McIlroy out to banish demons and halt stars and stripes clean sweep

Everything in golf is big these days. The hitting, the holes, the muscles and the money. It is, then, a relief that some things stay rooted in tradition, and the Postage Stamp at Royal Troon is a little totem for this, a mere 123 yards of enduring mischief. In sepia days Gene Sarazen suggested liberal use of hair tonic here because this tiny package made the follicles “stand on end” and, after what an ungenerous magazine dubbed a “dud” of an Open at Hoylake in 2023, major fashion demands more hair-raising drama this time.
From Scottie Scheffler being handcuffed and then cleared of assault and trouser-ripping at the US PGA Championship to Rory McIlroy’s exhilarating angst at the US Open, the major season has ended up as a letter from America. We are on the cusp of the first stars-and-stripes sweep since Tom Watson triumphed here in 1982 and Americans have now won six majors in a row, as well as six of the past seven staged at Troon.
Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau have taken the spoils in 2024, but the talent pool goes far deeper and includes the in-form Collin Morikawa, younger than Scheffler and another two-times major champion, and Brian Harman, whose processional triumph at Hoylake drew home-town heckles.
About 250,000 fans will descend on this strip by the Firth of Clyde and McIlroy’s attempt to bounce back from blowing the US Open last month will be one of the primary fascinations.
For all his claims that he got over it quickly, we will not know for sure until he gets into contention on a Sunday again. His game is certainly sparking well enough for that to happen and he has become a regular contender on the biggest stages in the past two years. The only comparison we have from his past is the way he recovered from his implosion at the Masters in 2011 to win the US Open two months later. “This kid’s going to have a great career,” Jack Nicklaus said at the time. Some will argue it could or should have been even better, given his talent, but it will be gripping if he can hang around to taunt the ghosts on Sunday.
If the 35-year-old finishes ahead of Scheffler, he should be in the mix for a fifth major triumph and first in a decade, notwithstanding the American’s modest Open record. The man with the fanciest footwork in golf has already won six tournaments this year to revive memories of Arnold Palmer’s dominance in 1962,when he gained a seventh triumph at Troon.
This week, Scheffler explained his home-spun methodology. “When I was a kid I used to play in the house with a ping-pong ball,” the 28-year-old world No 1 said. “It’s super spinny and I would learn to curve it from room to room. I didn’t want to turn into a robot. I wanted to do what I thought was fun and that was seeing and creating and trying to hit shots.”
McIlroy would delight in debunking the criticism and Jon Rahm is bristling with intent after missing the US Open with a foot infection, but Scheffler is fashioning a level of dominance not seen since Tiger Woods’s pomp. Woods’s presence is more uncertain but we should relish his attempts to defeat physical limitations while we can.
The most popular man to turn back the American wave would be Bob MacIntyre. He would also be welcomed by those tired with identikit golfers with their gated-community grasp on reality. MacIntyre drew criticism when he skipped preparations for the US Open to fly home and celebrate his Canadian Open success, but the home favourite won the Scottish Open on Sunday and made sure he savoured another moment.
“I’m not a big drinker, but when you get moments like that, a childhood dream and a lifetime goal, and you’ve got family and friends there who’ve backed you since you were a young kid, I think it was quite right to go absolutely wild,” the 27-year-old said. “We did a good job of that.”
MacIntyre is the antithesis of the frat-pack golfer. From a working-class Oban background, his parents fostered boys and his sisters gave up their horse riding to pay for his golf. He said that as a West Coast boy his face didn’t fit and his experiment of living in the United States has already led him home.
He will still play on the PGA Tour, but he will not keep a pad in Florida. “Nothing’s changing other than I’m not paying a whole lot of rent on a house where I’ve spent four or five weeks since January,” he said last Wednesday. “To me that’s absolute madness.” Nor will he be splashing his new-found cash. “I’m not going to do anything daft or buy anything flash because if you do that someone will drag you down,” he added.
Martin Slumbers, the departing R&A chief executive, has made it clear he thinks the inflated prize pots in golf are becoming unsustainable. The Open could never be mistaken for a meat raffle with its $17million (£13million) prize fund, but that makes it only the 28th richest tournament in golf. Saudi Arabian money, a $1.5billion investment in the PGA Tour and the enduring image of Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth betting $1,000 on a turn of card on a private jet for Netflix have created the impression of a sport with severed roots.
