Will McIlroy hold on to win the U.S. Open Sunday?

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

I’m just powering up my DVR of today’s U.S. Open broadcast. I didn’t get to watch any of it today unfortunately and fortunately. I was playing in a tournament with my pops at his club, the annual father/son. Last year we won the father/son, but this year we didn’t bring our best games to the course and ended up in 3rd. We were two shots out of 1st, with many shots left on the course.

Following the tourney I had to work on some music with my musician pals, for an upcoming show we are playing a week from today at the Utah Arts Festival. That group is called Zentherstick, and features some wild instruments.

So after rolling home from all of that fun stuff, I’d missed the entire broadcast. But I had the U.S. Open iPhone application running all day and followed the rounds of all the players, especially Rory McIlroy. I know that McIlroy finished at -14, which is now a new record for the most under par at a U.S. Open at any point. The old record was from yesterday when Rory reached -13.

How did Rory get to -14 and his eight shot lead over Y.E. Yang? I have no idea. Watching DVR now.

Will Rory hold on to win the U.S. Open tomorrow?

So the question obviously is whether Rory McIlroy will hold on and win his first major? Or will he have a Sunday meltdown like at Augusta a couple of months ago? Eight shots is a huge lead, but that could be four bad swings which equal doubles. I’m voting for yes, Rory will pull it off. I’m a Rory fan for sure, especially since his swing looks a lot like mine. 🙂

2011 U.S. Open – Who made it and who missed the cut

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

Below is the U.S. Open leaderboard table following round two.

