GOLF has always been discussed in religious tones. Those on The Herald sports desk, for instance, can often be heard pleading for assistance from the heavens when reading over this correspondent’s copy.
Here in the revered cathedral of golf in St Andrews, Rory McIlroy is hoping to hit the kind of high notes a head chorister would reach after a gulp of helium.
That venerated champion Bobby Jones once declared that a player must win in the cradle of the game to be considered great. McIlroy may not agree fully with that particular statement of yore but he appreciates that the grand slam-winning Jones had a point.
“I don't know if a golfer's career isn't complete if you don't win here” admitted the Northern Irishman ahead of this week’s 150th Open Championship. “But I think it’s the holy grail of our sport.
“There are a lot of great players who have won Opens but maybe not won Opens at St Andrews, so I think it's unfair to say that a golfer's career isn't complete without that. But it's certainly up there with one of the greatest things you can do in our game.”
McIlroy, of course, already has his name etched on to the Claret Jug thanks to that dominant victory at Hoylake back in 2014 which he followed up by winning the US PGA title a few weeks later in an imperious double whammy.
Since then, McIlroy has endured a prolonged major drought that could just about prompt a hosepipe ban. His annual assault on the career grand slam at the Masters, meanwhile, has almost become something of a millstone instead of a milestone.
So, what would the 33-year-old prefer? An Augusta green jacket that would see him join Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tiger Woods as winners of that aforementioned career grand slam? Or an Open conquest in the home of golf that would satisfy Jones’ demands on greatness?
“Obviously I'd love to win both,” he said with a smile. “And I'll be greedy and say that I'll take both.”
McIlroy has played only one Open at St Andrews in his career and that was back in 2010. His defence of the cherished silver pitcher at St Andrews in 2015 was scuppered when he injured his ankle playing football.
Five years earlier, McIlroy had launched his Open bid with a spectacular salvo that just about left shrapnel embedded in the Old Course turf as he surged to the front with a 63. The next day, when the weather turned, the auld links enjoyed a cold revenge and McIlroy sagged to an 80. McIlroy still managed to finish third, behind eventual champion Louis Oosthuizen, and looking back, he admits it’s funny what remains seared on his mind from that week.
“The only thing I remember about that 63 is hitting a 6-iron into three feet on the 17th and missing the putt,” he said. “I birdied the last and was thinking that was a really good opportunity to be the first person ever to shoot 62 in a major and I didn’t get it done. You can always be better.”
What the scoring will be like this week remains to be seen but the firm, fast Old Course is certainly giving the players plenty to ponder in their early reconnaissance missions. “It's definitely a lot more of a strategic golf course when it plays like this,” said McIlroy of the general terrain. “I hit a drive on the second hole and that pin is in the middle of the green. I felt like I couldn't hit a chip shot that close so I putted it from 60 yards.
“You'll see a lot of that this week. If you hit a lot of drivers, you may get close to some of these greens but it would be advantageous to lay back and give yourself fuller wedge shots into some of these greens.
“I can see scoring being low enough, like getting into the sort of teens, but I can't see something in the 20-under-par range. I just think with the way the golf course is playing, it's just going to get super tricky by the end of the week.”
A past master in this neck of the woods was Tiger Woods and the way he played the Old Course with considered aplomb during his two wins here remains a masterclass in links golf. “It's going to be a game of chess this week,” McIlroy predicted of the examination that will be presented. “And no one has been better at playing that sort of chess game on a golf course than Tiger over the last 20 years.”
Amen to that.