So thank the gods, golfing or otherwise, for the Open. The stories it produces will increase players’ market value but remain priceless. At one end you have someone like Joe Dean, the world No 254. At the start of the year he was working as a part-time supermarket delivery driver for Morrisons. He points out that second jobs are not unusual for non-star players, but gaining his DP World Tour card threw up more problems as he had a flying phobia. This was related to the death of a pet and he says he would have “mental breakdowns” whenever a flight was mentioned. A prize from his golf was 12 sessions with a hypnotherapist. That helped but he still made a five-hour drive from Yorkshire to get to Troon.
It is hard not to root for players who have had to fight to survive. Also playing this week is Todd Hamilton. The American, now 58, won the Open at Troon 20 years ago. He had previously done nothing on the major stage and missed the cut in 11 of his 14 subsequent Opens, but his brief flash of fame led to him appearing on Letterman and he became as celebrated in his home town of Oquawka, Illinois, as the circus elephant buried in the town square after being killed by lightning. Hamilton is back for the first time since 2018 with his son on his bag.
New trauma will take its toll on a course that is 195 yards longer than 2016 and now features the longest hole in Open history with the 623-yard 6th. It is a tale of two nines, in McIlroy’s words: “You feel you have to make your score on the way out and then hang on a bit.” The Postage Stamp, the 8th hole, often signals a change in fortune as well as wind.
“Diabolical,” was DeChambeau’s take, but Scheffler is a fan. “I get frustrated sometimes when the solution to distance is just making holes further and further, and then it only just encourages guys to not worry about controlling your ball. No 8 is a good little way to almost step back in time,” he said.
That is no bad thing and any wannabe winner will heed the tale of Hermann Tissies, a German amateur who took 15 on the Postage Stamp in 1950. Henrik Stenson, the last champion at Troon, says it remains a good place to sit if you like to see carnage. Sometimes, even in golf, it’s the little things that count.
The favourites, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, offer little value, so Collin Morikawa is worth looking at as the 2021 winner and a regular contender at the majors this year. Ludvig Aberg is a major winner-in-waiting and can take encouragement from Morikawa debunking the idea you don’t win on your Open debut.
British fans have cause to back links men Tyrrell Hatton and Tommy Fleetwood, while Bob MacIntyre is fresh from winning the Scottish Open even if he may not be fresh after the celebrations. Few are speaking about Jon Rahm, who was the runner-up last year and available at a generous price, while Tony Finau arrives in top form and showed he can cope with torrid conditions when finishing third at Portrush in 2019. A long shot? Aaron Rai.
TV details From 6.30am on Thursday on Sky Sports Main Event and Golf channels, continuing throughout the day. Highlights: BBC Two from 8pm on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday and from 9pm on Friday.