POS		PLAYER NAME: FIRST \| LAST	TOTAL	THRU	TODAY	1	2	3	4	TOTAL
POS		PLAYER NAME: FIRST \| LAST	SCORING TO PAR			ROUNDS				TOTAL
1	–	Rory McIlroy	-11	F	-5	65	66	–	–	131
2	–	Y.E. Yang	-5	F	-2	68	69	–	–	137
T3	7	Robert Garrigus	-2	F	-1	70	70	–	–	140
T3	1	Sergio Garcia	-2	F	E	69	71	–	–	140
T3	19	Zach Johnson	-2	F	-2	71	69	–	–	140
T3	7	Brandt Snedeker	-2	F	-1	70	70	–	–	140
T3	31	Matt Kuchar	-2	F	-3	72	68	–	–	140
T8	4	Kyung-tae Kim	-1	F	+1	69	72	–	–	141
T8	2	Alvaro Quiros	-1	F	E	70	71	–	–	141
T8	2	Robert Rock	-1	F	E	70	71	–	–	141
T8	14	Heath Slocum	-1	F	-1	71	70	–	–	141
T8	2	Davis Love III	-1	F	E	70	71	–	–	141
T8	4	Ryan Palmer	-1	F	+1	69	72	–	–	141
T8	14	Brandt Jobe	-1	F	-1	71	70	–	–	141
T15	69	Patrick Cantlay (a)	E	F	-4	75	67	–	–	142
T15	5	John Senden	E	F	+1	70	72	–	–	142
T15	19	Seung-yul Noh	E	F	-1	72	70	–	–	142
T15	13	Charl Schwartzel	E	F	+3	68	74	–	–	142
T15	69	Alexander Noren	E	F	-4	75	67	–	–	142
T15	30	Marc Leishman	E	F	-2	73	69	–	–	142
T15	30	Russell Henley (a)	E	F	-2	73	69	–	–	142
T15	11	Louis Oosthuizen	E	F	+2	69	73	–	–	142
T15	5	Johan Edfors	E	F	+1	70	72	–	–	142
T15	5	Henrik Stenson	E	F	+1	70	72	–	–	142
T25	86	Bo Van Pelt	+1	F	-4	76	67	–	–	143
T25	9	Peter Hanson	+1	F	E	72	71	–	–	143
T25	37	Phil Mickelson	+1	F	-2	74	69	–	–	143
T25	86	Kevin Chappell	+1	F	-4	76	67	–	–	143
T25	37	Fredrik Jacobson	+1	F	-2	74	69	–	–	143
T25	59	Lee Westwood	+1	F	-3	75	68	–	–	143
T25	3	Jason Day	+1	F	+1	71	72	–	–	143
T25	3	William Cauley	+1	F	+1	71	72	–	–	143
T33	51	Steve Stricker	+2	F	-2	75	69	–	–	144
T33	29	Edoardo Molinari	+2	F	-1	74	70	–	–	144
T33	12	Do-Hoon Kim	+2	F	E	73	71	–	–	144
T33	12	Brian Gay	+2	F	E	73	71	–	–	144
T33	11	Padraig Harrington	+2	F	+2	71	73	–	–	144
T33	29	Ryo Ishikawa	+2	F	-1	74	70	–	–	144
T33	23	Graeme McDowell	+2	F	+3	70	74	–	–	144
T33	29	Martin Kaymer	+2	F	-1	74	70	–	–	144
T33	1	Jeff Overton	+2	F	+1	72	72	–	–	144
T33	12	Scott Piercy	+2	F	E	73	71	–	–	144
T33	12	Gary Woodland	+2	F	E	73	71	–	–	144
T44	40	Alexandre Rocha	+3	F	+5	69	76	–	–	145
T44	18	Michael Putnam	+3	F	E	74	71	–	–	145
T44	1	Todd Hamilton	+3	F	+1	73	72	–	–	145
T44	67	Lucas Glover	+3	F	-2	76	69	–	–	145
T44	10	Rory Sabbatini	+3	F	+2	72	73	–	–	145
T44	22	Charley Hoffman	+3	F	+3	71	74	–	–	145
T44	10	Harrison Frazar	+3	F	+2	72	73	–	–	145
T44	34	Chez Reavie	+3	F	+4	70	75	–	–	145
T44	18	Justin Hicks	+3	F	E	74	71	–	–	145
T44	101	Marcel Siem	+3	F	-5	79	66	–	–	145
T44	10	J.J. Henry	+3	F	+2	72	73	–	–	145
T44	10	Brad Benjamin (a)	+3	F	+2	72	73	–	–	145
T56	11	Retief Goosen	+4	F	+2	73	73	–	–	146
T56	28	Dustin Johnson	+4	F	E	75	71	–	–	146
T56	6	Matteo Manassero	+4	F	+1	74	72	–	–	146
T56	11	Kenichi Kuboya	+4	F	+2	73	73	–	–	146
T56	28	Sang-Moon Bae	+4	F	E	75	71	–	–	146
T56	28	Wes Heffernan	+4	F	E	75	71	–	–	146
T56	6	Sunghoon Kang	+4	F	+1	74	72	–	–	146
T56	71	Gregory Havret	+4	F	-2	77	69	–	–	146
T56	11	Kevin Streelman	+4	F	+2	73	73	–	–	146
T56	6	Anthony Kim	+4	F	+1	74	72	–	–	146
T56	6	Luke Donald	+4	F	+1	74	72	–	–	146
T56	11	Bill Haas	+4	F	+2	73	73	–	–	146
T56	28	Webb Simpson	+4	F	E	75	71	–	–	146
T56	89	Robert Karlsson	+4	F	-4	79	67	–	–	146
T56	34	Bubba Watson	+4	F	+4	71	75	–	–	146
T56	22	Christo Greyling	+4	F	+3	72	74	–	–	146
T56	28	Adam Hadwin	+4	F	E	75	71	–	–	146
T56	6	John Ellis	+4	17	+1	74	–	–	–	74
T56	55	Jesse Hutchins	+4	17*	-1	76	–	–	–	76
Cut – lowest 60 scores and ties, plus those within 10 strokes of leader
T75	71	Scott Hend	+5	F	+7	69	78	–	–	147
T75	30	Stephen Gallacher	+5	F	+3	73	74	–	–	147
T75	30	Martin Laird	+5	F	+3	73	74	–	–	147
T75	13	Rickie Fowler	+5	F	+2	74	73	–	–	147
T75	13	Hunter Mahan	+5	F	+2	74	73	–	–	147
