로리 매킬로이의 성질은 이전보다 더 급해졌다고 본인이 인정한다. 하지만 일단 불이 붙으면 그 빛은 예전만큼 밝다.
01극적인 퍼팅 개선
처음 두 라운드를 힘들게 보낸 매킬로이는 토요일 3라운드에서 일어섰다. 7언더 63을 기록하며 10언더로 스코어를 올렸고, 최종라운드 전 리더에게 1타 뒤 경쟁권에 진입했다.
가장 극적인 변화는 퍼팅이었다. 36홀까지 그린에서 거의 최악의 성적을 거두던 매킬로이는 3라운드에서 거의 4스트로크를 게인했다 - 라운드 최고다.
"난 그린에서 자신을 더 좋은 위치에 놔뒀을 뿐이다"고 매킬로이는 설명했다. 그는 백나인에서만 5개의 버디를 거뒀다. "더 쉬운 퍼트들을 줬고, 두 가지 방향으로 무너지는 퍼트는 없었다. 백나인에서 굴러가기 시작하면, 모든 퍼트가 컵 오른쪽이거나 컵 왼쪽으로 느껴졌다."
022024년 개조된 East Lake의 영향
매킬로이는 2024년 개조된 East Lake의 영향도 지적했다. 대대적 개선 공사로 코스가 넓어지고 오프라인 샷의 페널티가 줄어들었다. 이는 리더보드 그룹을 더 타이트하게 만들었다. 1라운드 후 리더보드 격차는 단 8타에 불과했다.
03정밀한 골프
그렇지만 3라운드의 성공을 거두려면 정밀한 골프가 필요했다. 2번 홀에서 더블보기한 후 다음 5홀 중 4홀에서 버디를 거뒀다. 모든 버디 퍼트가 10피트 이내였다.
롱 퍼트들은 백나인에서 떨어졌다. 13번 홀에서 11피트 파 퍼트를 홀에 넣은 후, 15번부터 3연 버디를 만들었다 - 모두 12피트 이상. 18번에서는 19피트 퍼트를 매우 가깝게 놓쳤다.
04코치와의 작업이 빛을 발하다
매킬로이의 3라운드 성적은 지난주 BMW Championship에서의 노력을 떠올리게 한다. Memphis의 첫 Playoffs 이벤트에서 고민을 겪은 후 Florida로 돌아가 코치 Michael Bannon과 작업했다. 둘이 발견한 스윙 느낌과 사전 루틴이 문제를 해결했고, 매킬로이는 경쟁 압박 속에서 그 느낌을 빠르게 정착시킬 수 있었다.
이번 주 매킬로이는 Off-the-Tee에서 1위, Approach SG에서 5위를 기록하고 있다.
05최종라운드를 향해
매킬로이는 최종라운드가 끝날 때 뭐가 필요할지 확실하지 않았다. 리더들은 아직 진행 중이었다. 하지만 리더보드가 토요일 저녁에 정착했고, 매킬로이는 자신이 우승 기회가 있다고 느꼈다. 단지 최종라운드 초반에 뭔가를 찾아 불을 지펴야 했다.
아직 태울 불이 남아있다.
06Original (English) — PGA TOUR
ATLANTA – Rory McIlroy admits his fuse is shorter than it used to be, but when it burns, it's as bright as it ever was.
After stumbling through two rounds at East Lake Golf Club, McIlroy found his rhythm on Saturday and quickly got himself back in contention, posting a 7-under 63 to move to 10 under and within striking distance entering the final round of the TOUR Championship.
McIlroy drastically improved his putting in the third round. Ranked near dead last on the greens through 36 holes, the Northern Irishman gained nearly four strokes in the third round, best in the field.
"I feel like I just left myself in better spots on the greens," said McIlroy, who rattled off five birdies on the inward nine. "I gave myself easier putts, putts that didn't break two ways, and I didn't have a ton – I felt like, when I got it rolling there on the back nine, every putt was like a cup right or a cup left."
McIlroy also benefited from the new-look East Lake. The course was widened – among a host of other changes – in a broad renovation in 2024. That, to McIlroy's eye, has created slightly less penalty for offline shots, leading to less separation on the leaderboard. After the first round, the spread from first to last on the leaderboard was only eight shots. McIlroy was beating only five players after 36 holes, but briefly held a share of the lead on Saturday afternoon when he signed his scorecard.
It still required great golf to get there. After dropping a shot on the par-3 second, McIlroy birdied four of his next five holes. He hit it close on each, with none of his birdie putts coming from outside 10 feet. The long putts began to drop on the back nine. He holed a crucial 11-footer for par at the 13th hole, then poured in three birdies in a row from outside 12 feet, beginning at the 15th. He nearly added a fourth at the 18th, but his 19-foot attempt slid just by.
"I still felt like I played okay the last couple days, just wasn't getting as much out of my game as I wanted to," McIlroy said. "I pieced it together today and ended up obviously with a better score."
McIlroy's Saturday performance looked a lot like his effort at the BMW Championship last week. After struggling mightily in the first Playoffs event in Memphis, McIlroy briefly returned home to Florida to work with his coach, Michael Bannon. The two found a swing feel and pre-shot rehearsal that corrected what was going wrong, and McIlroy has quickly been able to engrain that feel under competitive pressure. He's first in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and fifth in SG: Approach this week.
"The ball striking has been there. I think I was second in ball striking to Gary Woodland the first couple days," McIlroy said. "It was another good display today."
As McIlroy finished, he was unsure what might be required of him on Sunday. The overnight leaders were just making the turn, and while McIlroy was within one of the lead, he expected that to stretch a bit further.
However, the leaderboard settled late on Saturday, and McIlroy felt he would have a chance to win. He just needed to find something early and create a spark.
There is still some fuse left to burn.
