Rory McIlroy breaks hearts, Stephen Curry blows minds, and the creepiest view in all of golf
Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where we start with some bittersweet personal news. I had a chance to shoot the round of my life. And I let it slip through my shaky hands.
Yep, I found myself in an unfamiliar position at two under through 13 holes and promptly bogeyed four of the final five holes to shoot two over. Sigh. So despite my fact I shot my lowest score as a dad, I spent every waking minute over the weekend analyzing what went wrong down the stretch. What a sick game.
In any event, I promise to try to move on as we discuss everything else going on in golf, including one of the wildest Sundays in recent memory. Ugh, but what was I thinking with that club choice on 16 . . . sorry! Starting . . . now!
Rory McIlroy: Talk about not choking. McIlroy may be a four-time major winner, but this was arguably the most impressive finish of his career with a pair of closing birdies to win the Genesis Scottish Open—including on 18 when he faced a 60-yard wind in punching this remarkable 2-iron to 10 feet and then converting the putt:
Clutch when it mattered most ????
The winning moment for @McIlroyRory @ScottishOpen ???? pic.twitter.com/BQDmw2DdA8
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 16, 2023
Here’s a look at the incredible approach shot:
The scene. The moment. The noise. The ball flight. The club twirl. The talent.#GenesisScottishOpen | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/FsADosNr2g
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) July 16, 2023
And we need another angle because it was so good:
What a stud. How is it possible he hasn’t won a major in nine years?! Wait, sorry. That’s like me rueing my great score. Again, what a sick game. But seriously, what a performance. And what class in apologizing to Robert MacIntyre for dashing his dreams and breaking all of Scotland’s heart:
Rory came over to Bobby Mac and just said, I’m sorry. He know what this would’ve meant to him. pic.twitter.com/o0GR5TB3Nr
— Adam Schupak (@AdamSchupak) July 16, 2023
Well, not all of Scotland. At least one fan there was happy McIlroy won because it made him 300 pounds richer. And Rory had a classic response:
Good stuff, Rory. Now go win the real Open this week, will ya?
Stephen Curry: A few hours after McIlroy’s dramatics, the NBA star used to knocking down buzzer-beating jumpers sunk a walk-off putt of his own to win the American Century Championship, AKA the Super Bowl of Celebrity Golf. And it wasn’t just any putt that gave the four-time NBA champ his first Lake Tahoe title, but an eagle one—fittingly from about three-point range—to beat Mardy Fish:
STEPH CURRY WINS THE @ACChampionship WITH A EAGLE ON 18! ???????? pic.twitter.com/OH8alOhYMn
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) July 16, 2023
Amazing stuff from Steph, who became the first active athlete to win the event since Al Del Greco. And, no offense to Al, but he was a kicker, so does that really count? Regardless, Curry’s clutch putt capped one of the greatest golf weekends in history considering he also made a hole-in-one on Saturday:
STEPH CURRY HOLE-IN-ONE ????????
(via @NBCSports)
pic.twitter.com/fz7KPg5gM3— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 15, 2023
Must be nice. What an athlete. And what an ambassador for golf. Now that’s growing the game.
