MEDINAH, Ill. — After the Ryder Cup was over, after the Europeans stunned the Americans 14 1/2 to 13 1/2 yesterday, U.S. captain Davis Love III bumped into Rory McIlroy amidst the celebratory bedlam on the 18th green, shook his hand and said, “Glad you made it on time.’’
McIlroy nearly missed his 11:25 a.m. (Chicago time) tee time when he curiously got confused with the one-hour time difference between Eastern and Central time.
Can you imagine if McIlroy had missed the tee time for his match against Keegan Bradley — which he would go on to win? It very well might have cost Europe the Ryder Cup.
As his tee time approached, there was no sign of McIlroy.
His caddie, J.P. Fitzgerald, was waiting for him with his clubs. His parents, Gerry and Rosie, were there. But there was no sign of McIlroy, the No. 1 player in the world.
And suddenly, at 11:14 a.m. 11 minutes before he was scheduled to tee off, McIlroy was driven into the club driveway with a police escort. He bounded out of the car and hurried into the clubhouse to put his shoes on, hit a few putts and went to the first tee.
“I looked at the tee times [Saturday] night and I must have saw them in Eastern time and I thought it was 12:25 instead of 11:25,’’ McIlroy said. “Walking out my hotel room door this morning at 11:00, and I get a phone call saying, ‘You’re on the tee in 25 minutes.’ I’ve never been so worried going to the golf course.
“Luckily there was a state trooper outside the lobby of the hotel that took me here and got me here a lot faster than we would have normally. I had just enough time to put my shoes on, have a couple of putts and go to the first tee.
“I told the trooper, ‘Just get me there.’ He was like, ‘Do you have motion sickness?’ I’m like, ‘No, I don’t care if I get sick, just get me to that first tee.’ ’’
Asked how fast the trooper drove, McIlroy said, “Fast enough.’’
When McIlroy arrived to the first tee, the huge gallery there chanted, “Central time zone,’’ making fun of him.
The stress of it all obviously did not bother McIlroy, who went on to defeat Bradley, who entered the day 3-0 in these matches, 2&1.
“I calmed down as soon as I got here,’’ McIlroy said. “It was probably really a good thing I didn’t have to think about it too much. I just went out and played and I played probably the best I’ve played all week. I still would have liked to have gotten here sooner, but I delivered my point for the team, and that was the most important thing.’’