McIlroy seeking route 66 to Open glory
Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy hopes to emulate Paul Lawrie and Pádraig Harrington and become another comeback Open champion at Carnoustie today.
But rather than epic battle with the likes of Jordan Spieth, Tiger Woods or the 25 mph gusts forecast to hit the toughest links on the rota today, his biggest challenge will simply be managing his game and his expectations.
The Co Down man readily admits that going four years without a major win after reeling off four in as many years is sometimes hard to take and his theorising about his need to freewheel and play like a teenager points to a man chasing something that no longer exists.
He's got the game and the guts to win his fifth major today but he will need to play better than he has for the first three days, where lady luck has smiled on him more often than not.
He was furious with himself after ragged finish left him four strokes behind Spieth, Xander Schauffle and Kevin Kisner heading into the final round and now believes he needs a five-under 66 to win today
“I think, if I can get to double digits under par, I think that would be a good score to post and see what happens,” said McIlroy, who goes out with Matt Kuchar in the fifth last group, 40 minutes before Spieth and Schauffele, at 2.05pm.
“To give two back in the last three was obviously disappointing,” said McIlroy, who is tied for sixth on five-under with Woods, Webb Simpson, Alex Noren, Matt Kuchar, Tommy Fleetwood and Zach Johnson.
"In fact, I am a little bit angry with that finish but I have given myself a chance and I am going to regroup.
"I am going to try and get off to a fast start tomorrow, post a number and see what happens.
"This golf course has a history of players coming from behind so a lot of guys who are three or four behind will take a lot of heart from that."
Defending champion Spieth opened with an eagle two from 10 feet and added four birdies as he fired a six-under 65 to set the target at nine-under par.
McIlroy might also have driven the first but he came up just short and didn't make birdie. Open Championships are decided by these fine margins and McIlroy's desperate looking slash at a fairway bunker shot on the 18th spoke volumes about his desperation to get closer to the American entering the final round.
Woods opted to try and get up and down from 100 yards for par earlier in the day and succeeded but McIlroy made bogey trying to make par and did well to avoid a double bogey.
Whatever about Saturday, it's the final round that identifies champions and while Spieth knows that McIlroy will be hoping to post a number, he sounded ready for the challenge.
"It's ideal for Carnoustie to have a bunched leaderboard and 25-mile-an-hour winds on Sunday because it means that someone could post a score from six hours before and potentially win the golf tournament tomorrow," Spieth said, showing off the haircut had in Carnoustie on Saturday morning.
"You're in a scenario almost like the U.S. Open this year at Shinnecock, like that Saturday at the U.S. Open-type scenario tomorrow."
The gritty Kisner posted a 68 to join Spieth and Schauffele on nine-under, two shots clear of compatriot Kevin Chappell with Italian Francesco Molinari alone in fifth, three behind on six-under after a 65.
But McIlroy is far from out of it and while he was hit and miss with his wedges and even on the greens despite taking just 26 putts, he’s determined to put up a fight for his fifth major
After bogeys at the 16th and 18th, he knows he can’t afford another sloppy finish and hopes his experience will be an advantage.
"Hopefully I can get out there and make as many birdies as I did today but just not make as many mistakes," McIlroy said. "I'm obviously disappointed after the way I finished, but I'm still in the tournament.
"I'm only a few shots behind. The wind is supposed to pick up a little bit. So it will make things interesting.
"I've got a bit of experience at this. Maybe more so than some of the other guys on the leaderboard.
"But the leaderboard is packed with a lot of very, very good players. I mean, Xander today that I played with, he didn't really put a foot wrong.
"Obviously, Jordan had a great round. So there's a lot of great players up there around the lead.
"The only good thing is there's not many players in between me and the lead. It's not that bunched.
"There's a lot of people behind, it looks like, at sort of 4-under and 3-under, but between 5 and 9, there's only a handful of guys, which is nice."
It was an opportunity missed for McIlroy on a day when Justin Rose fired a 64 in the third group of the day to get to four-under and Woods posted a 66 — his lowest round in the Open for 12 years — to be one shot better on five-under.
Jordan Spieth
McIlroy failed to get off to the fast start he wanted, three-putting the fourth to slip back to three-under before getting up and down from greenside sand for a birdie four at the sixth.
He then made a 15 footer at the seventh and turned for home just three shots off the lead.
He looked to up and running when he rolled in a 15 footer for birdie after a huge tee shot at the 11th but he handed a shot back to the field at the 12th, tugging a three-footer wide for a three-putt bogey.
He described his par putt at the 13th as “huge” but after pushing on with back-to-back birdies at the 14th and 15th, he lost focus at the finish, pushing tee shots into trouble at the 16th and 18th.
As for Woods, he lit up the early afternoon coverage, getting up and down from 100 yards for par at the last for a five-under 66.
“I played well today,” said Woods, who at one stage was tied for the lead in a major for the first time since the 2012 US Open at Olympic Club in San Francisco.
"I hit a lot of good shots. I really didn't feel like I really made a bad swing until 18.
"We knew there were going to be 10, 12 guys with a chance to win on Sunday, and it's turning out to be that.
"Like I said, I didn't want to be too far back if the guys got to 10 today, five is certainly doable, and especially if we get the forecast tomorrow."
The good news for Woods is only four behind but Greystones' Paul Dunne, is making up the numbers on four over after he double-bogeyed the 18th after a visit to the Barry Burn and shot 73.
He said: "I couldn't make a putt — I missed seven putts inside 12 feet for birdie.
“If I am not disappointed about shooting two over, I am in the wrong game, I think.”
Dunne backs Lowry
Dunne is backing Shane Lowry to get back to his best and reckons he could still kiss and make up with caddie Dermot Byrne.
Lowry will have a new caddie on the bag for the next few weeks after replacing his bagman of nine years with coach Neil Manchip for Friday's second round.
The Offaly ace still missed the cut and replacement will be on his bag for next week's RBC Canadian Open — the first of four events he has left to keep his PGA Tour card.
But Dunne believes their split may not be permanent and reckons that Lowry is such a feel oriented player that he will be back to his best soon.
Dunne said: "I know Shane was with Dermot for nine years. But look, sometimes freshening things up in any area can help.
"Obviously, Shane thinks that's going to help him so maybe they will get back together at some point. I don't know.
"I feel like caddies and players are like relationships, you know.
"It's a funny game. It comes in peaks and valleys. When it's good, everything feels good, and when it's bad, it feels like you will never get out of it.
"He's a good player, he will come back. He will be fine, I think."
