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The Open Championship 2014

22

The Open Championship 2014

23

trust his game and his confidence soared from the moment he posted an

opening 66.

There was a succession of soaring iron shots, beginning with a 4-iron

strike that flew to within four inches of the target at the second hole. But

where McIlroy really gets his power is from his driving, which became a

thrilling masterclass. Another 66 in the second round put him four strokes

clear on a total of 132, the same place Woods was in 2006.

This in itself was already a triumph for McIlroy. His season to date

had been full of ‘freaky Fridays’, when he followed a superb opening

round with an absolute stinker. Only the previous week at the Scottish

Open he had started with a 64 and then slumped to a 78. Nevertheless,

he made it to the weekend at Royal Aberdeen and, having participated

in evening rounds at Royal County Down, 40 miles from his boyhood

home in Holywood, McIlroy was better prepared for the challenge of the

game’s oldest Major than ever before.

Another stepping-stone to lifting the Claret Jug was his victory in the

BMWPGAChampionship at Wentworth. It was his first on the European or

PGA tours since 2012 and involved rallying from seven behind in the final

round. McIlroy went on to become the first player in the 60-year history of

the PGA to do the double of Britain’s premier titles in the same summer.

In the process he showed just how his game had developed in knowing

how to move through the gears when necessary. On Saturday, when the

‘I was just picking a spot on the green and trying

to roll it over my spot every time. I wasn’t thinking

about holing it, or about what it would mean.’

threat of a huge storm had led to the first two-tee start in Open history,

Rickie Fowler birdied seven of the first 12 holes to make up six strokes on

McIlroy and tie for the lead.

Not for long. As the American faltered, McIlroy unleashed eagles at both

the 16th and 18th holes, the latter with another towering 5-iron from 237

yards to 11ft. As he said: ‘I felt like those two shots into 18 deserved an

eagle. I wanted to finish it off the right way.’

He ended on 68 with a six-stroke lead. The thousands in the giant

horseshoe grandstand around the 18th green erupted as if McIlroy had

already won The Open. ‘I got goosebumps,’ he said. But he knew nothing

was won yet, not even after a birdie at the first on Sunday. All it took for

the jitters to threaten were bogeys at the long fifth and the short sixth.

Up ahead, Sergio Garcia was thrilling the gallery out on the dunes

along the Dee Estuary. The Spaniard himself said: ‘I was excited from the

moment I woke up this morning.’ He birdied three of the first five holes and

then made an eagle at the 10th. He was now only two behind.

For McIlroy, it was a time to stay true to his twin tenets for the week:

‘process’ and ‘spot’. He explained: ‘With my long shots, I wanted to stick

to my process and stick to making good decisions and good swings – the

process of making good swings, rather than thinking about the end result.

‘And spot was for my putting. I was just picking a spot on the green and

trying to roll it over my spot every time. I wasn’t thinking about holing it,

or what it would mean, or how many further clear it would get me. I just

wanted to roll it over my spot and if it went in great. If it didn’t, then I’d

try it at the next hole.’

Sergio Garcia on the tee at

the 7th during the final round

Getty