Rory's Glory by Justin Doyle Read Free Book Online Page A

had been sent out to Bannon.
    A full time golf teacher and coach in Bangor, Northern Ireland, he left that position to join McIlroy on tour as his new full time coach. Both were caught on BBC television cameras at the Open. The pair worked on various aspects of Rory’s swing.
    His game looked like it was in need of a lot of work as he finished way down the field with the also-rans and, if seasons are measured in terms of majors (which Rory’s are), then this one scored ‘woeful’.
    Tied 40 th in the Masters, M/C in the US Open and tied 60 th in the British Open was just not good enough for a player tipped to be one of the all-time greats of golf. He had one chance left in the USPGA. Whatever issues Rory had, they had to be sorted – and fast.
    The Bridgestone Invitational two weeks later was the last event before the USPGA the following week. It looked like he was struggling again after an even-par round of 70 to start. But rounds of 67, 67 and 68 meant he finished in a tie for fifth without threatening.
    It was promising; so much so that London’s ‘Racing Post’ newspaper picked Rory as one of their selections to win the final major of the year. They touted his hitting the ball 344 yards at the Bridgestone, adding that if his putting was better, he would have won.
    That aside, a pattern was emerging. Some terrible performances were followed by a Top 10 finish but he could not seem to string two good results together. Then the USPGA arrived, an event for which he did have an excellent record.
    In three previous attempts at the USPGA, Rory was actually in with a great chance of winning. His debut at Hazeltine GC, Minnesota, in 2009 saw near record crowds turn up to watch the 91 st running of what is traditionally the season-ending major.
    Tiger Woods opened up with a -5, 67 in the first round to lead by one shot from Padraig Harrington. Rory shot a -1, 71 and he was quite content with his very first performance in the event, especially since Hazeltine is a tough course.
    A second round of +1, 73 left him well off the pace as Woods increased his lead at the top to seven under, but another round of 71 on the third day put him back into under par figures for the tournament and he was not out of it.
    He shot another nice round on the final day. But a -2, 70 was never going to trouble Tiger Woods and Y E Yang, and Rory finished his first USPGA at three under in a tie for third place with Lee Westwood.
    Woods, who led going into the final round and seemed sure to add yet another major to his haul, buckled under the pressure of Yang’s dogged persistence. The Korean matched him shot for shot and eventually won by three shots on eight under par.
    Yang became the first Asian to win the USPGA but it was a case of what might have been for another Irishman. Behind Tiger Woods going into that final round, Padraig Harrington actually started the day level with Yang.
    However, when he looks back on this particular event, he will wish to forget in a hurry the horror that befell him on a fairly easy par three. Padraig blew his chances of winning a fourth major by running up a ‘quintuple-bogey’ eight on that eighth hole!
    Rory admitted to showing very poor judgement on the greens. He started with a double-bogey but then hit a rich vein of form by rattling in four birdies. Another bogey on the 12 th , and some missed opportunities, put paid to his chance of victory.
    Nevertheless, it was his highest finish in a major to date and summing up, he said:
    I’ve had some good results lately and I’m looking to build on these results next year and hopefully try to do a bit better. I think coming into this week, I didn’t have my best form or my best game with me. So to finish tied third is a great result for me.
    Onto 2010 at Whistling Straits, and Rory would come even closer to winning the USPGA. He did indeed build on his impressive debut from the previous year and by the time he left