Well, in 2010, Phil Mickelson won the award Choke Artist of the Year by a landslide. He had FOURTEEN (14!) opportunities to overtake the #1 ranking. Most of those times he only needed a Top 4 finish to do it. Yet he fails to get it done, shooting 40 on the back nine Sunday when he got the opportunity. This year, 2011, it might be one of the years the Choke Artist of the Year is NOT Mickelson. His win at the Shell Houston Open has shed that label off of him a little. Who is it then? It has to be Rory McIlroy. His Masters choke was a choke for the ages. But besides the Masters, there were still some other chokes that he had, dating back to the 2010 Chevron World Challenge.
I used to be a fan of Rory in early 2010, but then I've quickly disliked him when he fired off a series of brash comments. Including kicking Tiger while he's down, calling the Ryder Cup an unimportant exhibition, and skipping the Players Championship because he hates the course. His continued stream of brash comments in 2011 regarding Tiger and players of the older generation was enough for me to root hard against him every time he plays.
Here is a recap of the McIlroy chokes, from December 2010 to April 2011.
Chevron World Challenge: Woods and McIlroy were paired together in the second round. At the 18th hole, McIlroy was second place, behind Woods and very much in contention to win. But he hit his approach shot into the water and made double bogey. That meant that Rory dropped behind McDowell. And McDowell would be playing with Woods in the third round. Then on the 18th hole of the third round, McIlroy was third place coming into the 18th hole, and still had an outside chance to win with a good final round. However, he made triple bogey on the last hole. He hit his second shot in the bunker, took 2 shots to get out of there, and three putted from 5 feet. That resulted in him being 10 back of the lead with no chance to win. Some even viewed McIlroy's 18th hole blunders as cowardice, as the fact that he screws up on purpose because he was afraid to play with Woods. The winner, of course, is the "good" Irishman, Graeme McDowell, who is so much classier than the other, Rory McIlcry. Side note: A lot of people would say Woods choked, but I hardly thought so. McDowell was playing so well at that time, nobody, including Woods, would have been able to beat her.
Dubai Desert Classic: McIlroy shot 65-68 in the first two rounds and was leading the tournament. Then in the third round, he began the round with THREE STRAIGHT BOGEYS en route to a 75. He was actually still tied for the lead after the 3rd round. Then in the final round, his choke artistry continued. He was only 2 back of the lead after the 13th hole but made three straight bogeys on Holes 14-16 to fall out of contention, shooting a 74.
Accenture Match Play: After winning his first match, Rory had diarrhea of the mouth again, shooting his mouth off and saying that the players of the older generation are not that good anymore. Rory collapsed bigtime in his second match. Ben Crane, who happened to be one of the players of the "older" generation, ousted McIlroy bigtime with a 8 & 7 victory. Karma, baby! That was the moment of the tournament right there. McIlroy talking brashly again and getting beaten again. Priceless!
Honda Classic: Okay, this is not really a choke but I'll post it anyway. All week he didn't come close to being in contention. He finished the week 16 over par, 25 shots back of winner Sabbatini. Side note: Throughout 2010 I thought Rory Sabbatini was the "bad" Rory, and that McIlroy was the "good" Rory. However, this year, upon hearing about Sabbatini's problems off the course, Sabbatini is now the "good" Rory and McIlroy is the obvious "bad" Rory.
WGC-Cadillac Championship: After McIlroy shot 68-69-69 in the first three rounds, he was only 3 back of the lead going into the final round. He didn't get it done again, shooting a 74. In the beginning of that round he was actually 8 shots ahead of Tiger, but at the end of that round and tournament they were tied. Both finished T-10.
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The Masters:
This is the best, most hilarious, and most spectacular choke of them all throughout early 2011. After three rounds of 65-69-70, McIlroy had a commanding 4 shot lead that seemed insurmountable. Then, Rory made Masters history.
He hit a huge, booming drive down right in the middle of the fairway on the first hole. That was the longest drive of the day on the first hole. He only had 121 yards left on this 445 yard par 4. He only needed a SAND WEDGE for his second shot! He flew the shot over the green, but still had a 25 foot birdie putt. He hammered the putt 5 feet past the hole, and then lipped out the par putt to make a hilarious bogey. A perfect start to his day!
Then on the second hole, he drove into the bunker, hit the lip on the second shot and had a LONG approach for his third shot which ended up in another bunker. Hit a decent bunker shot and made the par putt. He was lucky just to save par.
Then on the third hole, Rory hit a beautiful second shot that spun back to 5 feet, but his birdie putt didn't even touch the hole, sliding by for a disappointing par. He made another par on the 4th, two-putting from 25 feet.
And then after another good drive on the fifth hole, he had a short iron left for his second shot. However, the second shot was slightly short; it rolled off the false front and ended up well short of the hole. He chipped to 5 feet, and his par putt lipped out - AGAIN! Another hilarious bogey by McIlroy.
