#Open water drift pro

Having admitted to expecting some nerves at the first tee, McIlroy sparked a booming opening drive down the fairway, only to miss his putt from five feet. His fourth bogey of the week arrived immediately. The truth can hurt, and McIlroy was about to prove his assessment of Augusta to be true in the most excruciating way imaginable. McIlroy finished his third round with a four shot lead. McIlroy shot 74 and 77 to fall four strokes short of the cut line at seven-over par, a performance that concerned him enough to take a brief sabbatical from competition. Yet despite a pair of impressive top-three finishes at the Open and PGA Championship respectively, a disappointing missed cut at The Masters – his first at a major – served as ominous foreshadowing.

#Open water drift pro

Yet on Sunday afternoon of April 10, 2011, not a golfer in the world would have wished to be in the Northern Irishman’s shoes.Ī fresh-faced, mop-headed McIlroy had touched down in Georgia for the first major of the season with a reputation as the leading light of the next generation of stars.Īn excellent 2010 had marked his best season since turning pro three years earlier, highlighted by a first PGA Tour win at the Quail Hollow Championship and a crucial contribution to Team Europe’s triumph at the Ryder Cup. The then-21-year-old had just watched his ball sink into the waters of Rae’s Creek at Augusta National and with it, his dream of winning The Masters, a dream that had looked so tantalizingly close mere hours earlier.Īs a four-time major winner and one of the most decorated names in the sport’s history, few players would turn down the chance to swap places with McIlroy heading into Augusta this week. Slumped on his club, head buried in his arm, Rory McIlroy looked on the verge of tears. David Cannon/Getty Images Europe/Getty Images Pictures of Van De Velde - still smiling - stood ankle deep in the water weighing his options have since become the defining images of the tournament as the Frenchman, despite sinking his triple-bogey putt to force a playoff, saw his dreams of a first major usurped by Scotsman Paul Lawrie. What followed was the golfing equivalent of an anxiety dream, as the 33-year-old skewed his drive, hit his second shot bouncing off a grandstand into the rough, and then watched in horror as his third effort plopped into the Barry Burn. 152, Van De Velde teed off for the last time with a three-shot cushion even a double bogey would have been enough to crown him as only the second Frenchman to lift the famous Claret Jug. Having arrived at Carnoustie in Scotland as the world No. Jean Van De Velde, British Open (1999) A meltdown in equal parts memorable and heart-breaking, Van De Velde's 18th hole tailspin at the 1999 British Open is one of the most famous implosions in sporting history.