YOUNG RORY WAS quite the story all week at the 2011 U.S. Open.
Rory McIlroy’s performance was sublime.
It also came at exactly the right time, both for his career and for the game of golf.
Just last week I lamented the somewhat humdrum PGA Tour season and worried “if there is anyone out there, anyone at all, who can put together the type of moment-defining breakthrough performance needed to make this year’s version memorable?”
It’s fun to be wrong sometimes and I’m just glad I don’t have a gambling habit.
In place of a cliffhanger duel of a finish like Rocco Mediate and Tiger Woods at Torrey Pines in 2008, we were able to marvel at MclRoy’s dominance.
And besides that awful Sunday 80 at Augusta, he’s been dominant in the first two majors this year, leading after seven of eight total rounds.
To be fair, comparing all majors except the Masters is a subjective, not objective exercise but this is sports and what kind of a world would we live in without comparing athletic greatness or failure?
This year, the entire field benefitted from a course that had been softened up by two weeks of hot weather, which basically took the traditional hay-like rough found at U.S. Open out of play.
Drives hit into the primary cut of rough weren’t the trouble they usually are at the open and shots finding the deep stuff didn’t necessitate a layup chip back into the fairway.
The greens, only 21 months old and also beaten down by that nasty East Coast heat and humidity, didn’t meet the U.S. Open’s traditional 14 or 14.5 rating on the Stimpmeter, a device used to measure the speed of greens.
They were receptive to approach shots, chips and sand shots and really didn’t seem as treacherous as some other recent U.S. Open courses like Pinehurst No. 2 in 1998 and 2004, Winged Foot in 2006 and Oakmont in 2007.
But all these circumstances wither in the glare of a 16-under par record-setting steam train of a performance.
Golf needs someone with transcendent talent and Rory has the swing and has been bringing the sizzle.
The comparisons with Jack Nicklaus (18 majors) and Tiger Woods (14) are crazy.
One major win and sluggish television ratings (25 percent drop from last year) — shouldn’t stir these echoes.
The same thoughts were said of Woods when he won the 1997 Masters in a similar dominant fashion.
Those predictions have turned out pretty well so far for Woods.
McIlroy has been bandied about as being the next best thing for the past two to three years.
As a testament to his potential, McIlroy was placed on the cover of Tiger Woods’ video game in 2010, a franchise more than a decade old, before he had even won a PGA Tour event, for goodness sakes.
Since then he’s won at Quail Hollow, shot a 63 (and an 80) at St. Andrew’s in the British Open on his way to a third place finish and was third at the PGA Championship last year.
So, in his final four majors he’s come away with a first, tied for 15th after leading for three rounds at the Masters and has two third-place finishes.
We’ll see what happens next at Royal St. George’s in Sandwich, England.
It’s early days yet, this season, but you have to be encouraged.
Can we agree on that?
Peninsula Golf Club
A Callaway golf representative will conduct a demonstration at Peninsula Golf Club in Port Angeles from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.
Golfers can sign up for a fitting by phoning the Peninsula Golf Shop at 360-457-6501.
Callaway features the 2011 Razr Hawk driver and fairway wood line, Razr X hybrids and irons and the Diablo Edge line of woods and irons.
They also feature the popular Odyssey putter line.
Soroptimist benefit
There’s still time to sign up for the Soroptimist International of Port Angeles Noon Club benefit golf tournament, set for Peninsula Golf Club on Friday.
The tournament is part of Soroptimist’s “Pink Up Port Angeles” efforts to raise funds for Operation Uplift, a local nonprofit support group for cancer survivors.
The scramble tournament will tee off at noon and will be followed by celebratory hors d’oeuvres and an open bar from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Golfers will also receive a light snack on the course.
Green fees and the chance to win long drive and KP prizes are included in the entry fee.
The tournament is $80 for nonmembers and $45 for Peninsula Golf Club members.
The Mac Ruddell Community Foundation is sponsoring a hole-in-one prize for any golfer lucky and skilled enough to knock one in.
Players will also receive a discounted rate for the Pink Up Port Angeles Wrap-Up Dinner at the Port Angeles CrabHouse Restaurant on Saturday night.
