Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods will have nightmares after exits from The Open… with game’s giants cut down to size by torturous Troon

Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods will have nightmares after exits from The Open… with game’s giants cut down to size by torturous Troon

Golfing Catastrophe: Rory McIlroy and the Battle Against South Beach’s Ferocious Winds

In the powerful waves that crashed onto South Beach, local kite surfers reveled in the exhilarating conditions. With gusts reaching 34mph, it was a perfect day for this extreme sport. They performed daring loop-the-loops and soared so high that it seemed they might join the flight path above Royal Troon’s seventh fairway leading into Prestwick Airport.

 

Yet, for the golfers on the other side of the dunes, the wind was nothing short of torture. The sounds of kite surfers’ joy were a stark contrast to the relentless downfall of golf’s giants. Bogeys, double bogeys, and worse marred their scorecards, blowing their games out of contention in this 152nd Open Championship.

 

Curiously, it’s this very chaos that makes the tournament so compelling. Even if you’ve once held the Claret Jug as proudly as a father holds a newborn, past triumphs mean nothing under such brutal conditions. All you can do is hold on and hope you don’t fall into the abyss.

 

Rory McIlroy found no such luck. If Thursday was rough, day two proved disastrous, particularly the unfathomable 20 minutes he spent on the fourth hole, a spectacle as riveting and tragic as a slow-motion car crash.

 

Given his recent nightmare at Pinehurst and the emotional scars it left, perhaps it was unrealistic to expect McIlroy to contend. But he stood no chance after his struggles on the 599-yard par five. A wild drive ended up buried in dense undergrowth, leading him to attempt a recovery with an iron. The swing uprooted more grass than it moved the ball. Had the world not been watching, McIlroy might have considered a hasty retreat.

 

The Open’s website calls the fourth hole “possibly the best birdie chance on the course,” a description that seems laughable as McIlroy navigated dead ends before finally recording an eight on his scorecard. His fate was sealed.

 

Bryson DeChambeau, who capitalized on McIlroy’s struggles at the US Open, had a similar ordeal on the sixth hole the previous day. Weekend golfers everywhere could sympathize with the familiar pose: one hand on a hip, the other holding a club, shaking a disbelieving head.

 

Nothing McIlroy, the 2014 Champion Golfer of the Year at Royal Liverpool, tried worked. His bump and runs overshot into bunkers, punched approaches missed by miles, and putts seemed allergic to the hole. He slid down the leaderboard, joining the ranks of past champions.

 

John Daly (1995, St Andrews) and Ernie Els (2002, Muirfield) withdrew after shooting 82 in their opening rounds. Todd Hamilton, the unexpected hero of 2004, finished at +20 after an 82 and an 80. Justin Leonard, the 1997 winner, ended at +16 alongside last season’s US Open champion Wyndham Clark. Even Tiger Woods, with Open wins in 2000, 2005, and 2006, languished at +14.

 

Woods knew a round in the 60s was needed to make the weekend after a grueling Thursday, but instead, he endured a round where muffled groans greeted his shots. “It wasn’t very good,” he admitted. “I made a double at two right out of the hopper when I needed to go the other way. I was fighting it all day. I never really hit it close enough to make birdies and made a lot of bogeys instead.”

 

Despite his love for majors, Woods acknowledged his physical limitations. “I was hoping I would find it somehow. Just never did. Consequently, my results and scores were pretty high.” While many wonder if this is the last we’ll see of Woods, he intends to play at Portrush next year.

 

What shape his game will be in by then is uncertain, but the Atlantic coastline can be as unforgiving as Ayrshire’s, and who’s to say it won’t become another graveyard for champions?

 

This frenzied Friday saw many champions buried: Cameron Smith (2022, St Andrews), Stewart Cink (2009, Turnberry), Henrik Stenson (2016, Troon), Francesco Molinari (2018, Carnoustie), and Louis Oosthuizen (2010, St Andrews) all fell by the wayside. Zach Johnson, a former US Masters winner, also bowed out.

 

Matthew Fitzpatrick, fighting to stay afloat, managed to scramble into the clubhouse at +6, closing the door behind him with the relief of someone who’d escaped a pack of wild dogs.

 

The conditions were brutal, a testament to the relentless challenge that is The Open Championship.