Heartbreak for Rory. Bryson completes a career coolness comeback. Xander learns how to close. The Ridley Review takes a look at the 2024 US Open (yeah, yeah I know it happened a month ago. I welcome haters in the comments) and the more recent Open Championship.
US Open – June
Scar Tissue
The final couple of holes at Pinehurst was like watching a slow-motion accident that you can do nothing to halt. Rory McIlroy, the defender of the sport’s soul the last few years (and treated terribly for it), had taken and then clung to a small lead over LIV golfer Bryson DeChambeau. One of the most talented golfers of a generation, Rory was positioned as a Tiger challenger at a time when Tiger’s body had yet to fully betray him. He delivered on that promise too: snagging 4 majors in a 4-year stretch from 2011-2014. 10 majors in his career seemed far from out of the question, and he was being talked about as one of the all-time potential greats. 10 years and 21 top-10 finishes later, he still sits on 4 majors.
The best way I’ve ever heard golf described is that it is 5 games in 1: long game, short game, putting, mental game, and physical game. What makes it so frustrating and intoxicating is trying to put all 5 together at once. Rory does all that for a living, and is compensated handsomely. Yet a setback in a high pressure environment can create scar tissue that will affect you for years, no matter how mentally strong you are.
For Rory, this appears to begin before he even claimed his first title, way back at the 2011 Masters. Standing on the 10th tee with a lead, Rory snap hooked his drive so far left it ended up near a cabin almost no one knew existed (my condolences; I’ve matched that feat far more than I would like to admit). One triple bogey later, he was off the top of the leaderboard. If your confidence is a water jug and it springs a leak in a golf tournament, two things can happen: plug the hole quickly and rally, or let the leak turn into a sieve. On that day, the latter happened: a bogey and double bogey followed, and Rory went from leading man to afterthought in one hour.
That it happened in the Masters is important: it has become the one major Rory has yet to win. As that wait goes on, scar tissue continued to build up from close call after close call. Rory is a man who cares deeply and passionately, and it is tough not to be affected considering all he has been through professionally. I get it; yes I was no tour pro, but I did have a lot of near misses in tournaments growing up, and at a certain point it gets harder to block out the past when you get in contention. It makes your muscles that much more tense; your mind doubts you just a little bit.
In a game of inches, that is often enough: the finest round I played in college featured 60-some near-flawless golf shots; I hit two bad shots all day and they led to two disastrous holes, turning what should have been a fantastic score into one that wasn’t enough to win the tournament.
You didn’t have to be a mind-reader to see the past visibly wear on McIlroy the final few holes at Pinehurst. Putts inside 4 feet, of which he had made every single one for 3.75 days, refused to fall on two of the final three holes. Those short putts are where the real nerve jangling happens, and the nerves refused to cooperate for him. It pained me to watch; I know the pain he felt when he refused to speak with the press afterwards. Here’s hoping one breaks his way soon and takes the enormous pressure off his back.
That Bunker Shot
It is often said that a 50-yard bunker shot is the hardest in golf. I buy it. You can’t do the old chunk-and-run technique of hitting into the sand behind the ball and letting the ball ride out of a cushion of sand. You can’t reliably try to thin-to-win the ball like you do from longer distances. It’s just a nasty in-between spot with no one right way of playing the shot.
With the whole tournament on the line, Bryson DeChambeau ended up in that position on the final hole of the tournament following a typically inaccurate drive and a poor recovery. Yet while McIlroy faltered, DeChambeau delivered. His blast to within three feet will be shown on US Open highlight reels for decades, another iconic shot on the same hole as Payne Stewart’s famous putt.
It capped a pretty successful year for the big man: he has shockingly become popular with fans once more, is fully fit, and seems happy. I still can’t agree with the whole LIV thing, and he didn’t make the Olympic team because of it, but it’s hard to argue with the clutch finish to steal a major away from Rory.
A Great Venue, Part 1
Pinehurst is just a great course to host a US Open. Extraordinarily challenging? Check. Great finishing stretch? Check. Spoiled elite golfers complaining about the challenge? Check. Iconic moments? Check, check, and check.
The Open Championship – July
Removing Scar Tissue
Sometimes all it takes is one moment to get the monkey permanently off the back. The sky appears to be the limit for Xander Schauffele, who always had the all-around game to win and conquered any major championship demons by pulling out the PGA. When the tournament appeared to be a tossup between 5 or so contenders entering the final 9 on Sunday, Xander took all the excitement out of the finish with a ruthless evisceration of Royal Troon’s supposed tougher 9 holes. A flawless, bogey-free 65 (the second one this year in the final round of a major!) blew all comers away, and how he did it was equally impressive: he looked like a man so in control of his swing and his emotions it was somewhat frightening. He looked like Cool Hand Luke out there as his competitors struggled with fescue, pot bunkers and balky putters.