Round one(a) denotes amateur06:35 Todd Hamilton (US), Justin Leonard (US), Jack McDonald (Sco)06:46 Tom McKibbin (NI), (a) Calum Scott (Sco), Alexander Noren (Swe)06:57 Michael Hendry (NZ), Vincent Norrman (Swe), Jesper Svensson (Swe)07:08 Daniel Hillier (NZ), Ryosuke Kinoshita (Jpn), Young-Han Song (Kor)07:19 Abraham Ancer (Mex), Ryo Hisatsune (Jpn), Min-Woo Lee (Aus)07:30 Nicolai Hoejgaard (Den), Keita Nakajima (Jpn), Adam Scott (Aus)07:41 Francesco Molinari (Ita), Justin Rose (Eng), (a) Jasper Stubbs (Aus)07:52 Sung-Jae Im (Kor), Matthew Southgate (Eng), Justin Thomas (US)08:03 Laurie Canter (Eng), Nick Taylor (Can), Matt Wallace (Eng)08:14 Matteo Manassero (Ita), Shubhankar Sharma (Ind), Sebastian Soderberg (Swe)08:25 Austin Eckroat (US), Zach Johnson (US), Thorbjoern Olesen (Den)08:36 John Daly (US), (a) Santiago de la Fuente (Mex), Aaron Rai (Eng)08:47 Stewart Cink (US), (a) Dominic Clemons (Eng), Chris Kirk (US)09:03 Stephan Jaeger (Ger), Joaquin Niemann (Chi), Adam Schenk (US)09:14 Christiaan Bezuidenhout (SA), Lucas Glover (US), Adam Hadwin (Can)09:25 Tony Finau (US), Russell Henley (US), Matthieu Pavon (Fra)09:36 Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Robert MacIntyre (Sco), Jon Rahm (Spa)09:47 Ludvig Aaberg (Swe), Bryson DeChambeau (US), Joo-Hyung Kim (Kor)09:58 Brian Harman (US), Viktor Hovland (Nor), Sahith Theegala (US)10:09 Tyrrell Hatton (Eng), Max Homa (US), Rory McIlroy (NI)10:20 Keegan Bradley (US), (a) Gordon Sargent (US), Will Zalatoris (US)10:31 Alexander Bjoerk (Swe), Harris English (US), Maverick McNealy (US)10:42 Sean Crocker (US), Guido Migliozzi (Ita), (a) Tommy Morrison (US)10:53 John Catlin (US), Gun-Taek Koh (Kor), David Puig (Spa)11:04 Daniel Bradbury (Eng), Thriston Lawrence (SA), Elvis Smylie (Aus)11:15 Ignacio Elvira (Spa), Darren Fichardt (SA), Min-Kyu Kim (Kor)11:26 Mason Andersen (US), Sam Hutsby (Eng), Masahiro Kawamura (Jpn)11:47 Ewen Ferguson (Sco), Marcel Siem (Ger)11:58 Yuto Katsuragawa (Jpn), Romain Langasque (Fra), Chengtsung Pan (Tai)12:09 Angel Hidalgo (Spa), Rikuya Hoshino (Jpn), Richard Mansell (Eng)12:20 Jorge Campillo (Spa), Corey Conners (Can), Ryan Fox (NZ)12:31 Ernie Els (SA), (a) Altin van der Merwe (SA), Gary Woodland (US)12:42 Rasmus Hoejgaard (Den), (a) Jacob Olesen (Den), Henrik Stenson (Swe)12:53 Billy Horschel (US), Louis Oosthuizen (SA), Victor Perez (Fra)13:04 Jordan Smith (Eng), Sepp Straka (Aut), Brendon Todd (US)13:15 Denny McCarthy (US), Adrian Meronk (Pol), Taylor Moore (US)13:26 Byeong-Hun An (Kor), Jason Day (Aus), Rickie Fowler (US)13:37 Alex Cejka (Ger), Eric Cole (US), Kurt Kitayama (US)13:48 Dean Burmester (SA), Darren Clarke (NI), JT Poston (US)14:04 Dustin Johnson (US), Joost Luiten (Ned), Phil Mickelson (US)14:15 Padraig Harrington (Ire), Matthew Jordan (Eng), Davis Thompson (US)14:26 Wyndham Clark (US), Brooks Koepka (US), Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn)14:37 Patrick Cantlay (US), Xander Schauffele (US), Tiger Woods (US)14:48 Sam Burns (US), Si-Woo Kim (Kor), Collin Morikawa (US)14:59 Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng), Shane Lowry (Ire), Cameron Smith (Aus)15:10 Scottie Scheffler (US), Jordan Spieth (US), Cameron Young (US)15:21 Akshay Bhatia (US), Tom Hoge (US), Sami Valimaki (Fin)15:32 Ben Griffin (US), Emiliano Grillo (Arg), Mackenzie Hughes (Can)15:43 Joseph Dean (Eng), Andy Ogletree (US), Yannik Paul (Ger)15:54 Charlie Lindh (Swe), (a) Luis Masaveu (Spa), Ryan van Velzen (SA)16:05 Kazuma Kobori (NZ), (a) Jaime Montojo (Spa), (a) Liam Nolan (Ire)16:16 Denwit Boriboonsub (Tha), Daniel Brown (Eng), (a) Matthew Dodd-Berry (Eng)16:27 Sam Horsfield (Eng), Aguri Iwasaki (Jpn), Jeung-Hun Wang (Kor)
