Emergency 9: BMW Championship, Round 3

Rory McIlroy has announced a seven-event run in early 2018 that includes two European Tour events in the Middle East followed by five on the PGA Tour, in an attempt to be fully ready for the Masters in April.

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SAN DIEGO – Rory McIlroy is done with conservative thinking on the golf course. He’s done with trying to fit a square peg self in a round hole. He’s done with worrying about where he sits in the world rankings. Of course he came to this realization late last season after missing the cut at The Open Championship in Ireland. And from that point on McIlroy would find a new groove and push on to win the FedExCup. It’s incredible given he’d already won twice prior in 2019 including at THE PLAYERS Championship. And the start to the new 2019-20 season did not slow things down either as he claimed the World Golf Championships–HSBC Champions in China. After some time off for the holidays, the 18-time PGA TOUR winner has not pulled back from his new aggressive mindset. He will continue to go down the new mental path he has forged, knowing it is his best chance to be the first player to earn the FedExCup trophy in back-to-back seasons and the first to win it three times. RELATED: Tee Times | Power Rankings | Expert Picks “It doesn’t serve me as a golfer to try to be careful, to try to play conservatively or the way maybe some other people play,â€� McIlroy explained of his lessons learned at Royal Portrush last year. “I have my own style of play and most of the times it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but sometimes I get into situations and I become a little too conservative and I become a little too careful. “I basically said to myself after Portrush, ‘I’m 30 years old, I have basically achieved everything that I’ve wanted to achieve in the game, like why would I be careful?’ Why would I not go out there with the most carefree attitude and think everything beyond this is just gravy. That’s something that I’ve learned, that’s a mindset that I’m going to try to replicate each and every time that I tee it up.â€� This mindset will also mean McIlroy will approach the major championships differently in 2020. He has obvious desired to win a fifth major, and first since 2014. A win at the Masters would clinch a career grand slam. “When I look back at the majors that I’ve won and I’ve done well in, I’ve always started well,â€� McIlroy says. “Sometimes you go out in the first draw and you’re trying to sort of play your way in the golf tournament, make a few pars, play sort of protective golf a little bit and that’s never really been in my nature. I’m the other way, right? I start aggressively, and if I do and I play well, I usually keep myself up there in the tournament for the most part. “So it was just slow starts for the most part that held me back last year and that’s something that I’m going to try to improve on this year.â€� McIlroy can overtake Brooks Koepka as the No. 1 player in the world again if he wins this week at the Farmers Insurance Open, where he was T5 a year ago. But that is a number he says is not even on his list of goals. Instead he looks at figures like what he achieved last season statistically. He was just the fourth player to finish a PGA TOUR season ranked inside the top 25 in all four Strokes Gained stats (Off-the-Tee, Approach-the-Green, Around-the-Green and Putting). “When I set myself goals, I set myself goals like – I want to be plus‑one strokes gained approach play… it’s all about the process, it’s all about the game, it’s all about trying to make improvements,â€� McIlroy said. “If I do that and I achieve those goals, then hopefully inevitably I get to (world No. 1). The two stats that I have been proudest of over the past year were around the green and putting; I made huge strides in those. For me going forward, I’ve always driven it well, I’ve always hit my irons pretty well, but if I can keep those two around the green and on the greens as strong as I did last year, I’ll be pretty confident about the season.â€� With all this confidence brimming from the Northern Irishman one wonders if there are any challenges he is concerned about as he moves on from being the player of the last decade into this new one. Life always throws curveballs and being relatively recently married McIlroy may one day be tasked with juggling children of his own with his career. This is something many TOUR pros acknowledge can be a steep learning curve. McIlroy, though, has his eyes on the course. “If you look at when I first came out on TOUR and started winning majors, nearly a decade ago, eight years ago, you could probably count the guys on one hand that played a similar game to the way I played. I think that was part of the reason why I did so well in that stretch,â€� McIlroy says. “Now the likes of a Matt Wolff – they grew up obviously watching Tiger a little bit but (also) watching guys like myself and Dustin and that’s the type of player that’s coming out on TOUR now. So where I used to get to the golf course and think, okay, maybe five or 10 people have a chance, nowadays it’s 40, 50, 60 guys that play that sort of game. “That’s going to be the biggest challenge going forward over the next 10 years. There’s always fresh blood coming through and new talent. It’s trying to keep up with them.â€� With this aggressive and fresh outlook, you have to think McIlroy won’t have a problem with that.