The question now becomes, how many does he win? I’ll set the number at 4: he is an elite, incredible athlete. The problem is thar golf games ebb and flow so much (just ask Jordan Spieth) and the competition is so fierce right now that it is hard to pull away from the pack unless you are playing at peak-Tiger levels like Scottie Scheffler.
The Weather and the Open
No other major (or any golf tournament) owes its outcome as much to Mother Nature as the Open. The British weather remains charmingly temperamental; end up on the wrong side of the draw, playing at the wrong time of day, and you are screwed regardless of how well you play.
The first two rounds saw some of this, but the third round was really when we got the best of the Open. With sunny skies and calm winds, Sam Burns, Thriston Lawrence, and Russell Henley all vaulted themselves from miles out of contention into the top 5, as an afternoon storm sent the leaders flying back towards the field. The weather stymied Scottie Scheffler from making a charge, while souring conditions most hurt the final grouping: a devastating final hour watched Shane Lowry plummet from -8 to -1, while scrappy underdog Daniel Brown went bogey-double bogey on the final 2 holes to fall out of the lead himself.
In a sign of things to come, Xander Schauffele withstood the challenge, putting together a gutsy 69 to pull to within one, setting up his Sunday charge.
The Charm of the Underdog
Perhaps due to unpredictable weather patterns, the Open throws up more underdog challengers than any other major. It remains my favorite part of this tournament; from a psychological standpoint, there is something fascinating seeing people who are in what is likely a once-in-a-lifetime position deal with the pressure of the lofty surroundings they shockingly find themselves in.
Since just the turn of the century, Ben Curtis (with a huge assist from Mother Nature) and Todd Hamilton (outdueling Ernie Els in a playoff!) emerged with the Claret Jug. Then in back-to-back years, two legends over 50 years of age nearly turned back the clock: Greg Norman in 2008 and Tom Watson in 2009. Watson took it closest, famously playing 71.5 holes of nearly flawless golf before the clock struck 12 about 10 minutes too quickly. Darren Clarke and Phil Mickelson then took home titles, both after their respective title windows were assumed to have slammed shut. An amateur named Paul Dunne entered the final round in 2015 tied for the lead. Then, a few years after Mickelson & Stenson channeled their inner Nicklaus-Watson, journeyman Brian Harman not only won but ran away with the Claret Jug in 2023.
This year we got another charming no-name surprise in the form of Daniel Brown. Barely qualifying for the tournament while in horrendous form, he quickly became a fan favorite with his humble origin story and gutsy play; at no point did he ever appear overwhelmed and he kept punching all the way to the final bell. In the end, it wasn’t enough to top the leaderboard, but he did win some hearts along the way.
Breakfast Balls
Early Olympics prediction
Men’s
Ludvig Aberg claims gold – he crushed a similar course at the Ryder Cup last year. Shane Lowry rebounds from Open disappointment to snag silver. Camilo Villegas goes on a hilarious Sabbatini-esque run to the bronze. Americans get shut out.
Women’s
The LPGA Tour is traditionally more imbalanced than the men’s; the gap between the elites and also-rans is substantially larger. World #1 Nelly Korda has struggled recently, but showed signs of bouncing back at the Evian Championship (the fourth women’s major) with a T26 finish. I’m backing her to bring back a gold for the US, while 6-ranked Celine Boutier rides the home support to silver. Rounding out the podium is South Korea’s Kim Hyo-joo, who has been lurking just outside the top spots in majors all year long and will take advantage of the fact that several of the hottest players didn’t qualify for the Olympics.
WOW! You are a great writer who has the ability to play back the key events of a major while mixing in factual humor and a clear knowledge of the game that you have played since you were born. Your statement that golf has 5 distinct parts to the game are so true. This game winning knowledge actuality pertains to most every sport if played well by the great athletes and great teams. Super Bowls for example are generally won by the team that executes each facet of the game on almost every down. Offense, defense, special teams, coaching, time management, taking well thought-out chances when the proper time and opportunity exists. Please continue your analysis in your blog. It is very great reading. Super Bowl winner this year will be the Eagles unfortunately.
I haven’t given up on Tiger yet. I can feel one more tournament win. Maybe next year at the Masters !!!