Tthe moral high ground probably does not come for a competitive low score. If Rory McIlroy’s bid for a third US PGA Championship falls by one – and for the most part at least, that remains a big one – then his reflections on an enormous moment of sportsmanship would be valid.
He acted against his own hopes of glory at Harding Park in the second round of Friday by giving him a clear conscience. His nod to the principles of the game was timely.
Bryson DeChambeau’s powerful talks with law enforcement officials have overshadowed all that is well known about the California post-lockdown PGA Tour run. If there is an envelope, DeChambeau will print it. Players working within the spirit of the rules should always be more worthy of praise than those they see as a way to gain marginal advantage.
The lack of spectators on the first major of 2020 has about side effects, even for someone as prominent as McIlroy. Finding attacking balls is more difficult without several thousand spotters. That proved it on the short 3rd when McIlroy demanded a search party to find a loose tee shot. The ball landed just after a member of the media stepped on it.
McIlroy was able to allow a drip, creating the original layer as before a large 10-shoe was planted on his ball. When McIlroy took the relief, the position was favorable. Uncomfortable with this, the recently released world no. 1 the ball further down in the grass. That an expensive bogey emerged did not change McIlroy’s belief that he had done the right thing.
“I just would not feel comfortable,” McIlroy said of his original drop. ‘I posted it, and the rule is try to replicate the lies. No one really knew what the lie was, but if anyone was looking there, it was apparently not too good. That I posted it, I was like, ‘That just doesn’t look right to me.’ So I just posted it a bit.
“Golf is a game of integrity and I never try to get away with anything. I’d rather be on the wrong end of the rules than on the right side, because as golfers, that’s exactly what we believe. ‘
Colin Montgomerie never fully survived a controversial drip at the 2005 Indonesian Open. Instead, McIlroy’s movement admired memories of his compatriot and childhood influence, Darren Clarke, at the Irish Open in 2006. Playing at Carton House was lost due to bad weather, with Clarke two shooters ahead. He came back for a delayed finish on Monday to discover his ball, originally in thick rough, was adjusted to be in a position that allowed the green to be hit in two.
“It was much better than when I left it,” Clarke said later. He shot to the side, the only shot he could have hit in the first place, and was widely praised. “Honesty is part of the game and I could not have acted any other way,” he said. Thomas Bjørn picked Clarke to win the tournament.
Galleries used to be so fundamental. Paul Casey became the last player to admit that he has struggled with the lack of fans. “I really missed it, simple and easy,” said the Englishman, who has played himself in the prominence of the US PGA Tour.
‘I feel like I’m not able to get through the excitement without having the energy and everything that goes into having fans at a sporting event. I just really miss it. ‘
While this has also been McIlroy’s standard position, he has been able to testify to the side benefits of spending days one and two with Tiger Woods. The marquee grouping of the event, which would normally be overcome by crowds, played in relative calm. “It’s so much easier,” said McIlroy of accompanying Woods.
“I’m glad I’ll be drawn to him every week until fans come back. At the 12th hole, the tea box there along the way, Tiger gets on the tea and everyone [looking through the fence] goes crazy and you have to wait for them to fix them.
“That we do not have to deal with it and that he does not have to deal with it every week is nice. I still want that crowd to come back. It’s much better to play for them. But it makes it easier [with Woods]. ”
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