No-one doubts that Rory McIlroy suffered a Masters meltdown but that doesn't mean we write him off entirely, says Paul Krishnamurty. In fact there's much to learn from Augusta winner Charl Schwartzel...
What a fantastic Masters! If ever you wanted to convert the non-golfing public to the sport, Sunday's thrilling finale provided it. The combination of a flawless finish from the winner, emotional breakdown for the most significant loser and the return of Tiger Woods' 'A game' made for compelling viewing. Not to mention all the other late charges and near-misses. Backing the winner was just the icing on the cake.
Now the dust has settled, while the golfing world acknowledges a worthy champion in Charl Schwartzel, the post-mortem into Rory McIlroy's stunning collapse begins. Though concerns about Rory's front-running abilities had yet to be resolved, there were precious few indicators of imminent disaster over the first three days. Even an odds-on sceptic like me was convinced he'd run away with it and the market tended to agree, tightening his price into [1.68] after his opening drive. How wrong we were.
A fair analysis of Rory's round needs to separate the disasters that followed his triple-bogey on the 10th. At that point, his mind was clearly gone so I wouldn't read too much into subsequent disasters on the 12th green and beyond. He is not the first player to lose the plot after such a catastrophe, and he won't be the last. Dustin Johnson at last year's US Open springs to my mind, yet nobody regards that as a permanent badge of failure.
Continued: Golf Betting
What a fantastic Masters! If ever you wanted to convert the non-golfing public to the sport, Sunday's thrilling finale provided it. The combination of a flawless finish from the winner, emotional breakdown for the most significant loser and the return of Tiger Woods' 'A game' made for compelling viewing. Not to mention all the other late charges and near-misses. Backing the winner was just the icing on the cake.
Now the dust has settled, while the golfing world acknowledges a worthy champion in Charl Schwartzel, the post-mortem into Rory McIlroy's stunning collapse begins. Though concerns about Rory's front-running abilities had yet to be resolved, there were precious few indicators of imminent disaster over the first three days. Even an odds-on sceptic like me was convinced he'd run away with it and the market tended to agree, tightening his price into [1.68] after his opening drive. How wrong we were.
A fair analysis of Rory's round needs to separate the disasters that followed his triple-bogey on the 10th. At that point, his mind was clearly gone so I wouldn't read too much into subsequent disasters on the 12th green and beyond. He is not the first player to lose the plot after such a catastrophe, and he won't be the last. Dustin Johnson at last year's US Open springs to my mind, yet nobody regards that as a permanent badge of failure.
Continued: Golf Betting
