McIlroy smashing U.S. Open records in round two

Written by: Tony Korologos | Saturday, June 18th, 2011
Categories: PGA Tour • Pro Golf • Tiger Woods • U.S. OPEN
Tags: Rory McIlroy

Wow what a clinic by 22 year old Rory McIlroy. Did I mention that his swing looks a lot like mine? 🙂

Where does one even start to discuss how amazing and historic Rory’s first two rounds at this year’s U.S. Open at Congressional CC are? He’s smashing records left and right and has damn near lapped the field on the scoreboard.

Records Tied Or Broken

Let’s see what records Rory has tied or broken so far.

First he has become the fastest player to double digits under par in a U.S. Open. That feat happened after 26 holes, shattering the old record by Gil Morgan by 13 holes. Only four other players have ever reached double digits under par in an Open, Tiger Woods (-12), Gil Morgan (-12), Ricky Barnes (-11) and Jim Furyk (-11). Woods reached that point in the final round while the other three in their third rounds. Rory did it in his 2nd round.

Rory had an eight shot lead until he doubled the final hole in round two, his only booboo on the week so far. His six shot lead at the half way point ties Tiger Woods for largest 36 hole lead in a U.S. Open, six.

Finally, McIlroy has set a new 36 hole scoring record with rounds of 65-66. His total of 131 after two days beats the old record set by Ricky Barnes back in 2009 at Beth Page Black. Barnes didn’t win by the way.

The Weekend? Can Rory Hold On This Time?

Seldom do players follow up super low rounds with more super low rounds. Saturday’s cut day I anticipate some movement. I expect McIlroy to still have a lead, but my guess is it will be cut down to about three shots by the end of the day. I’d love to see him extend it even farther though.

Y.E. Yang knows how to overcome six shot leads in majors and he’s six shots behind McIlroy. They’ll be playing together in round three. Good place for Yang to put some pressure on, being in the pairing with Rory.

I imagine that the double bogey on 18 in round two may have done more good than harm. It would possibly serve as a wake up call for Rory, letting him know that one bad swing or two could erase that lead. Sure he should have know that at the Masters this year, but I think that experience will help him overcome the nerves this time around.

After moving day we’ll see if anyone else in the field can make a move and become a factor. Other than Yang who is six shots back, the closest players are at two under par, nine shots back.

U.S. Open round two has begun. Think I know Rory McIlroy’s plan now.

Written by: Tony Korologos | Friday, June 17th, 2011
Categories: European Tour • PGA Tour • Pro Golf • U.S. OPEN
Tags: Phil Mickelson • Rory McIlroy • US OPEN

Thankfully I’m able to tune into DirecTv for the “U.S. Open Mix” where I can select one of several channels to view. I turned off the crappy ESPN feed with the awful Chris Berman announcing and tuned into channel 703 which is the featured group of Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson. If you have DirecTv, tune to channel 701 for the mix.

McIlroy’s Plan?

Rory McIlroy this morning has made birdie on holes #4 and #6. But the big fireworks happened on #8 where he holed out from 113 yards for eagle. Through hole #8 Rory is -4 on the day and -10 for the Open, a SEVEN shot lead.

Apparently Rory’s plan is to run away and hide from the field, sort of like Tiger Woods years back at Pebble. If he builds up a big enough lead, he can insure that a nervous Sunday round won’t hurt him too much I suppose.

Front Nine Done

The featured group is now done with the Friday front nine. Phil Mickelson is playing much better today, shooting -3 on the front. Mcilroy ends up -4 on the front and sits at -10 with the tougher back nine to go.

Note: Rory’s ascension to double digits under par in 26 holes is the fastest in U.S. Open history.

2011 U.S. Open Round One Thoughts

Written by: Tony Korologos | Thursday, June 16th, 2011
Categories: Golf • PGA Tour • Pro Golf • U.S. OPEN
Tags: Phil Mickelson • Rory McIlroy • US OPEN

Round one of the 2011 U.S. Open is completed. Today’s competition had many interesting story lines and I won’t be able to address all of them.

