Letter from Valhalla: McIlroy heads into PGA Championship with omens pointing to 2014
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Long before Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson found themselves on the bristly opposite ends of golf’s political divide, there was tension. It first bubbled up in the late gloaming before darkness fell on the 72nd hole at Valhalla Golf Club at the 2014 PGA Championship.
A two-hour Sunday rain delay had created a race against daylight as McIlroy rallied from an early final-round slip and charged ahead on a back nine that saw Mickelson, Rickie Fowler and Henrik Stenson all hold a share of the lead at one point. Heading in near darkness to the 18th tee with a two-shot lead, McIlroy was desperate try to finish without having to sleep on it until Monday morning.
McIlroy pleaded with PGA of America officials to let him hit his tee shot on 18 before they blew the horn to suspend play. The problem was, Mickelson and Fowler were up ahead in the fairway carefully assessing their second shots into the par-5 as they needed eagles to catch the leader behind them. They, too, were waiting behind a group in front of them as groups were piling up on the hole in a hurry to finish.
“Yeah, I’d say I’m a pretty, you know, nonconfrontational person,” McIlroy said last week. “I’m not a huge fan of conflict, but when push comes to shove, I will. That was one of those times when I needed to sort of assert my will on a situation.”
The PGA officials acquiesced to McIlroy’s wishes and radioed ahead for Mickelson and Fowler to move out of the way to allow McIlroy to tee off – a move that would give him the option of finishing the hole if he chose. Mickelson and Fowler conceded to the gesture, but it got weirder when officials then allowed the last two groups to hit their approaches at the same time into where the third-to-last group was already playing the par-5, with the bizarre scene of six players walking up the final fairway at the same time in the dark.
The looks on Mickelson’s and Fowler’s faces at the unusual gangsome demand gave up the fact they were not too pleased with the power move, though neither openly complained about it after.
“It’s not a big deal either way,” Mickelson said in brushing off the perceived conflict. “They have a chance to finish, it was no big deal."
"We were cool with hitting the tee shot; we weren’t expecting the approach shots,” said Fowler. “Typically, if it’s getting dark and they are going to blow the horn, you at least get the guys off the tee and it gives them the opportunity to play. We weren’t expecting the approach shots. So however you look at it, it is what it is.” But it was a big deal, and McIlroy knew it.
“I think if I wasn’t as, I guess, as pushy as I was, I would have had to sleep on that lead and on that tee shot overnight,” he said. “I just didn’t want to do that. I think the guys up ahead were pretty unhappy with how it all unfolded. I got the result that I was looking for in the end and that’s all that matters.”
With McIlroy standing just off the green after hitting his approach into the greenside bunker, Mickelson nearly holed his eagle chip and Fowler narrowly missed a lengthy eagle putt as both settled for birdies. That allowed McIlroy to hit up out of the bunker and two-putt for the par and victory.
McIlroy celebrated his third consecutive victory, having won the Open Championship at Hoylake the month before and the World Golf Championship event at Firestone in between.
“Better than everyone else right now,” Mickelson said of the 25-year-old McIlroy. “Yeah, he's good. Really good.”
“He's playing quite good right now,” said Fowler. “Best player in the world, hands down. We'll see if we can sneak one away from him at some point.”
Even when McIlroy accidentally fumbled the lid on the Wanamaker Trophy in the trophy presentation illuminated by flashbulbs, there was no sense that the moment would be his last major championship celebration for a decade.
He returns to Valhalla 10 years later still looking for major victory No. 5. Even Mickelson, at age 50, has won a PGA Championship since at Kiawah in 2021 – a venue where McIlroy dominated to win his second major in 2012.
There are similarities to 2014. McIlroy comes to Louisville sporting two consecutive victories at the Zurich Classic (partnered with Shane Lowry) and last week in the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow where he pulled away with a dominating weekend performance.
“I’ve been sort of banging this drum for the last few years, but I’m a way better player now than I was back then,” McIlroy said after his win in Charlotte.
“I haven’t had the major record to back that up, but I’ve had the wins, I’ve done everything else there is to do in the game since 2014. The only thing I need to do is get another major. You know, a win like this going into the PGA Championship next week is a good way to prep for that.”