Round two(a) denotes amateur 06:35 Ewen Ferguson (Sco), Marcel Siem (Ger)06:46 Yuto Katsuragawa (Jpn), Romain Langasque (Fra), Chengtsung Pan (Tai)06:57 Angel Hidalgo (Spa), Rikuya Hoshino (Jpn), Richard Mansell (Eng)07:08 Jorge Campillo (Spa), Corey Conners (Can), Ryan Fox (NZ)07:19 Ernie Els (SA), (a) Altin van der Merwe (SA), Gary Woodland (US)07:30 Rasmus Hoejgaard (Den), (a) Jacob Olesen (Den), Henrik Stenson (Swe)07:41 Billy Horschel (US), Louis Oosthuizen (SA), Victor Perez (Fra)07:52 Jordan Smith (Eng), Sepp Straka (Aut), Brendon Todd (US)08:03 Denny McCarthy (US), Adrian Meronk (Pol), Taylor Moore (US)08:14 Byeong-Hun An (Kor), Jason Day (Aus), Rickie Fowler (US)08:25 Alex Cejka (Ger), Eric Cole (US), Kurt Kitayama (US)08:36 Dean Burmester (SA), Darren Clarke (NI), JT Poston (US)08:47 Dustin Johnson (US), Joost Luiten (Ned), Phil Mickelson (US)09:03 Padraig Harrington (Ire), Matthew Jordan (Eng), Davis Thompson (US)09:14 Wyndham Clark (US), Brooks Koepka (US), Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn)09:25 Patrick Cantlay (US), Xander Schauffele (US), Tiger Woods (US)09:36 Sam Burns (US), Si-Woo Kim (Kor), Collin Morikawa (US)09:47 Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng), Shane Lowry (Ire), Cameron Smith (Aus)09:58 Scottie Scheffler (US), Jordan Spieth (US), Cameron Young (US)10:09 Akshay Bhatia (US), Tom Hoge (US), Sami Valimaki (Fin)10:20 Ben Griffin (US), Emiliano Grillo (Arg), Mackenzie Hughes (Can)10:31 Joseph Dean (Eng), Andy Ogletree (US), Yannik Paul (Ger)10:42 Charlie Lindh (Swe), (a) Luis Masaveu (Spa), Ryan van Velzen (SA)10:53 Kazuma Kobori (NZ), (a) Jaime Montojo (Spa), (a) Liam Nolan (Ire)11:04 Denwit Boriboonsub (Tha), Daniel Brown (Eng), (a) Matthew Dodd-Berry (Eng)11:15 Sam Horsfield (Eng), Aguri Iwasaki (Jpn), Jeung-Hun Wang (Kor)11:26 Todd Hamilton (US), Justin Leonard (US), Jack McDonald (Sco)11:47 Tom McKibbin (NI), (a) Calum Scott (Sco), Alexander Noren (Swe)11:58 Michael Hendry (NZ), Vincent Norrman (Swe), Jesper Svensson (Swe)12:09 Daniel Hillier (NZ), Ryosuke Kinoshita (Jpn), Young-Han Song (Kor)12:20 Abraham Ancer (Mex), Ryo Hisatsune (Jpn), Min-Woo Lee (Aus)12:31 Nicolai Hoejgaard (Den), Keita Nakajima (Jpn), Adam Scott (Aus)12:42 Francesco Molinari (Ita), Justin Rose (Eng), (a) Jasper Stubbs (Aus)12:53 Sung-Jae Im (Kor), Matthew Southgate (Eng), Justin Thomas (US)13:04 Laurie Canter (Eng), Nick Taylor (Can), Matt Wallace (Eng)13:15 Matteo Manassero (Ita), Shubhankar Sharma (Ind), Sebastian Soderberg (Swe)13:26 Austin Eckroat (US), Zach Johnson (US), Thorbjoern Olesen (Den)13:37 John Daly (US), (a) Santiago De La Fuente (Mex), Aaron Rai (Eng)13:48 Stewart Cink (US), (a) Dominic Clemons (Eng), Chris Kirk (US)14:04 Stephan Jaeger (Ger), Joaquin Niemann (Chi), Adam Schenk (US)14:15 Christiaan Bezuidenhout (SA), Lucas Glover (US), Adam Hadwin (Can)14:26 Tony Finau (US), Russell Henley (US), Matthieu Pavon (Fra)14:37 Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Robert MacIntyre (Sco), Jon Rahm (Spa)14:48 Ludvig Aaberg (Swe), Bryson DeChambeau (US), Joo-Hyung Kim (Kor)14:59 Brian Harman (US), Viktor Hovland (Nor), Sahith Theegala (US)15:10 Tyrrell Hatton (Eng), Max Homa (US), Rory McIlroy (NI)15:21 Keegan Bradley (US), (a) Gordon Sargent (US), Will Zalatoris (US)15:32 Alexander Bjoerk (Swe), Harris English (US), Maverick McNealy (US)15:43 Sean Crocker (US), Guido Migliozzi (Ita), (a) Tommy Morrison (US)15:54 John Catlin (US), Gun-Taek Koh (Kor), David Puig (Spa)16:05 Daniel Bradbury (Eng), Thriston Lawrence (SA), Elvis Smylie (Aus)16:16 Ignacio Elvira (Spa), Darren Fichardt (SA), Min-Kyu Kim (Kor)16:27 Mason Andersen (US), Sam Hutsby (Eng), Masahiro Kawamura (Jpn)
Thursday 18CLight rain through the day, heavier in the afternoon. Winds: 12-15mph with 25mph gusts.
Friday 20CFurther rain and drizzle turning drier and brighter. Winds: 15mph in the morning with gusts of 25mph rising to 32mph in the afternoon.