PGA – WOULD RORY MCILROY HAVE WON THE 2018 MASTERS WITH A VETERAN CADDY ON HIS BAG?
The history books will simply show that Rory McIlroy finished the 2018 Masters in a tie for 5th.
Doesn’t seem bad on the face of it. To place in the top 10 of such a prestigious event is a big accomplishment for any PGA player.
But, the important narrative that will be missing and one that has hardly been talked about is how McIlroy choked during the final round on Sunday…
All the conditions were right for the 28-year old to finally do what only 5 other players in the history of the sport have done: Win the Career Grand Slam of Golf (all 4 majors).
To start the final round, McIlroy was in the last grouping only a few shots away from the leader (Patrick Reed), had a 2-shot buffer over all other competitors, his putter had looked sharp, and he seemed confident in his ability to take home the win.
Yet, instead of overtaking his inexperienced and less talented American rival, the former #1 player in the world flopped.
First there was the wild tee shot on the first hole. Then a missed eagle putt on the second which could have given McIlroy the lead when Reed bogeyed the first. Followed was a bogey on three. A bogey on five (one of only two bogeys on that hole the entire day). A bogey on eight. The missed short birdie putt on nine. And, fifteen through eighteen were pars when Reed parred all those holes as well.
McIlroy also hit only eight greens in regulation that day, dropped two in the back nine (when he had not all week) and ended up the only player in the top 15 that finished over par in the final round (+2).
While Fowler, Spieth and Rahm were working hard to catch the leader, McIlroy just fizzled. He was passive, off kilter, made unforced errors and seemed to throw in the towel after the 11th hole. Most importantly, he never put any pressure on Reed or try to rattle him when he had opportunities to do so.
After his massively disappointing round, he summed it up by saying, “I just didn’t quite have it today.”
But, oh, it was there just under the surface…
McIlroy is arguably one of the most talented golfers not just playing now, but ever. He’s a 4-time major champion, 1 of only 4 players to win 3 majors by the age of 25, the youngest to reach $10 million in career earnings on the PGA Tour, has 14 PGA Tour wins, 16 other international Tour wins, won the Race to Dubai twice and the FedEx Cup once. He has also been the #1 player in the world for 95 weeks during his career and as of 2015, Forbes estimated his annual income at $48.5 million (US).
The 27-year old Reed, on the other hand (not to discredit what he accomplished on Sunday), had never ranked higher than 8 in the world, had only a handful of wins in his career, and only really contended at another major in the 2017 PGA Championship when he finished tied for second.
But, what Reed did have over McIlroy on this past Masters Sunday was swagger, confidence and belief in himself.
Those are all the things that the Northern Irishman “just didn’t quite have”.
I wonder, though, if McIlroy had a more experienced veteran caddy on his bag, could that person have helped him to muster those missing emotional and mental components?
McIlroy had replaced his long-time caddy (J.P Fitzgerald) last year after The Open Championship with his childhood best friend and the best man at his wedding (Harry Diamond).
Meant originally as a temporary arrangement, McIlroy decided to keep Diamond on his bag through 2018.
Ironically, it was shortly after Fitzgerald famously said to McIlroy during the first round of The Open when he was playing badly, “You’re Rory McIlroy. What the f— are you doing?” that he was let go. (These words actually motivated McIlroy and he went from playing his first 6 holes in 5 over, to playing his final 12 in 4 under.)
I can’t help but to think that if McIlroy heard those exact words on Sunday, it could have helped snap him out of his funk.
As a disclaimer, I don’t know anything that was discussed on the course between McIlroy and Diamond on Sunday. But, it’s easy to see that whatever motivation Diamond tried, it didn’t work.
The fire in the belly that McIlroy should have had was not there. The confidence of knowing his supreme talent was broken. And, no matter how much he downplayed the pressure factor, his nerves got the best of him…
Going forward, what may be most beneficial for McIlroy is to find a seasoned veteran caddy with a tremendous amount of knowledge, but who also counterbalances his type of emotion.
If McIlroy is the kind of player to experience ambivalence and lose his confidence during the big moments, like he has done repeatedly at Augusta, then he needs a coach on his bag to help guide him through the tough moments.
Is Harry Diamond that person? So far, he has proven that he isn’t.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at https://theladylovessports.com/contact.