Rory Lets a Major Roar at Royal Liverpool

Everyone looked for the next Tiger Woods. Just like people looked for the next Michael Jordan. Like others looked for the next Brett Favre. Golf thought they found it with Rory McIlroy. He blazed through the 2012 season winning four tournaments including a major victory. This became his second major at age 23. People rushed to great overreactions about what Rory could be or would be in his future. He took a major step back in 2013 without any wins and had a great deal in major tournaments. McIlroy started to show signs of life in 2014 again with a European win in May and broke through with another major championship winning the third leg of the Grand Slam of Golf.

Golf is such a tough spot to predict the future for a variety of reasons. One minute, people are predicting Adam Scott will be the next great golfer, or Bubba Watson is the new face of golf replacing Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. The next minute, we are talking about Rory being the next greatest thing to come walking through golf's door. McIlroy is a star without question and doing things in majors that almost no one did in golf throughout the years. He has the chance to be the future of this sport, but it is not a given which is what really does make golf great. 

Even with a player of McIlroy's caliber, everyone waited for the bottom to fall out for him on Friday's round. The recent narrative about him has been he plays a great round or two then it all goes to shit in one of the four rounds costing him a shot at the title. This didn't happen with McIlroy at Royal Liverpool as he stayed steady.  What made it more impressive is this leaderboard wasn't a host unknowns in the golf world. It featured former major champions and other great players of the world. It didn't even phase McIlroy. He sliced through the leaderboard like a hot knife through butter. Rickie Fowler had four rounds in the 60's and didn't win the tournament. Hell, he didn't even come very close. Fowler ended up finishing three strokes behind Rory. That's how dominant the performance was for the Northern Ireland product. He completely housed the entire field. 

Speaking about the future and the trends of golf, 2014 turned the narratives completely around. For a couple years, we had first-time major winners and this year features all former major winners.  Another new trend is one player going out and completely dominating for the entire tournament. This trend could end in August for all of us whom enjoy watching on Sunday afternoons with a hangover. Sure, what McIlroy, Martin Kaymer at the U.S. Open and what Watson did at The Masters were all great golf feats, but it is truly boring to watch when we know what the outcome will be at the end of the tournament. Golf has become that predictable television program you keep watching even if it becomes predictable halfway through the episode. 

Is McIlroy the next great golfer?  Who knows. He could be the best in the world for the next decade where Rory gets multiple majors. The attitude is not liked by everyone which makes him a great sports figure. Golfers cannot be loved by all. They need those who root for them and those who cheer for the Sunday collapse. It is one of the many things that makes golf great.  

Charlie.  

Kuchar Substitutes Plaid For Green; Wins at Hilton Head

I am confident to say that I can express Matt Kuchar’s feelings for him; “It’s about time.” Kuch displaying 

outstanding poise down the stretch to grab his first victory on the season at Hilton Head and grab the Tartan coat. Granted, it is not the green jacket, but it symbolizes the much-needed victory that Matt has been so closely hovering.

Kuchar blew his chance to win prior to The Masters but stuck close all the way till the Sunday back nine at Augusta. The same thing that broke him in Georgia almost cost him the shot at the RBC Heritage crown. On the 17th hole, Kuch found himself with a four foot birdie putt to solidify a comfortable clubhouse lead, but he yipped it. To make matters worse, he also missed the comebacker and ended up three putting for bogey. For a normal hack, like myself, this would have been enough to leave the clubs strapped on the cart and cozy up to the closest bar. Not for Kuch.

When he reached the 18th, he ended up in the greenside bunker with a chance to get up and down for par. That was not good enough though as he drained the splash shot out of the trap and punctuated an incredible three week run. It is great to see Kuch get back on top of the leaderboard and gain some momentum going into the meat of the schedule. Look for the Georgia native to be among the heavy favorites at The Players, and most of the remaining majors.

As if last week’s great finish didn't satisfy your palate, the Tour shifts to Nawlins' for the Zurich Classic, which is bound to be a great time. Last year, we saw Billy Horschel break though for him first tour victory, after ripping off an impressive amount of birdies on the weekend. Billy has been struggling thus far this year, but I will be looking for a similar trend that he capitalized on last year with my picks this week.

Rickie Fowler has been sniffing the top five consistently since the Match Play and I feel he is due for his first victory this year. After the swing changes Rickie applied early on, everything seems to be coming together for the youngster. Fowler is coming off an impressive T5 finish at Augusta and may have gained for incredible life experience playing his finishing round with The Mechanic, Miguel Angel Jimenez. Rickie doesn’t have any performance stats jumping off the page but he consistency on the approach and ability to sink long, much-needed putts, could put him right where he wants to be come Sunday.

It is hard not to mention Graham DeLaet here if we are looking for yet another first time winner to emerge. Charlie gave you all the credentials on DeLaet a few weeks ago, and the same narrative applies here. He has all the skills you want in a champion and started this year real hot. Look for him to improve on his season best runner up finish in Scottsdale and grab his first tour victory here in Louisiana.

For those of that missed Charlie’s QuickTap Podcast this week, he selected the great state of Louisiana as his number one US destination to travel to. Let’s hope the Tour shows him why it might worth making that trip sooner than later.

-Bryan