbow to have a right go, he hit back with another courageous birdie barrage. It brought him back up in the rear view mirror of the leaders but then McIlroy zoomed away again.
Rory scorched the front nine which was exactly the plan, as he told the packed press gathering afterwards. And Carl Petersson was not the only one making multiple birdies. So, take the back seat with Rory driving and hear it from his view, as he told the media:
I knew what Ian Poulter was doing (five birdies in a row to begin his round). I had a peek at a few leaderboards out there and saw he was seven under through eight or six under through seven so I knew he was off to a great start.
I set myself a target at the start of the day and said that I wanted to get to 12 under par. I got to -10 at the turn and knew I had a few opportunities on the back nine. If I played solid through 13 holes, then once I got through 13 I knew there were a couple of chances coming up and I was able to take them.
I saw with a few holes to go that I was six ahead â I think I was six ahead with six to play â and I also knew that I had two good chances coming up on 15 and 16 for birdies. You just have to stick to your game plan and not change it. And even if you do get so far ahead, you must stick to the original plan. That is what I tried to do.
He won by eight shots! A fantastic final round six under, 66, left him alone at the top of the leaderboard on 13 under. His second major, and he had also won the US Open by eight shots.
More records fell and one in particular was rolled out for a while â it being that Rory was younger than Tiger Woods when Woods captured his second major.
Actually he was only just a month behind Jack Nicklaus and three months behind Seve Ballesteros but the fact will always remain that all four â Rory, Tiger, Seve and Jack â were 23 years of age when they won their second major title.
Endless congratulations messages spewed out with Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny saying: âThis is further confirmation of his enormous golfing talent and a clear signal that he has the potential to
The final round was full of twists and turns and acts and episodes that no scriptwriter could even dream of. And have you ever noticed how in sport, lightning really does have this habit of striking twice, and even thrice?
Sports competitors like to term it âluck evening itself outâ. Carl Petersson was a case in point. You may recall that in the USPGA the previous year, a small boy picked up Roryâs ball and left it back behind a tree.
Well incredibly and increduously, almost exactly a year later, a small child picked up Carl Peterssonâs ball in this final round, but not before the most amazing bad luck befell the big Swede at the very first hole.
Starting the day three shots behind Rory in second place, he incurred a two-shot penalty after he was adjudged to have touched a leaf with his club on the backswing when playing from a hazard. Touched a leaf!
Replays and replays over and over again (and slowing it right down) failed to show where the actual infringement occurred â if there was one. As Rory said himself a few years later when he was penalised: âthere are some really stupid, silly rules in golf.â
Poor Petersson ended up with a double-bogey six and viewers may have thought it was the end of him and his bad luck. But valiantly, he made a couple more birdies before he was dealt another savage cruel card.
On the sixth hole, a kid picked up the Swedeâs ball and when Petersson asked for a ruling, he had to replace the ball. When he did, it ended up in a worse situation than where it had originally been.
However, whether it was his anger or frustration (or both), or loosening his elbow to have a right go, he hit back with another courageous birdie barrage. It brought him back up in the rear view mirror of the leaders but then McIlroy zoomed away again.
Rory scorched the front nine which was exactly the plan, as he told the packed press gathering afterwards. And Carl Petersson was not the only one making multiple birdies. So, take the back seat with Rory driving and hear it from his view, as he told the media:
I knew what Ian Poulter was doing (five birdies in a row to begin his round). I had a peek at a few leaderboards out there and saw he was seven under through eight or six under through seven so I knew he was off to a great start.
I set myself a target at the start of the day and said that I wanted to get to 12 under par. I got to -10 at the turn and knew I had a few opportunities on the back nine. If I played solid through 13 holes, then once I got through 13 I knew there were a couple of chances coming up and I was able to take them.
I saw with a few holes to go that I was six ahead â I think I was six ahead with six to play â and I also knew that I had two good chances coming up on 15 and 16 for birdies. You just have to stick to your game plan and not change it. And even if you do get so far ahead, you must stick to the original plan. That is what I tried to do.
He won by eight shots! A fantastic final round six under, 66, left him alone at the top of the leaderboard on 13 under. His second major, and he had also won the US Open by eight shots.
More records fell and one in particular was rolled out for a while â it being that Rory was younger than Tiger Woods when Woods captured his second major.
Actually he was only just a month behind Jack Nicklaus and three months behind Seve Ballesteros but the fact will always remain that all four â Rory, Tiger, Seve and Jack â were 23 years of age when they won their second major title.
Endless congratulations messages spewed out with Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny saying: âThis is further confirmation of his enormous golfing talent and a clear signal that he has the potential to
Similar Books