Rory McIlroy

The biggest storyline is obviously Rory McIlroy, my pick to win by the way. I have the tweet to prove it. I watched Rory’s entire round today. His first swing, on hole #10, was pure and the ball flew right over the flag stick on that par-3. Despite watching the struggles of Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, McIlroy dropped a 65. The nearest two competitors are Y.E. Yang and Charl Schwartzel, both with 68’s.

“Everything felt pretty good out there today and hopefully I can just keep it going out there tomorrow.” ~Rory McIlroy on his round today

“If you keep putting yourself there, sooner or later its going to happen for you.” ~Rory McIlroy on finishing off a major championship

I’ve enjoyed watching McIlroy play the last couple of years. Today I was watching his swing closely and at this point I’d have to say that there’s no better swing in the game right now, except for mine of course. I love watching his balance.

Statistically Rory was incredible today. He missed ONE green in a U.S. Open, and that particular one he got up and down for par. No bogeys in an Open.

Phil Mickelson

Phil started out on #10 with Rory as part of the featured group which also included Dustin Johnson. Phil’s tee shot ended up finding the drink short of the par-3, and he would record a double bogey on his first hole. He was spraying his 2-iron all over the course, spending a lot of time at what my buddies and I would call “the salad bar,” the deep stuff. At one point I thought Phil might shoot himself right out of the tournament as he hit a driver out of the rough with a tree in his back swing. Instead, Phil stayed in the pack turning in a round which looked like an 83 but was only a +3 74.

Dustin Johnson

Dustin Johnson found TWO hazards on his 2nd hole, carding a triple bogey just like his 2nd hole last year in the final round at Pebble’s U.S. Open. Aside from that hole, Dustin’s round was solid and he only added one more stroke over par to finish at a +4 75.

Robert Rock Rocks!

Who the heck is Robert Rock? He doesn’t even have a bio photo on his profile page of the PGA Tour’s Major Championship site. This English player had issues with his visa and had been working on getting that taken care of once he’d qualified for the U.S. Open two weeks prior. In order to expedite the process and get all the legal issues taken care of to travel to the USA for the Open, he had to fork out about $16,000. Then he rolls into Newark NJ last night very late, hiring a car to take him to Bethesda, Maryland. The hired car was $1000.

Rock proceeded to play some great golf having never seen Congressional Country Club in person. His fatigued and inexperienced round of -1 70 was very impressive.

My prediction on twitter this morning

I want to call it an international player. Love to see McIlroy. My top USA picks would be Nick Watney or Kuchar.

Other Story Lines

There are so many other story lines, like the condition of the course. David Feherty said in the post round TGC broadcast that the greens were bad. Paraphrasing. Keep in mind that U.S. Open greens are typically dry and hard. Casual fans who only watch majors will be wondering why the course isn’t pretty and perfectly green like Augusta and the Masters.

I’ve got to stop. So much more to talk about, and it is only the first round. Can’t wait to see what unfolds tomorrow.

Shaky start for Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson at U.S. Open

Written by: Tony Korologos | Thursday, June 16th, 2011
Categories: PGA Tour • Pro Golf • U.S. OPEN
Tags: Phil Mickelson • US OPEN

The featured group for today’s first round of the U.S. Open at Congressional is Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy. The group started on the back nine about 20 minutes ago.

Phil Mickelson’s tee shot on the par-3 10th found the water hazard short, and he ended up carding a double bogey. Tough to start a U.S. Open with a double.

Dustin Johnson on the 11th hole (the featured group’s 2nd) found a creek to the right of the long par-4 off the tee. His 3rd shot found the water hazard right of the green. His putt for double slid right and he ends up making a triple.

Rory McIlroy is playing with these two, trying not get that bit of a bad vibe. He’s even par after two holes.

UPDATE

Mickelson made birdie on #12, bringing it back to +1. McIlroy made birdie on #12 to get to -1. Johnson had a birdie chance but make par on #12 to stay at +3.

