There is no fan who comes to watch Ángel Ayora‘s game who doesn’t arrive saying they want to see the new Rory. It’s a widespread idea. It’s supported by a Chinese fan named Aprilia who travels to 70 percent of the DP World Tour tournaments. Equally convinced is Cameron, a Scot living in Dubai who hasn’t missed this event for 14 years. Even a father tells his child when asking for an autograph right after finishing, “This is the new Rory.” It’s the hair, of course, reminiscent of that beardless McIlroy who was already astonishing on the European circuit. But above all, it’s the swing, the flexibility, the power, the aesthetics… With an extra four and a half inches in height, of course.
The new Rory had already shown that he can be very good when everything goes his way, in the right order, hitting one great shot after another. Everyone already knew that. Today he also demonstrated that when the twists and turns appear, and some were hairpin, he is capable of donning the Gladiator suit and pushing forward. He made the cut with style. Of course, rounds of 64 always leave a mark. But so do rounds like today. Of course, there’s a lot of pressure to win a tournament, but there’s also, and in gigantic proportions, pressure for what he did this Friday. He made the cut when with three holes to go, he was out.
The truth is Ayora started the day like a rocket. He told himself after signing the birdie on the 4th that things were looking good for a six or seven under… If we’re already here and then the back nine with three par 5s remain… You know, counting your chickens before they hatch. Sometimes, they seem inevitable. He went three under par in four holes. On a roll.
However, the man with the hammer was waiting around the corner. After hitting an extraordinary drive on the 6th hole (no one hit it as long as he did today: 300 metres), he missed the second shot. The idea was to aim ten metres to the left of the flag on the good side, but ambition, eagerness, and that colossal start made him change his mind almost instinctively, with the 8-iron in hand, and go for the flag with more determination. Too much. He missed to the right, a horrible spot, a skull spot, and put it in a bush, in the bushes as they’re always called (by the way, personal confession, I just realised that the former US presidents were named Bush). Moving on…
The mistake ended in a double bogey. It practically threw away all the good he had done before. As if that weren’t enough, on the 9th another bogey fell, three putts from less than five metres. Another unexpected blow. Back to square one with nine holes to play. He made a birdie on the 10th, but quickly another bogey came on the 11th, again missing on the wrong side. No one could leave it close today from the right bunker on this par 3. These are big mistakes, the kind we’ve also seen Rory make many times and for which he undoubtedly hasn’t won as much as he could have. Or doesn’t the concept of Rorylandia ring a bell?
Precisely, very McIlroy-like too, the comeback started from a new mistake. On the 15th he missed on the wrong side, in this case the left, and made a miraculous recovery. Crazy. The matter seemed finished and suddenly a new door to hope opened. Three holes remain and two birdies are needed. The seven lives of the new Rory.
Not content with two, Ángel made three and made the cut comfortably. The birdie on the 16th was wild. Very Rory-like. He hit a majestic tee shot and his second shot, a superb 6-iron, ended two metres from the flag. Exceptional. Immediately after, another fabulous recovery on the 17th for birdie and finally a birdie on the 18th, hitting three and sinking a great putt of about three metres.
It was an epic cut, gladiator-like, although perhaps the most important thing is that, despite the joy of playing the weekend in his first tournament appearance, Ayora was very aware of the mistakes he made today. That’s how you progress. “It can’t be, I can’t make the mistake on the 6th. That shot is amateur, but a 5 or 6 handicap amateur. It can’t be. I have to learn. It’s experience. That surely doesn’t happen to Sullivan,” the Andalusian assures Ten Golf in reference to his veteran playing partner who has placed second.
Because yes, even Rory has had to learn, and often the hard way. It’s what it takes.