Sounds like a good time for a really good cause.
YMCA tourney set
The annual Jefferson County Family YMCA Golf Tournament will be held at Port Townsend Golf Club on Saturday.
The four-person scramble tournament features gross and net divisions, and will tee off with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start.
Fees are $40 for Port Townsend Golf Club members and $50 for nonmembers.
A spaghetti lunch will be provided by Hidden Rock, and there will be tourney prizes for long putt and closest to the pin.
Gary’s Cars and Trucks will sponsor a hole-in-one prize for any lucky player.
For more information, phone the club at 360-385-4547.
PT Junior Golf Camp
Port Townsend Golf Club assistant pro Gabriel Tonan will host junior golf camps next Tuesday through Thursday, July 26-28 and Aug. 23-25.
The camps will run from 9 a.m. to noon each day and include lunch from the course’s Hidden Rock Cafe.
Clinics are $45 and those interested can phone the golf course at 360-385-4547.
Cleveland/Srixon demo
A representative from Cleveland/Srixon Golf will be on hand at Port Townsend Golf Course from 3:45 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, July 12.
On hand will be a Foresight Sports Game Changer II Launcher Monitor to capture and analyze swing speeds and find the proper lie angles and distance gaps that are, like the proverbial snowflake, unique to each golfer.
Attendees will get a free sleeve of golf balls for coming out to the event.
Disco Bay junior golf camp
Discovery Bay Golf Course of Port Townsend will hold a junior golf camp Monday through Wednesday.
Sessions will run from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. each day with lunch included.
Cost is $20 per session.
Head pro Mark Wurtz will be joined as camp instructor by his dad, former Port Ludlow head pro and current Meadowmeer pro Ted Wurtz.
For more information or to reserve a spot, phone the golf shop at 360-385-0704.
SkyRidge tourneys set
SkyRidge Golf Course in Sequim has two tourneys on tap in July, the sixth annual Lavender Festival Golf Tournament on Saturday, July 16 and the Clallam Links British Open on Sunday, July 17.
The Lavender Festival event is a two-person scramble format fundraiser for the Disabled Veterans of Foreign Wars.
A 9 a.m. shotgun start will kick off what will be a good day for a good cause.
Cost is $45 per player with Captain Henry’s gourmet blackened aalmon dinner with all the fixings following play.
Carts are $15 per seat and a $10 honey pot will be available.
Those wearing Lavender Festival buttons will receive $2 off their cart fee.
Clallam Links British Open
The Clallam Links British Open will begin after the final round of The British Open ends in England.
It’s an individual medal play event that will start with lunch at noon and tee times at 1 p.m.
There are three divisions: men with a 0-15 handicap; men with a 16 and over handicap; and a women’s division.
The men will play from SkyRidge’s black tees on the front and green tees on the back.
Women will play from the silver tees on the front and purple on the back.
Players can form their own foursome for play or have the clubhouse do the matching.
There will be a $1,000 payout based on a full field.
Cost for the tourney is $50, with half going for golf and the other going for a honey pot.
To sign up for either event, phone 360-683-3673.
Clallam Amateur set
I missed the boat on last year’s Clallam County Amateur Championship but I’ve been clued in about this year’s event by some knowledgeable folks.
The 54-hole medal play competition on July 8-10 will include three divisions and three courses, Peninsula Golf Club in Port Angeles on Friday, Sequim’s SunLand Golf & Country Club on Saturday and the final round on Sunday at Cedars at Dungeness Golf Course in Sequim.
It’s open to all amateurs living on the North Olympic Peninsula with a valid USGA handicap.
Players will compete for $3,000 in prize money (based on a full field).
Entries are $160 per person and include three meals, a tee prize, range balls and three rounds of golf.
There will also be daily honeypots and KPs to compete for.
Tournament entry forms are available at all three courses.
Entries will be taken until July 4 or when the field is full.
________
Michael Carman is the golf columnist for the Peninsula Daily News. He can be reached at 360-417-3527 or at pdngolf@gmail.com.