Time for my 2011 U.S. Open Chris Berman rant

Written by: Tony Korologos | Thursday, June 16th, 2011
Categories: Boneheads • Golf • Golf Media • PGA Tour • Pro Golf • U.S. OPEN
Tags: US OPEN

I thought Chris Berman was funny about 25 years ago. The Berman schtick is really old, and has no place in golf. I was horrified this morning when I tuned into ESPN’s coverage of the 2011 U.S. Open when I heard his voice. I did throw up in my mouth a little bit. Dinner last night tasted much better the first time I swallowed it.

Already today we have some really lame “schtick” quotes and some other statements from Berman which really accentuate his lack of knowledge of the game and its players.

So far we have “How about putting on a par-4 for your second one.” Ryan Palmer putted for his second shot on a short par-4. “Second one” meant second shot.

We also have “Out there in the fields. I think that was a song by The Who.” Actually, the song is Baba O’Riley and the first line of the song is “Out here in the fields.”

Thankfully we probably won’t hear these dumb Chris Berman quotes

Looking at this gig, it isn’t looking too bad. There are a few opportunities for Berman’s horrid schtick which won’t happen because the players or conditions aren’t there.

Fortunately David Duval isn’t in the field this year for Berman to pronounce his last name incorrectly.

I don’t think Roger Maltbe is working this gig. Thankfully we won’t be hearing “Roger Chocolate Maltbe.”

There aren’t any fescues at Congressional, so we aren’t going to hear “he hit a fescue club, not a rescue club.”

No Bob Tway in the field, so no “Bob curds and Tway.”

No “Kenneth Staten Island Ferrie.”

Predictions

We’ll hear too many football and baseball related schtick quotes.

We’ll hear too many “wow” exclamations.

David Toms is in the field so we can be sure to hear a “ground control to David Toms.”

We’ll surely hear some names being mispronounced.

We’ll hear some oddly formed statements describing the game or the leaderboard, like “he’s three underneath par.”

I’m not alone

Apparently I’m not the only one who would rather not hear Chris Berman call golf, let alone a major championship. Here are a few recent tweets I found this morning:

BigDawgSports
Chris Berman please make it stop. Enough of the idiotic nicknames already. You are to play by play what Phyliss Diller is to hot chicks!

Luke Petrosino
He’s ruining the U.S. Open right now.

Robert Conroy
It’s painful listening to Chris Berman call the US Open. #stoptalking

Conor Banyon
Is that Chris Berman talking? ESPN ruins everything. #smh #commentaryfail

Jim Neveau
Memo to @ESPN: having Chris Berman anchor your golf coverage is a surefire way to get me not to watch it.

BK Golf Guide
It’s not that I won’t watch a golf telecast with Chris Berman announcing, it’s that I can’t. Broken too many TVs that way in the past.

Christopher Hrabe
I could really use a lot less Chris Berman on this ESPN US Open broadcast. Like, none at all.

Will Askew
Chris Berman on the US Open?!?!?!?!?! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Whitetail Ridge
Another year with Chris Berman on the US Open telecast. Where is that mute button on the remote? Our pick for the winner…Steve Stricker.

Austin Collins
My god. Chris Berman calling the US Open? It’s hard to relax and enjoy golf with all that heavy breathing going on.

Jordan Ramirez
For the love of God how does Chris Berman still have a job…let alone cover the U.S Open!!!??? #gettingthenooseready

Jon P.
Chris berman covering golf makes my ears bleed.

Joe Leighty
The US Open is a historical treasure that shouldn’t have a pompous self promoting windbag like Chris Berman working the coverage. #usopen

Steve Flynn
Chris Berman as the main anchor for the US Open?? Did ESPN have a meeting and say “Ok..how can we make 5 hours of TV almost unwatchable?”

Jason Kirk
Chris Berman is calling the US Open, so I’m going with the Boston police scanner for audio again.

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