Chubb Classic: ‘Fast and Furious’ actor Lucas Black caddying on PGA Tour Champions this week

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – Rory McIlroy let himself dream. He couldn’t help it. The enormous yellow scoreboard that stood stories above St. Andrews’ final hole stared back at him whenever he looked out the window of his hotel room. He imagined his name in the black, block letters standing atop the list, the same image he surely thought about countless times as a kid. The dream came true a day early. His name occupied the top space Saturday night, after a 66 that put him into a tie for The Open’s lead with Viktor Hovland. McIlroy spoke that evening about his “cocoon,” the place where he could divorce his process from the pressure. But each time he peered out his hotel-room window, he allowed himself to imagine what could have been the most important victory of his career. “You’ve got to let yourself dream,” McIlroy said. “You’ve got to let yourself think about it and what it would be like, but once I was on the golf course it was just task at hand and trying to play the best golf I possibly could.” Only Hovland was McIlroy’s equal over the first 54 holes of The 150th Open. They both shot 16-under 200, including matching 66s in Saturday’s second-to-last group to earn Sunday’s last tee time. They were four clear of the players in third place, Cameron Smith and Cameron Young. McIlroy wasn’t the only one dreaming of him winning in the Home of Golf. A win by Great Britain’s great hope in the game’s spiritual center made too much sense. It had been 12 years since he last played an Open at the Old Course, and eight years since his last major win. The greatest player of his generation, and one of the greatest Europeans of all time, McIlroy had endured close calls in majors earlier this year, finishing in the top 10 in each of the first three. Then on Friday, as he was starting his second round, he crossed paths with Tiger Woods as Woods’ career at St. Andrews likely came to a close. Woods was touched by McIlroy tipping his cap in respect as they walked past each other. Woods’ last Open at St. Andrews, where he won twice, could have concluded with the first win at St. Andrews for the best player since Woods. McIlroy was trying to join Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Europe’s two best of the modern era, Nick Faldo and Seve Ballesteros, by winning at the Old Course, a setting that carries extra significance. A win would have tied Ballesteros with five major triumphs and leave him one short of Faldo’s record for most majors by a European player since World War I. McIlroy is the player in today’s game who gives the most consideration to context. His legacy is his priority at this point in his career, and only a victory at Augusta National would do more for it. Like Jordan Spieth seven years earlier, the sentimental favorite didn’t win at St. Andrews, however. McIlroy was bogey-free Sunday but made just two birdies. His 70 left him in third place, two strokes behind winner Cameron Smith. Smith birdied the first five holes of the back nine and closed with 30 en route to a Sunday 64. TOUR rookie Cameron Young, who played with Smith in the second-to-last group, shot 65 to finish second. McIlroy led most of the day but fell behind after Smith birdied 14. McIlroy could only muster pars on the final holes, however. “I knew that I needed to respond,” McIlroy said. “I just couldn’t find the shots or the putts to do that.” It was a day that was relatively stress-free. He drove it well and didn’t make a bogey, but also couldn’t hit his approach shots close enough or take advantage of the Old Course’s drivable par-4s. This the first time in his career that McIlroy has finished in the top 10 in all four majors. He’s third in the world ranking and fifth in the FedExCup with two wins this season. He spoke this week about the trust he has in his game, and the freedom it has produced. He reunited with longtime swing coach Michael Bannon and won last month’s RBC Canadian Open while his caddie, Harry Diamond, was home with his wife and newborn child. It required him to make more decisions on the course and rely less on his longtime looper. “I’m in more control of my swing and my game,” he said. He left last month’s U.S Open saying he was “closer than I’ve been in a while.” But on Sunday, McIlroy struggled to trust his reads on St. Andrews’ slow greens and watched several birdie putts slide by the hole. While Smith was in the midst of his birdie streak, McIlroy couldn’t capitalize on two of St. Andrews’ drivable par-4s, Nos. 9 and 12, and parred the par-5 14th when a birdie would have pulled him even with Smith. McIlroy missed long birdie putts on 15 and 16, as well, and a 20-footer on the difficult 17th after Smith had two-putted from behind the Road Bunker. Smith’s birdie on the final hole meant McIlroy needed to make eagle on 18. It was over when his second shot ran past the hole. “There were a lot of putts today where I couldn’t just trust myself to start it inside the hole,” he said. “I was always starting it on the edge or just outside thinking it was going to move. More times than not, they just sort of stayed there.” McIlroy focused on the positives in his post-round press conference and tried to place the result in its proper perspective – “It’s not life or death,” he said – but the scene after he stepped away from the microphone painted a fuller picture. A golf cart waited to whisk McIlroy to the locker room. He sat down next to his wife, Erica, and rested his head face-down on her shoulder. He had no more energy to expend. The fight was over. The Old Course is a romantic setting for those with a deep connection to the game. A round on the historic grounds elicits a variety of emotions. Including heartbreak.

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It’s the featured pairing of all featured pairings: Tiger and Phil. Let’s look at what has happened before, and what this might mean for their third — Rickie Fowler.

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VIDANTA VALLARTA, Mexico – Anytime Jon Rahm arrives in Mexico, he feels a trace of nostalgia. RELATED: Leaderboard | Why Jon Rahm uses weaker lofts than his PGA TOUR peers As an Arizona State junior, Rahm made his PGA TOUR debut at the 2014 World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba. He missed the cut, including a penalty in the second round for the “only time in my life where I made a practice swing chipping and the ball moved,” but looks back fondly on the week. He channeled the experience into his next TOUR start, finishing T5 at the WM Phoenix Open the following February. Fast forward seven-plus years, and Rahm is among the game’s elite. He’s a six-time TOUR winner, including the 2021 U.S. Open, and he stands No. 2 on the Official World Golf Ranking. Among the milestones eluding Rahm: a title in Mexico. He has been close, with two third-place showings at the WGC-Mexico Championship at Chapultepec. Rahm aims to change that. He has started strong at the Mexico Open at Vidanta, the event’s first appearance on the PGA TOUR schedule in a history dating back to 1944. Propelled by a chip-in birdie at the par-3 13th hole – his fourth of the day – and an eagle at the short par-4 seventh, Rahm opened in 7-under 64 at Vidanta Vallarta, matching the low score of the morning wave on a sun-kissed day on the western Mexican coast. Rahm was asked early in the week about how he game-plans for a new course, and he replied that “plan A is to hit driver everywhere.” With generally wide fairways, Vidanta Vallarta lends itself to aggressive play, matching Rahm’s ethos. “Really comfortable off the tee,” said Rahm after completing his opening round Thursday. “Not like it’s ever bad, but today felt especially comfortable. It’s not the most demanding course off the tee, besides 10 and maybe 1 … you’re not really in real danger of being in bad position, but even though it’s generous, when I’m hitting shots with the trajectory and the ball flight that I wanted, it just gives me more confidence for every other shot.” Rahm hasn’t missed a cut on TOUR since the Fortinet Championship in September, but he also hasn’t won on TOUR since the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines last June. He admitted this week that his game hasn’t been at its best, numbers-wise, but said he feels confident about his prospects for the coming months. Perhaps a return to the country of his first TOUR start will provide the proper boost for a return to the winner’s circle. With one round in the books at the Mexico Open, he’s on pace to do just that. “There’s no trick; you have to go out there and try to win,” Rahm said this week of advice he would give to players making their TOUR debut. “Don’t come trying to make the cut. If you’re playing, play to win. If not, don’t play. I think that is the mindset they should have. “If they’re invited, they’re probably good enough to be out here, so just believe what you can do and try to win.” This weekend, Rahm will aim to channel his own perspective.

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