After using a four-letter swear word to describe his first round and damning the Aronimink set-up after his second, Rory McIlroy finally found his mojo at the US PGA Championship. Asked for a new adjective to update his fortunes, he settled for “better”, adding: “No profanity today, keep it clean.”
He cleaned up his game too. The six-times major winner was outside the top 100 on Thursday night, but as the beast of Aronimink turned into a fireside tabby cat, he finished three strokes behind the American leader, Alex Smalley — who played the back nine beautifully to sit at six under par — and one behind a cluster comprising England’s Aaron Rai, Jon Rahm, Ludvig Aberg, Matti Schmid and Nick Taylor. After the shakiest start, Smalley, the world No78, belied the fact that he has never won on tour and his underdog’s tale remains a work in progress.
Rahm and Rai were left to rue ugly finishes to their rounds but there are only four shots separating the top 22 and a delicious denouement is looming. Justin Rose, who had needed a chip-in eagle to even make the weekend, is one of those after making the most of the reprieve. Pushing 46, he is still pushing the envelope, and his 65 continues to make observers rethink the golden age of golfers.
Rai was left to rue an ugly finish to his roundCarolyn Kaster/AP
If Rai or Rose can stay the pace they will become the first English winner of the US PGA since Long Jim Barnes in 1919. Rai is a top-50 player with both PGA and DP World Tour wins, but he often flies under the radar. He had six birdies and it would have been even better but for an underhit eagle chance on the 16th and the rough-bunker-frown bogey on the 18th. At the very least, though, this should be his best major yet.
He has ploughed a distinctive furrow to get this chance. In a game where the landscape has been despoiled by money in recent years, he refreshingly does not have an agent. The product of a working-class family from Wolverhampton, he has worn two gloves since endless practising in Winter weather, while the covers for his irons are a tribute to his father buying him Titleist blades as a boy and cleaning them with a pin and baby oil. He has also battled through back and neck injuries this year, so there is much to admire about his attitude.
McIlroy’s rise was ominous for the rest, though, along with the resurgence of Rahm after the brouhaha over paying his DP World Tour fines for LIV Golf appearances and much proxy psychoanalysis of his mood. He said “ask me tomorrow” regarding what a win would do for selling LIV to new investors, and was much more thrilled by the prospect of a victory meaning Spanish players would have won every major. Unlike many, Rahm also refrained from criticising the course set-up. “Credit to the PGA,” he said.
McIlroy’s form is ominous for his rivals Reuters
McIlroy has been less impressed but his recovery was helped by being able to drive a 397-yard green and get an up-and-down birdie from a greenside bunker on another par four. He had predicted that he could make hay with his wedges if the wind settled and so it proved.
On Thursday he had dealt with his round by going to the range for a mammoth session to correct his problems with the driver. This time he said he was going home to watch Batman. “I’ve climbed out of that hole a bit and I’m proud of myself for doing that,” he said after signing for a 66 and finishing at three under par. Not quite a case of zero to superhero, but it has been quite the plot twist.
Only four players have ever won a major after being outside the top 50 after the opening round, most recently Mark O’Meara at the 1998 Open, but this was McIlroy with the pressure and handbrake off. Even Scott O’Neil, the LIV Golf chief executive watching from a hospitality box by the 9th tee, admitted he is “box office”.
A dropped shot on the 17th irritated him, but was nothing compared with the mood of a misfiring Scottie Scheffler who was seven clear of McIlroy on Thursday night and is now two behind after an awful day with his putter.
With the wind picking up in the afternoon, McIlroy timed his run well. There were low scores everywhere in the morning wave and Rose set the tone. That old wag Lee Trevino has a line for every theme, so when it came to veteran status, he quipped: “The older I get, the better I used to be.” Rose is debunking that particular gag, still capable of being a man of the moment.
Rahm finished with a bogey to sit at four under parCarl Recine
For most of the first two days, he was battling the course, pin positions, wind and, according to some premature assessments, his new McLaren irons. Four consecutive birdies, the first time anyone had done that in the field this week, came from deft approaches and showed the rest what was possible. He was out in 30 shots, only the second man aged 45 or more to do that at a major. When he then worked some magic from a bunker and found a sixth birdie at the 13th, he was one away and he finished the day on two under.
That he is still so competitive at this level is testament to his skill, fitness and desire. We know about his RV recovery lab, with its infrared sauna and red-light therapy bed, but while wellness on wheels has helped, the way he talks of pursuing “the one per cents” to get better is more telling.
Rose is enjoying his new McLaren ironsFrank Franklin II
His coach Mark Blackburn revealed that he had to convince Rose that he could still do this when they teamed up in late 2022. “When I started with Rosie everyone said he was done,” he told The Times. “Covid was hard for him because he was on his own in the Bahamas but he’s in great shape and is a workaholic. The difficult part with him is he’s got a lot of vitality, but you are trying to protect him. He’s 45 and doesn’t have to over-train. Good golf is so neurologically taxing that you need to have energy on the back nine on Sunday, and if you haven’t prepped well enough — fuelling, recovery, nutrition — then all of a sudden you’re running on fumes. When you’re in your mid-20s it’s not the same and you’ve got endless energy, but the most challenging thing with Rosie is pulling the reins on him and saying, ‘Dude, that’s enough.’ ”
Padraig Harrington, 54, was also enjoying his Saturday and added a 67 to Friday’s 69, finishing in the mix at level par. The old and the new, and the unheralded and the multiple champions are all dreaming big ahead of a potential Sunday classic.