Off The Tee: Rory Grabs Another Major, Who Will Play in the Ryder Cup?
One big name flourished, while another floundered in golf's third major last week. But in the aftermath of the British Open, we might be left with more questions than answers.
In this installment of 'Off The Tee', I talked with 4 Deep Golf's Joel Harrington about what we saw at Royal Liverpool, and what it means going forward this season .
First, it was Rory McIlroy winning the British Open, pushing his career Grand Slam total to three (with just a Masters win to go). McIlroy is the third youngest in golf history to get three quarter of the way to the career Grand Slam.
But the victory at The Open didn't come easy.
Despite leading by as many as seven shots in the final round, McIlroy had to hold off charges from Rickie Fowler and Sergio Garcia to eek out a two-shot win.
How did Joel rate McIlroy's play in England?
A lot of eyes were on former British Open champ Tiger Woods, who finished 23 shots off the lead, in a tournament he called 'encouraging', but others described as 'disastrous'. How did Joel see Tiger's play at Royal Liverpool, where Woods made the cut after an opening round 69, but finished 77, 73, 75?
Tiger's struggles at the British Open, coupled with Phil Mickelson finished tied for 23rd overall, have made next month's Ryder Cup team selections a bit more interesting, as Team USA Captain Tom Watson had some tough decisions to make about two of golf's biggest names, heading to Scotland at the end of September.
So what does Joel think of Tiger and Phil's chances of making the Ryder Cup team?