HOYLAKE, England — As Rory McIlroy arrived on the scene at the 151st British Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club on Monday, the memories of his victory here in 2014 came flooding back.
“Maybe not as much as you would think,” he said. “Over the past nine years a lot has happened in my life and I’ve played a lot of golf tournaments. But yeah, there’s a few things that I remember, and it’s nice to get back on to the golf course and sort of refamiliarize myself with it.”
Perhaps he remembered the goose bumps he felt during Saturday’s third round as he walked to the 18th green before rolling in a 10-foot eagle putt, his second in three holes. Ninety minutes earlier, McIlroy had been tied for the lead before his hot streak broke the championship wide open as he built a commanding six-stroke 54-hole lead.
“It wasn’t quite the championship, but it put one hand on the Claret Jug,” McIlroy said. “I just needed to go out Sunday and not do anything stupid. That Saturday afternoon was huge.”
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland celebrates with the Claret Jug after his two-stroke victory after the final round of The 143rd Open Championship at Royal Liverpool on July 20, 2014 in Hoylake, England. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)
He claimed his third major championship a day later and the third leg of the career Grand Slam at age 25. He would go on to win the WGC Bridgestone Invitational and PGA Championship in back-to-back weeks a month later, yet, improbably, 33 major starts since that PGA at Valhalla, he’s still stuck at four Grand Slam titles.
The script seemed written for him to end his major drought at last year’s Open at St. Andrews but his putter cooled off on Sunday and Cameron Smith dashed past him to claim the Claret Jug. After his media obligations were over, McIlroy drove off in a golf cart crying on his wife’s shoulders. Just last month, at the U.S. Open, in what seemed like a bad case of déjà vu, McIlroy played another solid round but was unable to make a birdie after the opening hole, losing by a stroke to Wyndham Clark. More heartbreak for McIlroy, who has six top-10 finishes in his last seven major starts, including two seconds and a third. Yet he’s proven time and again that he’s willing to get off the proverbial mat and come back swinging.
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