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Perhaps 100 yards remained on his walk to the first tee. But no worries. John Daly knew he had plenty of time. It was the Sunday before the Masters would start, the serenity was thick, traffic on the golf course thin, and the lure of the pro shop was impossible to fight off. He veered left and went shopping. For ashtrays. Boxes of them, the volume requiring assistance from a few others to carry out to his car. Daly knew it looked curious, so he stopped to answer the inquiry. “Love the ashtrays,â€� he said to a reporter. OK, that explained buying one or two. But not boxes of them. Daly laughed. Lots of friends who deserved, and would get, gifts. Then he shrugged. “Plus, who knows how many more times I’m going to be in this thing?â€� Which is a layer of the story that supports the notion that the Masters is unlike any other week of the golf year. The merchandise – only available on-site at Augusta National; there is no online shopping presence — is such a huge attraction, even the players partake. The same players who every other week of the golf season see only the golf course, the practice range, and the dining area. Even Mark Calcavecchia – a notoriously fast player who wouldn’t strike you as the sort who’d meander through the shirt or hat rack to find the perfect gift – concedes he made the merchandise shop an annual stop in his 18 Masters. “They have a lot of cool stuff,â€� Calcavecchia said. “Basically, it was my Christmas shopping.â€� Of course, there was a strategy, given the crowds and his desire to get in practice rounds. “You always went on Monday, to get ahead of people and you’d have lot more stuff to choose from.â€� Chances are, Calcavecchia crossed paths with other players and caddies, because veteran Augusta visitors knew the secrets. Hitting the merchandise shop on Monday was one of them. “A high priority,â€� said Jim “Bonesâ€� Mackay, longtime caddie for Phil Mickelson, a three-time winner of this fabled tournament. “Having been blessed to be there quite a few years, I realized early that they ran out of some merchandise quicker than others.â€� And when you have a shopping list from your wife and friends, you cannot fail. So, Mackay said his mission on Mondays was the go-to items. Near the top of the list, if not the very top, wasn’t the golf shirt with a Masters logo, it was the onesie for the newest editions to various families. “My wife (Jennifer) loved them,â€� he said. “They are the best gift in the world, a cool onesie with the logo on it.â€� His assignment had other must-stop points on the merchandise trail. Passing hats and other popular items, Mackay was a big fan of some “really good workout shirts that made for cool gifts.â€� He also fell for the Masters gnomes that became quite popular a few years ago. OK, maybe he was partial to it because the little fella is dressed as an Augusta National caddie – the famed white jumpsuit even features the players’ registration number on the left chest – with a golf bag over his shoulder. Of course, the hat is green with an iconic logo. While many of his purchases are for family and friends, Mackay concedes that he and his wife very much like the gnomes and have the collection strategically spread out in various potted plants in their home. While they may not resonate like the personal rewards of those Mickelson wins in 2004, 2006 and 2010 – that being flags from the 18th hole – Mackay said the gnomes draw plenty of attention from visitors. That is the power of the iconic Masters logo. “All the stuff has the logo on it and people everywhere see that and know it’s a prestigious place,â€� Calcavecchia said. “Yes, I did,â€� said Brandel Chamblee, when asked if he included shopping duties when he qualified for the Masters in 1999. “Not only to remember the week, but because it is the one place where all of your friends and family make requests of the players for gear from the event.â€� Chamblee’s visit 21 years ago left an indelible impression, because he opened with a 69 to share the first-round lead with Nick Price, Davis Love III and Scott McCarron. Jose Maria Olazabal would win the green jacket for a second time that year, but Chamblee acquitted himself nicely with a share of 18th, and should he need reminders of his one Masters appearance, there are the prizes he earned (crystal vase for his low score in the first round, crystal goblets for an eagle at No. 13, also Thursday) and purchases he made. “I still have the T-shirt I bought that week and the high-ball glasses I bought with all the former champions on it,â€� he said. Brett Quigley, like Chamblee, got only one start in the Masters (2007) but confirms that merchandise was a big part of it. “We had two houses rented that week, so we had lots of friends there,â€� said Quigley. “Both houses were full of the Masters gear – hats, T-shirts, golf shirts, baby clothes, umbrella, and chairs.â€� Just so you don’t think it’s only first-time visitors like Chamblee or Quigley who are part of the shopping corps, there was the legendary Billy Casper. He first competed in the Masters in 1957 and for all his 44 other starts and all those years through 2014 that he regaled the pageantry with is presence, gifts were a must. True, he entrusted his wonderful wife, Shirley, to organize the gift list, and “each year she bought an item for each of the 150 players in my dad’s charity event,â€� said Bob Casper, one of Billy’s 11 children. One-hundred-fifty gifts, at the minimum? “We always enjoyed shopping at the Masters,â€� said Bob. Truth is, who among the fortunate attendees doesn’t? “I would always go early Monday or late Monday,â€� said Mackay, who would be out of uniform (not wearing the caddie jumpsuit), yet it wouldn’t stop fans from pointing him out or even engaging in conversation. “But people were always nice,â€� said Mackay, who never had an issue. The reason, he suggested, was simple. “When you get in (the merchandise shop), you have a responsibility,â€� he said. “You’re there to get it done. Everyone has shopping on their minds because there are amazing keepsakes.â€� Amazing socks, too, and if you find yourself laughing, chances are Fred Couples will not see the humor. The 1992 champion is arguably one of the most popular Masters participants of this and any other era, and few love the place like he does. So, if Couples suggests that his impeccable longevity – 30 cuts made in 34 starts, a win and 10 other top-10s – is built from the bottom up, starting with the socks, then who would argue? True, his cool nonchalance is God-given, but the youthful spring in his step when he’s on property at Augusta National? Couples’ friends will tell you it comes from the new pair of socks he purchases every day. “He loves the socks,â€� confirmed former longtime caddie Joe LaCava. Not that the popular attractions don’t stretch beyond onesies, gnomes, and socks. They surely do, something Billy Andrade always knew, though it was reinforced last April. Andrade, who played in six Masters and concedes that he was a typical shopper, was in Augusta doing some corporate hospitality. He’s done it in the past and has become friendly with many of the guests. When a woman sat down at his table, Andrade noticed a couple of merchandise bags. “Get everything you needed?â€� he asked. The woman said yes, then laughed and revealed the highlight of her trip to the merchandise shop. “You wouldn’t believe it,â€� she said, “but a man in a coat and tie was in line and he bought 150 Masters flags.â€� Andrade said he chuckled, didn’t think anything of it until the woman stole a glance at a TV that was showing the Golf Channel’s coverage of the Masters. “There he is,â€� the woman exclaimed, pointing to a gentleman in suit coat and tie. “The man who bought the 150 flags.â€� Andrade laughed. Yes, he knew the person the woman was pointing to; it was somebody well-known in golf circles. But we’ll keep it a mystery. Shopping at Augusta, even very large orders, is just part of the experience – for patrons, players, and golf analysts.

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