As IF Times

link To be a great, McIlroy must stay true to himself – USATODAY.com.

 At the just concluded 2011  US Open , 22 year old Rory McIlroy’s prodigious talent  burst  him onto the world stage in dramatic fashion.  Readers can refer to other sports sites for details of his on course exploits, but my discussion is the more compelling story of the kid himself. 

Just 22 years of age and he already has been placed at the top of the sporting world as much for his character as for his athletic accomplishment.  He is much of what most celebrity athletes these days are not.  He is not brusque, arrogant or distant.  He does not wear strange clothing, have tattoos or earrings.  He does not  hide behind aviator sunglasses and surround himself with surly bodyguards.  He speaks humbly of his accomplishments, does so in complete sentences and is a filial son.  Unlike many top name athletes today, his ego has yet to overwhelm him.

It’s almost too good to be true.  He is like a Stepford wife.  With an impossibly beautiful swing bordering on golf pornography and a disarmingly modest demeanor, it’s hard not to be drawn to this kid.   In the golfing world at least, guys like Nicklaus and Palmer have always tended to their good guy image and may in large part explain their revered positions in golf.  This is in contrast to Ben Hogan and recently Tiger Woods, both of whom were more prickly personalities but were tolerated because of their talents.  A guy like Rory comes along and once again, people can pull for a hero without reservation.  He has the same quality as did a young Phil Mickelson.  Granted, he’s still young and much may happen, but the talent has been there since an early age and the grounding influence of his parents will keep him as a like-able person for years to come.  It appears that a strong value system was instilled from the outset.  Undoubtedly, his family and friends back in his hometown of Holywood, Ireland wouldn’t have rioted even if Rory had lost.

How many 22 year old kids go off to Haiti on their own volition without commercial intent to assess the conditions of the earthquake victims? How many young kids can take the crushing collapse that he experienced during this year’s Masters and brush it off with equanimity and without bitterness or recrimination?  The kid has a maturity well beyond his years and this gushing fan hopes that he will be the new standard of celebrity athletes in the future.  The world can use some genuinely nice guys.

link For McIlroy, an Ending He Never Saw Coming – NYTimes.com.

There was no better display of why golf is the most fascinating, compulsive and frustrating sport there is than was in evidence at this year’s just completed Master’s golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia.  It is virtually impossible to script the drama, excitement and yes, heartbreak that is typically on display at this annual event, but particularly, this year.

When it was all over,  a very talented but relatively unknown player, Charl Shwartzel,  emerged as victor from the very crowded pack of contenders.  Among the contenders,  a resurgent superstar trying to salvage his place among the greats was the drama most focused on by the maddeningly bad TV coverage.  It was shamefully obvious that the entire broadcast centered on Mr. Woods as his every grimace was recorded and every good shot wildly celebrated.   However, there were other great stories not as well covered, including a player who would vie to be the first victor from Asia, K.J. Choi;  there was the contingent of 3 players from Australia trying to win the Masters for the first time for that country.  There was Fred Couples, more than twice the age of McIlroy but who was still able to compete at this elevated level with all the kids until fading near the end.   Most compelling of all was the upstart 21 year old Rory McIlroy, whose virtuoso performance, dared to lead the tournament for 63 holes before succumbing to what can only be described as a nerve meltdown of grotesque proportions.  Watching McIlroy’s Icarus-like ascent and fall was excruciating to all who had ever played in any sporting event, but especially golf.

At the end of it all, despite the stinging collapse, he showed a graciousness and composure beyond his young 21 years of age, traits that are increasingly uncommon in today’s sporting world.  Unlike almost all other sports played at the professional level, there are no officials involved in directing the rules of play.  Success and failure is entirely up to the player.  Unfortunately, there is something called the ‘rub of the green’, which in real life terms means, what happens, happens.  Nobody gets a do over.  You take your lumps or your streaks of good fortune and move on.  The ultimate test is not necessarily determined by the ones with the most physical talent.  It is not determined by youth or age or experience.  At the highest levels, golf is principally a mental game since it is the conviction of one’s self that ultimately determines the ability to execute in the intense crucible of major tournament play.

Most people cannot identify with some of the extraordinary shots made and scores recorded, but ALL can identify with the spiralling meltdown suffered by McIlroy.  We’ve all had to endure the stinging bite of defeat or loss just as we were expecting only victory.   This must be the secret allure of golf.  Apart from the masochistic element of the game,  it is still a test of both skill and of fate.  Nobody gets blamed but yourself.  Cheating is not tolerated and petulance and weak minds cannot persevere over the long term.  If only that kind of decorum can be found in real life.  To play like young McIlroy did for most of the tournament, only to succumb to the vicissitudes of fate is surely painful, but all are willing to bet that he will be all the tougher mentally in the years to come.  Nobody doubts his talent; it just wasn’t his turn.  We identify and sympathize with young Rory because we generally have those same convictions about ourselves.  If we haven’t made it yet, it’s only because it’s just not quite our turn and our time will come.  When the victories come, they will be all the sweeter.

Sure it’s only a game; but what a game it is, the game for life.