T75	53	Christopher DeForest	+5	F	+5	71	76	–	–	147
T75	53	David May	+5	F	+5	71	76	–	–	147
T75	36	Chad Campbell	+5	F	E	76	71	–	–	147
T75	30	Paul Casey	+5	F	+3	73	74	–	–	147
T75	65	Stewart Cink	+5	F	+6	70	77	–	–	147
T75	13	Justin Rose	+5	F	+2	74	73	–	–	147
T75	13	Adam Scott	+5	F	+2	74	73	–	–	147
T75	52	Nick O’Hern	+5	F	-1	77	70	–	–	147
T88	39	Ben Crane	+6	F	E	77	71	–	–	148
T88	52	Mark Wilson	+6	F	-1	78	70	–	–	148
T88	4	Ian Poulter	+6	F	+2	75	73	–	–	148
T88	4	Nick Watney	+6	F	+2	75	73	–	–	148
T88	66	Aaron Baddeley	+6	F	+6	71	77	–	–	148
T88	39	Elliot Gealy	+6	F	E	77	71	–	–	148
T88	54	Shane Lowry	+6	F	+5	72	76	–	–	148
T88	43	Ernie Els	+6	F	+4	73	75	–	–	148
T96	49	Andres Gonzales	+7	F	-1	79	70	–	–	149
T96	12	Jason Dufner	+7	F	+3	75	74	–	–	149
T96	34	David Toms	+7	F	+4	74	75	–	–	149
T96	12	Francesco Molinari	+7	F	+3	75	74	–	–	149
T96	12	Trevor Immelman	+7	F	+3	75	74	–	–	149
T96	31	Camilo Villegas	+7	F	+1	77	72	–	–	149
T96	12	Briny Baird	+7	F	+3	75	74	–	–	149
T96	15	Jon Mills	+7	F	+2	76	73	–	–	149
T96	15	Bennett Blakeman (a)	+7	F	+2	76	73	–	–	149
T96	15	Chris Williams (a)	+7	F	+2	76	73	–	–	149
T96	15	Marc Turnesa	+7	F	+2	76	73	–	–	149
T96	15	Greg Chalmers	+7	F	+2	76	73	–	–	149
T96	12	Alex Cejka	+7	F	+3	75	74	–	–	149
T96	34	Jim Furyk	+7	F	+4	74	75	–	–	149
T96	34	Sam Saunders	+7	F	+4	74	75	–	–	149
T96	34	D.A. Points	+7	F	+4	74	75	–	–	149
T96	12	Michael Tobiason Jr.	+7	17*	+3	75	–	–	–	75
T113	29	Scott Barr	+8	F	+4	75	75	–	–	150
T113	14	Miguel A. Jimenez	+8	F	+2	77	73	–	–	150
T113	68	Ryan Moore	+8	F	+6	73	77	–	–	150
T113	2	Nicholas Colsaerts	+8	F	+3	76	74	–	–	150
T113	29	Fred Funk	+8	F	+4	75	75	–	–	150
T113	91	Angel Cabrera	+8	F	+8	71	79	–	–	150
T113	14	K.J. Choi	+8	F	+2	77	73	–	–	150
T113	79	Peter Uihlein (a)	+8	F	+7	72	78	–	–	150
T113	29	Matthew Edwards	+8	F	+4	75	75	–	–	150
T122	112	Bubba Dickerson	+9	F	+10	70	81	–	–	151
T122	38	Geoff Ogilvy	+9	F	+5	75	76	–	–	151
T122	77	Robert Allenby	+9	F	+7	73	78	–	–	151
T122	11	Kirk Triplett	+9	F	+4	76	75	–	–	151
T122	38	Thomas Levet	+9	F	+5	75	76	–	–	151
T122	11	Joey Lamielle	+9	F	+4	76	75	–	–	151
T128	12	Robert Dinwiddie	+10	F	+3	78	74	–	–	152
T128	66	Cheng-Tsung Pan (a)	+10	F	+7	74	78	–	–	152
T128	17	Hiroyuki Fujita	+10	F	+2	79	73	–	–	152
T128	12	David Howell	+10	F	+3	78	74	–	–	152
T128	66	Chris Wilson	+10	F	+7	74	78	–	–	152
T128	44	Michael Campbell	+10	F	+6	75	77	–	–	152
T128	44	Jonathan Byrd	+10	F	+6	75	77	–	–	152
T128	1	Zach Byrd	+10	F	+4	77	75	–	–	152
T128	17	Michael Smith	+10	F	+5	76	76	–	–	152
T128	1	Michael Whitehead	+10	17	+4	77	–	–	–	77
T138	7	Maarten Lafeber	+11	F	+3	79	74	–	–	153
T138	54	Brian Locke	+11	F	+7	75	78	–	–	153
T138	54	Ryan Nelson	+11	F	+7	75	78	–	–	153
T138	27	Beau Hossler (a)	+11	F	+6	76	77	–	–	153
T138	7	Dae-Hyun Kim	+11	F	+3	79	74	–	–	153
T138	11	Brad Adamonis	+11	F	+5	77	76	–	–	153
T138	27	Adam Long	+11	F	+6	76	77	–	–	153
T145	5	Andreas Harto	+12	F	+5	78	76	–	–	154
T145	–	Scott Pinckney (a)	+12	F	+4	79	75	–	–	154
T145	–	Will Wilcox	+12	17	+4	79	–	–	–	79
T148	21	Geoffery Sisk	+13	F	+7	77	78	–	–	155
T148	5	Kevin Na	+13	F	+4	80	75	–	–	155
T148	8	Steve Irwin (a)	+13	F	+6	78	77	–	–	155
T148	21	Brett Patterson (a)	+13	F	+7	77	78	–	–	155
T152	4	Ty Tryon	+15	F	+2	84	73	–	–	157
T152	2	David Chung (a)	+15	F	+4	82	75	–	–	157
154	27	Matthew Richardson	+16	F	+10	77	81	–	–	158
155	–	Michael Barbosa (a)	+24	F	+12	83	83	–	–	166
WD	–	Tim Petrovic	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–

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.

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