Rory McIlroy, who was not about to be late for his second straight Ryder Cup singles match, shot out of the gate with a morale-draining 4-up lead over Rickie Fowler through eight holes and looking to give the U.S. squad an early gut punch.
Rory McIlroy, late to tee at Medinah, off to early Ryder Cup rout of RickIe Fowler
Rickie Fowler’s USA buzz cut runs into a Rory McIlroy buzz saw early in Sunday singles at Gleneagles.
Harry How
McIlroy, who notoriously nearly missed his Sunday tee time with Keegan Bradley two years ago at Medinah but went on to beat the American, 2 and 1, was not only on the tee at the appointed hour but on pace to put an early point on the board for the Europeans.
No. 1 showed the young PGA Tour player who shaved “USA” into his scalp exactly why he stood atop the world rankings when he got out to a 5-up lead through six holes after rattling off four birdies and an eagle in the first six holes.
Twitter took notice.
Rory Mcilroy has found his happy place......can you say blowout
— Mike Hallee (@HalleeGolfman) September 28, 2014 Rory's early domination takes some pressure off teammates. Already virtually guaranteed a point. Europe needs just 2.5 more.
— Sean Martin (@PGATOURSMartin) September 28, 2014 Rory making a statement so far today. #RyderCup
— John Henry (@jkmhenry) September 28, 2014 Rory Mcilroy is steamrolling Rickie........
— Mike Hallee (@HalleeGolfman) September 28, 2014 If I were Tom Watson, I would've done everything to try and make sure someone other than my best player got run over by McIlroy.
— Brendan Prunty (@BrendanPrunty) September 28, 2014 And @McIlroyRory is showing once again that when he has his A-game he is virtually unbeatable. He's 4-up on @RickieFowlerPGA thru 5.
— Ron Sirak (@ronsirak) September 28, 2014 Safe to say the four-time major champ was not about to let a time zone error derail his chance to get the Euros out to an early and insurmountable lead on Sunday. McIlroy explained at the time that he got Central and Eastern times mixed up.
“I have never been so scared going to a golf course. It was such a mad rush,” McIlroy recalled a few months removed from the brain cramp that nearly cost him a date with Bradley and his team a critical point. “Luckily there was a state trooper waiting for me and if it wasn’t for him ... I wouldn’t have made my tee time.”
No such drama on day three at Gleneagles.
