Frenemy handshake
First of all, apologies for the delay in posting yesterday’s results — I had a deadline for an SI story and then hopped on a flight to Palm Beach for the Florida Swing. Woot! More posts are on the way, but gotta hit up the range here at the Honda Classic, my favorite regular full-field tour stop.
Rory McIlroy may have lost in the finals to Hunter Mahan and delayed his ascendancy to No. 1 in the rankings, but he still felt atop of the world after winning his grudge match against Lee Westwood earlier on Sunday. The 22-year-old admitted that the semifinals felt like the finals for him. (No, he wasn’t trying to make excuses and it wasn’t sour grapes.)
“This is no disrespect to the other two guys in the other semifinals, Hunter (Mahan) and Mark (Wilson), but it was like my final in a way,” said McIlroy in his post-loss presser. “I really wanted to (play Lee) — that was the (match) I wanted all week and I got. And that’s what I got myself up for. Maybe mentally and emotionally (the morning match) did take a little bit out of me.
“But it still doesn’t take away from the fact that Hunter played very, very solid golf. And even though I threw a few birdies and an eagle at him in the back nine, he still responded well and held on. I think during the course of the week, he had played the best golf and deserved to win.”
McIlroy went 3-down early to Westwood after losing Nos. 2, 3, and 4, but bounced back to dust his frenemy 3&1.
“I knew I needed my best golf out there this morning to get through,” said the world No. 2 when asked why he was so emotionally vested in the match against Westwood. “Of course, I needed my best golf to win this final this afternoon, but I didn’t really have as much time to think about that. I had a lot of time last night and going to bed to think about that match this morning. And that’s the real reason why I wanted to win so badly was because I had a lot of time to think about it and I had a lot of time to think, well, I need to get through this one to get to the final to have a chance. So it was a big one for me this morning and it was nice to win. But ultimately I needed to win two matches today and I wasn’t able to do that.”
How about he just really wanted to whoop Westwood’s butt because they secretly don’t like each other. Well, I think Westy is just resentful of Rory’s talent and success, and has constantly tried to mess with the young golfer’s head.
Rewind to the Masters after Rory’s heartbreaking collapse on the back nine, Westwood said, “I’ve played with Rory a lot. When he gets under a bit of pressure he does have a pull hook in his bag.”
Then at the U.S. Open when McIlroy had a six-shot lead going into Sunday, Westwood noted that he’s seen those disappear quickly in the past and said, “(Rory’s) had leads before.”
I don’t buy that it’s just “banter” or “British humor.”
This Rory-Lee thing is becoming a great, intriguing rivalry and we need more of them in golf.
“I hope myself and Lee have a lot of battles in the next few years,” said McIlroy. “I think it would be great. I was really looking forward to getting out there and going head‑to‑head because in my mind he is obviously one of the best players in the world. And he has been for the last couple of years. He had that little stretch in the mid‑2000s he wasn’t playing that great. But in 1999, 2000 and 2001, he’s been a great player for a long time.
“Of course, it was nice to beat him, but there’s going to be times where he’s going to beat me and I’m going to beat him.”
Scorecard: Rory 1, Westy 0.
(AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
So if Phil had choked it up at the end of Pebble, but came out and said “well, at least I beat Tiger down”, would that have been fine ? Maybe its just the match play mentality that is still in his head, but not sure if I think Rory’s in the right place to be a dominator.
Can Lee Westwood please just go away? I remember an interview with him some time back where he claimed (and seemed to be proud of the fact) that he had never read a book in his entire life. And have you heard him during interviews? I mean, Dos Equis could make “The Least Interesting Man in the World” ads with Westwood.
I’d much rather see McIlroy develop some rivalries with the younger guys on Tour – DJ, Kaymer, Fowler, Mahan (off to a good start), Woodland, Stanley, Day, Schwartzel, Simpson – than Westwood or other players of the same vintage (Tiger, Phil, Ernie, etc.).
What is amazing is that it is very possible that Rory will be playing on the PGA Tour when Tiger, Phil and Westy are all 60 years old. Its kind of like if Phil had a rivalry with Nick Faldo or even Tom Watson – agree with Mac, he needs to worry about the young guys.
Congrats to Hunter Mahan..the guy who actually won the Tournament. Seriously, Johnny Miller, Nick Faldo and Brandell need to get a room with Rory..
It’s serious Man Crush for Phil and Rory..even when these guys choke tournaments away….no problem it’s just fine.
I’m sure Mark Wilson would have beat Rory too.
Guys, it’s more straightforward. It’s personal. Apart from Westy’s quotes above he has made more serious personal remarks about Rory, including racist remarks (British or Irish). Totally uncalled for and resented greatly by the wee man.
The fact that there’s animosity between Lee and Rory makes for great theatre. That’s what makes sports viewing interesting.
The disciple supplanted the under-achieving elderly, that is like Greek tragedy – the ancient mythology, not the ongoing financial fiasco, mind you.
One could argue that Rory with one major has already had a better career than Westwood. Besides beating up on Euro fields and having a number one ranking, Lee has not been a dominant player. Not saying he hasn’t been good, but he’s more Montgomery than Faldo.
I could care less about the dentaly challenged Euros little cat fight.
Of course after Rory’s victory at Quail, Lee and his caddy hung around to congratulate him. Rory seeing him, exclaimed now that’s how you close out a tournament. The needling hasn’t been all one-sided
BTW Jack and Tom Watson were roughly a decade apart, TW and Rory our 13yrs
Can’t speak to whether he’s ever read a book, but I’ll agree that Westy’s one of the most mildly unlikable personalities on tour. He doesn’t have the antihero cachet of the entertainingly loathable Sabbatini, the entertainingly pitiable JD, or even the good old-fashioned histrionic crybaby known as Sergio. He’s just a mildly irritating twat in precisely the most boring ways. He’s an insecure braggart constantly defending himself in the face of absent charges, taking impersonal things personally, and (politely, mildly) bigging himself up with comments about his talent, his muscles, whatever. True, may be only a third of the twat Poulter is, but he doesn’t have 1/10th of Poulter’s style or killer charm to compensate for it.
I just love how the media (including some of my favorite bloggers) suck up to Rory. I call BS on Rory saying the match against Westy is why he loss to Hunter. Hunter beat him — it is just that simple.
@Breaker
I guess you mean “dentally challenged”
we cannot all have the same amazing teeth as forexample Robert Garrigus
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There’s no doubt Rory did expend a lot of energy into the Westwood match. But full credit to Hunter Mahan who played just superbly all tournament.