Patrick Cantlay
2011 U.S. Open Low Amateur

BETHESDA, Md. (June 19, 2011) — Every time Rory McIlroy lined up a shot Sunday, there was some sort of record on the line, some kind of history to be made.

That was this year's U.S. Open version of suspense. There was never any doubt that the kid from Northern Ireland was going to win it.

In complete control of his emotions and his game, McIlroy never slipped. He won his first major championship by shooting a 2-under 69 at ultra-soft Congressional and closed his four- day onslaught at 16-under 268, eight shots ahead of Jason Day and four shots better than the U.S. Open scoring record formerly held by four players, including two named Woods and Nicklaus.

After the final tap-in, Gerry McIlroy met his son as he walked off the green.

"Happy Father's Day," the new champion said.

Happy Father's Day, indeed.

All week, McIlroy's performance was compared to Tiger Woods' 15-shot blowout at Pebble Beach back in 2000. The margin at Congressional may not have been as impressive, but the performance certainly was.

"I was trying to go out there today and emulate him in some way," McIlroy said. "I played great for four days and I couldn't be happier."

McIlroy now has his first major championship, two months after a collapse so thorough, some wondered if he could recover. He took a four-shot lead into the final day of the Masters. But after hitting his 10th tee shot near a cabin on the grounds of Augusta National, he melted down, shot 80 and finished 15th.

His shot on the 10th hole of this major was hardly comparable. On the 214-yard par-3, a downhill shot over water, McIlroy knocked the ball above the hole, then watched as it stopped for a split second and started spinning — backward, backward, before stopping an inch or two from the hole. He pursed his lips. "Oooh," he said. Yeah, that was nice.

He tapped in for a birdie that got him to 17-under par at a tournament that had never seen a score lower than 12 under before Friday.

"That was the point in the round that I really felt it was mine to lose," McIlroy said.

He ended up at 16 under, coming short of the all-time major record of 19-under par — set by Woods at St. Andrews in 2000. But McIlroy put plenty of ink in that record book nonetheless.

He owns the scoring records for 36, 54 and 72 holes at the toughest test in golf and he became only the third player to break 70 in all four rounds of the U.S. Open.

He did it at age 22, the same age as Nicklaus when he won the first of his record 18 majors. The two have become friends and The Bear appreciates what he's been seeing.

"I think this kid's going to have a great career," Nicklaus said in an interview on NBC. "I don't think there's any question about it. He's got all the components."

Day ended up winning the real competition in this one — the race for second, and has now been runner-up in the first two majors of the year. Kevin Chappell, Lee Westwood, Y.E. Yang, and Robert Garrigus tied for third at 6 under.

Pretty much everyone outside of Westwood conceded this one was over before the day began, and as player after player came off the course, the testimonials poured in.

"As I've said before, I think he has probably the most talent I've ever seen from a golfer," said Luke Donald, the top-ranked player in the world, after finishing at 5- over par. "Lovely to watch him play, such a fluid motion, and he hits it far."

Said Phil Mickelson: "You can tell that Rory has had this type of talent in him for some time now, and to see him putting it together is pretty neat to see." He finished with a 71 on Sunday that left him 7 over.

And this from Graeme McDowell, last year's champion and a countryman of McIlroy: "Nothing this kid does ever surprises me. He's the best player I've ever seen."

McIlroy kept his head down throughout this round, sticking to his mental game plan of thinking about golf shots, not championships. Finally, as he walked to the 18th green, he waved and smiled to a gallery on hand for one of the most dominating performances the game has seen.

He became only the sixth player to shoot under par in all four rounds of a U.S. Open. Earlier, Garrigus became the fifth player to accomplish that feat — impressive, but a mere footnote on this day.

The dissection started right away, when McIlroy dug his approach shot on No. 1 out of a divot to 6 feet for a birdie. He made another one after hitting to tap-in range on the fourth hole to move to 16 under.

McIlroy didn't give a stroke back to par until No. 12 but it was only his third over the entire tournament — including his double bogey on No. 18 on Friday and a bogey on the 10th in the third round. As if to prove he was human, he three-putted the 17th green for another bogey. It was the first time he'd done that all week.

The Blue Course has been taking a beating all week despite measuring 7,574 yards — second longest in U.S. Open history.

"It's not really a U.S. Open golf course, to be honest," Martin Kaymer said.

And nobody took advantage better than McIlroy.

Amateur Watch

Patrick Cantlay, the 19-year old incoming sophomore from UCLA, claimed the medal for low amateur with a score of 75-67-70-72--284 (E) and put him in a .two-way tie for 21st with Ryan Palmer.

"It means so much because there's so much history," said Cantlay.". "Obviously it's my first U.S. Open, so it means a lot to me that I was able to compete well in my first one. You know, it's just exciting and it makes me feel good. It hasn't really digested yet, but it feels great."

Russell Henley, the recent grad from the University of Georgia, has already won a professional event as an amateur this year and he was looking to be the one of the few people in history to win back- to-back low amateur titles. A final round 75 left him 4 shots back of Cantlay and in a tie for 42nd place with former U.S. Open champ Lucas Glover and Korean Sunghoon Kang.

Brad Benjamin, from Rockford, Ill., had tough weekend carding 80 both days and finished in 72nd place.