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Monday, 23 September 2024

Rory McIlroy lost the BMW PGA Championship because he doesn't have a 3-iron

Once again, this is nothing to do with cats 😎 but I played a lot of golf in my youth and got quite good at it. Golf followers know that Rory McIlroy lost the BMW PGA Championship this Sunday to an eagle in a play-off with Billy Horschel. However, in my opinion, he lost the championship on the 18th hole of the fourth round; the final hole of the championship proper before the play-off.

He hit a three wood off the tee to the middle of the fairway to directly attack the large green which is over water. As I recall, it was about a 250+ yard carry into a slight wind. Here is the shot.


Rory, as I further understand it, carries a driver, then a three wood, and then a four iron. And then the usual irons and I presume a few wedges. He does not carry a three iron.

He hit his four iron as hard as he could and in doing so overhit it slightly and mistimed the shot slightly. The shot was hooked and it fell short of the water in the rough. He was fortunate because it was destined for the water.

But, if he had carried a three iron he would have carried it onto the green in my honest opinion. This would have left two putts for a birdie to win the championship. In the event, he pitched from the rough onto the green over the water leaving himself about 15 feet from the hole with a tricky left to right putt which he missed.

In the play-off he did the same thing again but the 4-iron was adequate because his 3-wood tee shot was a little further down the fairway as he carried it over the trees to cut off the corner.  He could get a four iron home from there. If Rory McIlroy had carried a 3-iron he would have won.

P.S. Billy putted superbly throughout the tournament and that last putt to win was destined for the hole. He was awesome.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

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