The PGA of America may well have their new poster child for just how important Glory?s Last Shot is.
U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy risked the rest of his season, and maybe longer, by playing the final 15 holes of the opening round of the PGA Championship with an injured wrist. Somewhat miraculously, the 22-year-old shot even-par 70 before rushing off to a local doctor for an MRI to check on the status of his hand.
The injury ? its extent unknown ? happened on the third hole. After an errant drive, McIlroy found his ball next to a tree root. Assessing the lie and the situation, the Ulsterman concocted a plan to extricate himself from the lie.
?It was dangerous,? McIlroy admitted. ?I thought if I could make contact with the ball and just let the club go, I might get away with it.?
He did just that, but he didn?t get away with it. Immediately he grabbed his wrist with his hands freed of the 7-iron he used to hit the shot. His ball barely advanced, contrary to what McIlroy hoped would happen.
?It was a shot that I felt like, if I took it on and pulled it off, it could have saved me a shot,? he said.
Not only did it not save him a shot, it may actually force him to get one to numb the pain in his right wrist and forearm, which he says felt very painful afterward. After denying help at the fourth hole from a PGA official, McIlroy called for a trainer at the par-5 fifth green. Representatives at ISM brought out Cornell Driessen, a trainer who had worked in the past with fellow stablemate and Thursday playing partner Charl Schwartzel.
Driessen told McIlroy that it was all up to him if he wanted to continue. Doing some degree of calendar math, McIlroy made his choice.
?It?s the last major of the year,? he said.??I?ve got, what, six or seven months to the Masters. So I might as well try and play through the pain and get it over and done with.?
He was off by a month, but that?s to be forgiven considering the circumstances. The Race to Dubai be damned, Rory McIlroy was finishing that round.
Driessen did his best with McIlroy and it seemed to work immediate wonders as the U.S. Open champ birdied the next two holes to get under par for the day.
After that, though, McIlroy played in a tight range. He was never again over par, but only got as low as 1-under. Time and again, McIlroy fought through obvious pain ? grimacing, dropping clubs, letting gravity bring his arms to his sides ? and made birdies to keep close to par.
And in retrospect, McIlroy said he hit some of his best shots when he compensated most for the pain.
?To be honest, that I finished with one hand, I hit some good shots,? he said. ?So to shoot even par, it was a good effort.?
Last week, McIlroy said Tiger Woods finishing inside the top 20 would be a good effort in his comeback bid at Firestone. With one arm, he nearly beat Tiger?s first-round effort there (68 to 70) and walloped Woods by seven on Thursday. That may not mean much if the results of the MRI suggest he not play Friday.
?If it?s the same?[Friday] and I know that I?m not going to do any more damage to it, I?ll play,? he said.
He disappeared into the Atlanta Athletic Club clubhouse for a few minutes of rest and to grab some extra wet towels from the locker room before getting into the back seat of his courtesy car, driven by friend and associate Stuart Cage for medical attention. He sighed as he got in the car, still uncertain about the impact of his decision.
Even if it means that it has cost him his Glory?s Last Shot, at least he went through hell to hold onto it. No wonder McIlroy seems predisposed not to like the one major outside of the United States. In this country is where he seems to do his most heroic work.
census caribbean airlines samurai gabriel iglesias tim mcgraw zara phillips progeria
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.