The hardened Ryder Cup veteran we will see at Bethpage this week was a little more slipshod in his youth. Particularly at a crucial moment in 2012
H
as it really been 13 years since rosy-cheeked Rory McIlroy caused teammates, coaches, and a continent’s worth of fans to hyperventilate by coming within a hairsbreadth of missing his tee time for a crucial singles match?
The scene at the 2012 Ryder Cup, recall, looked like something out of The Blues Brothers, except there weren’t any nuns or Nazis around. Having barreled down Illinois highways at upwards of 100mph, its siren blaring, an unmarked cop car came screeching into the parking lot of the Medinah Golf Club, skirted the camera crews huddled to record McIlroy’s frenzied arrival, and deposited him just steps away from the locker room.
McIlroy at that instant had all of nine minutes to grab something to eat, “warm up,” and get to the first tee for his match against Keegan Bradley, otherwise he’d be forced to forfeit. Since his team was trailing 10-6 going into Sunday singles, a McIlroy no-show would have ruined one of the most storied comebacks in Cup history, the Europeans’ “Miracle at Medinah.”
