MEDINAH, Ill. — Credit the Illinois State Police for winning the Ryder Cup for Europe on Sunday.
Rory McIlroy got his time zones mixed up and got to Medinah Country Club just 11 minutes before his tee time against Keegan Bradley.
A player has five minutes and one second after the scheduled time to hit off the tee — Bradley would have teed off on his own — before forfeiting the match. The two-point flip would have given the U.S. the win.
“I was just casually walking out of my hotel room and got a phone call saying you’ve got 25 minutes until you tee off. I’ve never been so worried driving to the golf course before,” said the Irishman, who went on to beat Bradley, 2-and-1. “Luckily there was a state trooper outside who kind of gave me the escort to here, and if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have got here in time.
“I was like, ‘Just get me there, get me there,’” McIlroy said. “He was like, ‘Do you have motion sickness?’ I’m like, ‘No, I don’t care, just get me to that first tee.”
Razzed by the crowds on most holes, McIlroy, who read the tee times on his phone in Eastern time, hardly missed a beat. He said he “calmed down” as soon as he arrived and didn’t need any warmup, taking a few strokes on the putting green after scarfing down an energy bar and hustling to the tee. In fact, he also overslept on Sunday morning before winning the PGA Championship.
“It was probably a really good thing I didn’t have to think about it too much,” he said.
ROSE BLOOMS
Justin Rose could not have been more clutch to win the last two holes to edge Phil Mickelson, 1-up, in an epic match.
Rose topped Mickelson's 12-foot par putt on 16 with a 10-footer of his own. Mickelson thought he had chipped in for a birdie on 17 but he could only stand and applaud when Rose drained a 35-footer to steal the hole. Finally, Mickelson missed the green long on 18 and Rose poured a 12-foot putt into the middle of the hole to win the match.
“One of the wise old vice captains that we have on our team said this situation can prepare you to win majors,” Rose said. “The Ryder Cup is as big as it gets, and to play Phil, I mean, he’s a gentleman first and foremost, but he always seems to bring out the best in me. I wouldn’t say I’ve made three bigger putts back to back in my career ever.”
THOUGHTS OF BERNHARD
Martin Kaymer’s Cup-winning putt had a lot of Europeans thinking about Kaymer’s countryman Bernhard Langer’s miss at the 1991 War at the Shore at Kiawah Island.
“I did,” admitted Sergio Garcia.
