Aimee Howarth talks about her sporting hero, Cristiano Ronaldo
Steve Puddicombe on why he thinks Mark Cavendish should win Sports Personality of the Year 2011
The Yorker's sports team says what they would like for Christmas this year
The second blog for The Yorker from the University of York Riding Club
The emphatic win was perhaps even more special following his disastrous capitulation in this years Masters, where he squandered a four-shot lead on the final day in a painful final round, as well as additional US open records McIlroy set along the way. His final scorecard of 268 is a new record, and he also became the fastest player to reach -10, after just 26 holes, and promptly went on to surge past the previous record at the US Open of -12, setting the bar at -17.
Jason Day of Australia finished runner-up on -8, but YE Yang, who entered the final day in second fell back to -6, tying for third with Lee Westwood, Robert Garrigus and Kevin Chappell.
But ii was all eyes on McIlroy, who shot a 65 on the first day, birdieing the 1st, 4th, 6th, 12th, 17th and 18th holes, followed by a 66 the following day, even after double bogeying the 18th! Hopes were flying fly going into the third day, and there were no yips in sight as McIlroy posted a 68 round, with birdies on the 5th, 9th, 11th and 14th holes.
Despite his 8 shot lead going into the final round, McIlroy was well aware that there were still 18 holes of golf to play, and we all knew there was time for things to go wrong. The commentators were harsh, with many doubting the Northern Irishman’s ability to hold his nerve, especially with the Master’s shadow still looming large.
But McIlroy went from strength to strength, playing without restraint, to post a final day scorecard of 69, and with birdies at the 1st, 4th, 10th and 16th became the youngest person to win a major since Tiger Woods won the Masters in 1997. In doing so McIlroy has moved to number four in the world, and has shown his world class. Not only has McIlroy shown his ability to take Majors by storm, but what is most impressive is his ability to forget the pain following his Master’s bottle, keep his head up and play incredible golf in the face of such pressure - and that’s what makes a great golfer. Watch this space, McIlroy is no one major wonder.
You must log in to submit a comment.