He two-putted from 40 feet on 6 to make a par, and then made his ONLY birdie of the day on the 7th hole, hitting his approach shot to 8 feet and making the putt for a birdie.
He hit a huge drive right down the middle of the fairway on the par 5 8th. He had just 242 yards left for his second shot. However, his second shot caught a bad break from the greenside mounds and ended up off the green to a difficult chipping area. He chipped to 12 feet and missed the birdie putt, settling for a par which could have easily been a birdie.
He hit another huge drive on the 9th hole, the longest of the day on that hole, and only having 110 yards left for his second shot on this 460 yard hole. He hit a so-so wedge shot to 15 feet, and missed yet another birdie attempt, settling for another par, and continuing to fail to gain any momentum. Despite all those misses, he was actually still leading by 1 shot. Until the very next hole, that is.
On the 10th, he hooked his drive so far left that it ended up next to Butler's Cabin and was lucky it wasn't out-of-bounds. He tried to pitch it back onto fairway, but the ball rolled through the fairway and into the rough. He had a long approach shot on the 3rd hole. Trying to attack the back-left pin loaction, he pulled his shot well left of the green, behind a couple of trees. His pitch shot hit a tree and bounced back to him. His next pitch landed on the green, but he missed the 10 foot putt he had. He tapped in for a TRIPLE-BOGEY 7.
He hit a huge booming drive on the 11th hole and had a clear angle to the green on his approach. He hit his second shot to perfection, hitting it to 10 feet for an easy uphill birdie putt. At that time he was still only 2 shots back and still very much in contention. However, he blew his birdie putt 3 feet past the hole, and his short par putt lipped out. But that wasn't the most hilarious moment of the day. The next hole probably is...
He hit his tee shot to 35 feet. He lagged his birdie putt to 2 feet for an easy tap-in par. The only thing is, he DIDN'T MAKE that tap-in putt! He MISSED the 2 foot par putt. It ended up 4 feet past the hole. He missed that putt as well, settling for a scintillating DOUBLE-BOGEY. This was the hole that ensured that he was permanently dropped out of contention.
He then hit his drive on the 13th hole into the tributary of Rae's Creek. So he had to settle for par on one of the most scorable Par 5's on the PGA Tour.
At that point Rory was apparently sucking so badly so the television didn't show much of his play from that point on. So anyway, he made another par on 14. Then on the 15th hole, he missed a 4 foot par putt. Icing on the cake.
Parred the 16th and 17th. And then on the 18th, McIlroy looked for a strong finish after a hilariously disasterous day. He hit another huge drive down the middle of the fairway. He hit a second shot that spun back to 4 feet of the hole, so now he only had a short birdie putt to shoot a 79. However, he got a double dip of icing on the cake for this hole. He MISSED that birdie putt, so he finished the round with an 80. He made Greg Norman look clutch.
What a spectacular choke that is. I ALMOST felt sorry for McIlroy. ALMOST. The key word, ALMOST. That's right, I DIDN'T feel sorry for him. That was one of the greatest Masters in history. Watching McIlroy duff it out while watching all those other players play so well.
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Maybank Malaysian Open: After that scintillating choke at the Masters, McIlroy entered the Malaysian Open looking for some redemption. (Which he DIDN'T get, by the way!) He seemed to be on the path for victory when he shot 69-64 for the first 2 rounds to take the lead. Then at one point in the third round he had a 2-shot lead. But that lead evaporated quickly on the 15th hole when he double-bogeyed after missing a 4 foot bogey putt.
He entered the final round only 1 back of the lead and very muchly in contention. He hit a perfect drive on the Par 5 fifth and had a golden opportunity to make a move with a birdie or even an eagle. However, he dunked his approach shot into the greenside bunker left of the hole. He duffed a bunker shot and it didn't even get on the green. He his his fourth shot to 8 feet but hilariously missed that par putt, making a BOGEY on the EASIEST hole on the course.
After 3 birdies, he was only 1 shot back when he got to the 12th hole. After an errant drive, McIlroy hit his second shot into the greenside bunker. He hit a very poor bunker shot which ended up 25 feet short. He played his par putt aggressively, rolling it 4 foot past the hole. He MISSED the bogey putt. Making a spectacular double-bogey.
After a few more birdies, he entered the 18th hole 1 shot back, needing a birdie to force a playoff with eventual winner Matteo Manassero. After a perfect drive long and straight, he pulled his second shot well left, into the thick rough. He hit his third shot to 30 feet. He than ran his birdie putt 13 feet past the hole and missed the par putt, finishing in grand style with a bogey.
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So, that sums up all the hilarious chokes McIlroy had in 2011. If he keeps up with this pace, he will be a even bigger choke artist than Phil Mickelson. His chokes have really provided great television.
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