Patrick Cantlay
2011 U.S. Open Low Amateur
By Sean Martin
BETHESDA, Md. (June 19, 2011) —
Every time Rory McIlroy lined up a shot
Sunday, there was some sort of record on
the
line, some kind of history to be made.
That was this year's U.S. Open version
of
suspense. There was never any doubt that
the
kid from Northern Ireland was going to win
it.
In complete control of his emotions
and his
game, McIlroy never slipped. He won his
first
major championship by shooting a 2-under
69
at ultra-soft Congressional and closed his
four-
day onslaught at 16-under 268, eight shots
ahead of Jason Day and four shots better
than
the U.S. Open scoring record formerly held
by
four players, including two named Woods
and
Nicklaus.
After the final tap-in, Gerry McIlroy
met his
son as he walked off the green.
"Happy Father's Day," the new
champion said.
Happy Father's Day, indeed.
All week, McIlroy's performance was
compared to Tiger Woods' 15-shot blowout
at
Pebble Beach back in 2000. The margin at
Congressional may not have been as
impressive, but the performance certainly
was.
"I was trying to go out there today
and emulate him in some way," McIlroy
said. "I played great for four days and I
couldn't be happier."
McIlroy now has his first major
championship, two months after a collapse
so
thorough, some wondered if he could
recover.
He took a four-shot lead into the final day
of
the Masters. But after hitting his 10th tee
shot
near a cabin on the grounds of Augusta
National, he melted down, shot 80 and
finished
15th.
His shot on the 10th hole of this major
was
hardly comparable. On the 214-yard par-3,
a
downhill shot over water, McIlroy knocked
the
ball above the hole, then watched as it
stopped for a split second and started
spinning
— backward, backward, before stopping
an inch or two from the hole. He pursed his
lips. "Oooh," he said. Yeah, that
was nice.
He tapped in for a birdie that got him
to
17-under par at a tournament that had
never
seen a score lower than 12 under before
Friday.
"That was the point in the round
that I really felt it was mine to lose,"
McIlroy said.
He ended up at 16 under, coming short
of
the all-time major record of 19-under par
— set by Woods at St. Andrews in
2000. But McIlroy put plenty of ink in that
record book nonetheless.
He owns the scoring records for 36, 54
and
72 holes at the toughest test in golf and
he
became only the third player to break 70 in
all
four rounds of the U.S. Open.
He did it at age 22, the same age as
Nicklaus when he won the first of his
record 18
majors. The two have become friends and
The
Bear appreciates what he's been seeing.
"I think this kid's going to have a
great career," Nicklaus said in an
interview on NBC. "I don't think there's
any question about it. He's got all the
components."
Day ended up winning the real
competition
in this one — the race for second, and
has now been runner-up in the first two
majors
of the year. Kevin Chappell, Lee
Westwood,
Y.E. Yang, and Robert Garrigus tied for
third at
6 under.
Pretty much everyone outside of
Westwood conceded this one was over
before
the day began, and as player after player
came off the course, the testimonials
poured
in.
"As I've said before, I think he has
probably the most talent I've ever seen
from a
golfer," said Luke Donald, the top-ranked
player in the world, after finishing at 5-
over
par. "Lovely to watch him play, such a
fluid motion, and he hits it far."
Said Phil Mickelson: "You can tell
that Rory has had this type of talent in him
for
some time now, and to see him putting it
together is pretty neat to see." He
finished with a 71 on Sunday that left him
7
over.
And this from Graeme McDowell, last
year's
champion and a countryman of McIlroy:
"Nothing this kid does ever surprises me.
He's the best player I've ever seen."
McIlroy kept his head down throughout
this
round, sticking to his mental game plan of
thinking about golf shots, not
championships.
Finally, as he walked to the 18th green, he
waved and smiled to a gallery on hand for
one
of the most dominating performances the
game
has seen.
He became only the sixth player to
shoot
under par in all four rounds of a U.S. Open.
Earlier, Garrigus became the fifth player to
accomplish that feat — impressive, but
a mere footnote on this day.
The dissection started right away,
when
McIlroy dug his approach shot on No. 1 out
of
a divot to 6 feet for a birdie. He made
another
one after hitting to tap-in range on the
fourth
hole to move to 16 under.
McIlroy didn't give a stroke back to par
until No. 12 but it was only his third over
the
entire tournament — including his double
bogey on No. 18 on Friday and a bogey on
the
10th in the third round. As if to prove he
was
human, he three-putted the 17th green for
another bogey. It was the first time he'd
done
that all week.
The Blue Course has been taking a
beating
all week despite measuring 7,574 yards
— second longest in U.S. Open history.
"It's not really a U.S. Open golf
course, to be honest," Martin Kaymer
said.
And nobody took advantage better
than
McIlroy.
Amateur Watch
Patrick Cantlay,
the
19-year old incoming sophomore from
UCLA,
claimed the medal for low amateur with a
score
of 75-67-70-72--284 (E) and put him in a
.two-way tie for 21st with Ryan Palmer.
"It means so much because there's
so much history," said Cantlay.".
"Obviously it's my first U.S. Open, so it
means a lot to me that I was able to
compete
well in my first one. You know, it's just
exciting
and it makes me feel good. It hasn't really
digested yet, but it feels great."
Russell Henley,
the
recent grad from the University of Georgia,
has
already won a professional event as an
amateur this year and he was looking to be
the
one of the few people in history to win
back-
to-back low amateur titles. A final round
75
left him 4 shots back of Cantlay and in a
tie for
42nd place with former U.S. Open champ
Lucas
Glover and Korean Sunghoon Kang.
Brad Benjamin,
from
Rockford, Ill., had tough weekend carding
80
both days and finished in 72nd place.