Some thoughts and notes from the final round of the 2011 US Open:
- Congratulations Rory. I think we’ve seen the breakout tournament of the next great player.
- Otherwise, boring. There was lots of movement in the second through ten spots, but Rory’s lead was insurmountable. We knew that going in, though.
- A lot of runners up made statements, including Jason Day, Kevin Chappell, Robert Garrigus, Lee Westwood, Peter Hanson, Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen. if Rory wasn’t lapping them, this would have been a very exciting US Open.
- Aside from the lack of competition, there was something missing from this US Open: agony. I thought the course played like just another Tour stop. There was none of the heartbreaking chaos we’ve come to expect from the US Open.
- Sergio Garcia looks like he’s ready to rejoin the big time. I hope he finds a way to make it into the British Open. Maybe placing so high in the US Open will help him get in via the money list.
- Phil looked really tired. I wonder if that arthritis is worse than he admits.
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Agreed that Rory is much more likable than Tiger. And I’d be happy if he were the new face of golf.
Won’t do US golf fans any good, though, because he primarily plays the Euro tour, which as far as television viewing is relegated to odd hours on The Golf Channel (time differences, not their fault).
I didn’t think it was so boring – I think for the first couple holes we needed to see how Rory was going to do, and then around 9 & 10, there was suspense on whether there would be a blowup. Because Rory had gone 80 at Augusta, that was there, I don’t think many thought it would happen, but there was some suspense.
That won’t be there in the future – this was the hump, and what he learned from Augusta and what he learned this week will lead to many, many more victories for him.
The difficulty and intimidation of the course was not there like we have seen in so many US Opens. The bunkers were not furrowed, no waste areas, no cliffs, and the trees made things wide. The rough looked awful, but not that different than what the PGA players would have seen in Memphis last week.
How great is Rory? He is SO much more likeable than Tiger. Part of it is his humility, but just his overall attitude. Tiger projected that he was not just a better golfer than anyone else, he tried to project that he was just overall better than everyone else. Rory will accept the compliments to a point, but stays grounded in that he hasn’t done it yet- that he was still just looking to get his first major – and he certainly projects himself to be no better than anyone else except perhaps in golf.
His reaction to Harrington’s comment that Rory will be the one to break Jack’s record was very telling I think though – the first part was that he was the new Tiger, which he seemed to accept to a point, but then he found it to be ridiculous to even talk about the Jack thing – perhaps to a point both are ridiculous, but the Jack thing is just so completely out of bounds – If Rory could even top Tiger, he would still have 5 more majors to top Jack.
This is the first US Open that I’d missed in years. Oh, sure – I caught the highlights. Rory did well, and I like him. But there wasn’t that ooomph.
Yes it’s strange … it should have been exiting, but it wasn’t. no *ooomph* is right. I felt kind of bad for Rory because it’s his moment, it’s just as historic as Tiger’s first masters and his 15 stroke win at the open, but it just didn’t “feel” historic.
perhaps it’s because of the roughs, normally at a US open when they missed fairways they came out with a wedge for 50 yards. This time they played long irons and sometimes hybrids or woods out of there with ease.
maybe it’ll be special at the British …