Rory is the story. Cue the clichés.
“…I’m just trying to stay in my process, stay in my own little bubble and I just have to do that for one more day.”
“I’m trying to play with discipline. I’m trying to play the percentages.”
“… I’m not going to take anything for granted.”
“I’ve just have to just stick to my game plan.”
Of course, Rory McIlroy doesn’t own the only intriguing narrative with the 150th Open hurtling towards a thoroughly absorbing climax.
Viktor Hovland, tied at -16 through 54 holes with the Northern Irishman and unwittingly cast in the very uncharacteristic role of villain for Sunday, clearly wants to win this historic championship as much as anybody else. His Saturday 66, bogey less and full of clutch putting, spoke volumes. The ever smiley Norwegian has a suspect wedge game under pressure but on the rock-hard linksland of St Andrews, he may just have found the canvas to putt his way to a maiden major.
Viktor Hovland was dialled in during Round 3 of #The150thOpen
Watch his best moments 👇 pic.twitter.com/6WlkoDoR22
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 16, 2022
Do not discount either Cam Smith’s putter, which so alarmingly deserted him in a Saturday 73, turning up red hot again to help the Aussie set a formidable clubhouse target. Nor is Cameron Young, the PGA Tour rookie who is out in the penultimate group with Smith after a hang-tough Saturday 71 to also get to -12, going to give up this golden opportunity without a fight.
But none have as much on the line as McIlroy, the piped piper for not only European golf but now for the game’s traditional tours in the face of rebel forces. How with that swing, with all that talent has it been eight years since he won his fourth major? How can he not love the almost continuous roars for Rors? How can you cope with all the adulation which only serves to ratchet up the already oppressive expectation with every swing and every bouncy step?
Thus the cliches. It’s all McIlroy can do outside the ropes as he waits for his date with destiny inside them come 2.50pm (5.50pm UAE time) Sunday.
“The more people bring up the result, the more I’m just going to harp on about process and sticking to my game plan, because that’s the only thing I can do, and I’ve done that well for the last three days. And it’s put me in this position. I just need to do it for one more day,” said McIlroy after a Saturday 66 that included a good bogey after bouncing his approach of the stone wall backing the Road Hole.
Somehow McIlroy has to block out all the noise. He will start by putting his phone away early before getting to the Old Course with three hours to spare and running through his normal routine: gym session, physio treatment and lunch before heading out onto the range.
Perhaps the trickiest part will be drowning out the galleries, at least until the walk up 18 if all goes to plan.
“The support that I’ve gotten this week has been absolutely incredible. I appreciate it and I feel it out there. But at the same time I’m trying my hardest just to stay in my own little world because that’s the best way for me to get the best out of myself.
“I try to acknowledge as much as I can but I’m just trying to stay in my process, stay in my own little bubble and I just have to do that for one more day.”
🎥 Relive Rory McIlroy’s sensational Third Round at #The150thOpen in 60 Seconds pic.twitter.com/VoNAdPDSrL
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 16, 2022
If McIlroy does survive one more day, he’s surely look back to his hole out for an eagle two from a pot bunker just in front of the 10th green as a definitive moment? It helped McIlroy keep pace with Hovland who had rattled off four successive birdies from the third.
Rory. McIlroy.#The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/ZgVKfXf8ie
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 16, 2022
“I said in one of the interviews it was skill to get it somewhere close, but it was luck that it went in the hole. You need a little bit of luck every now and again, especially in these big tournaments. And that was a nice bonus.”
Will be it be a straight shootout with Viktor again on Sunday, Rory?
“I think we’ve seen it all week. People can go out and 30, 31, whatever it is. I think for me it’s expect the unexpected. But at the same time, I have to focus on myself. If I go out and I post a good number, I can’t worry about if it’s Viktor or if it’s the two Camerons, if it’s whoever it is. I just have to do my thing. And I’ve been doing my thing for the last three days and it’s put me in a good position.”
The experience at the top of the leaderboard, you’ve banked majors, they haven’t. Will that matter tomorrow?
“Yeah, I think so. But at the same time those players are playing great golf to be in this position.
“So I’m not going to take anything for granted. I don’t feel like I can fall back in any sort of experience. Just like being here before and I’ve done it. But nothing’s given to you and I have to go out there and earn it just like I’ve earned everything else in my career.’
In the end, McIlroy knows all he can do is stay in the present, rely on his long game, be patient when he has to be and aggressive when he can. And putt well. Lag putting could very well determine Sunday’s outcome.
“I think all week I’ve been trying to do that,” McIlroy said when asked if he was “drinking in” the incredible atmosphere.
“The galleries have been massive. The ovations coming on the greens, with the big grandstands. Walking up 18 and that whole scene and trying to look for my parents and Erica and Poppy in the windows of the Rusacks, because I know what rooms we’re staying in.
“I think it’s appreciating the moment as well and appreciating the fact that it’s unbelievably cool to have a chance to win The Open at St Andrews. It’s what dreams are made of. And I’m going to try to make a dream come true tomorrow.”
The penultimate episode of Inside The Open is here 🙌 Catch all the behind-the-scenes action from Moving Day 👉 https://t.co/5xIt4ETyRQ#The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/NYBQ4KdHXR
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 16, 2022
