Roundup: Top Three Will Tee Off in Rare Unit
“Well, in Game 1 it was a power twosome because Bosh wasn’t doing much,” said McIlroy, who said he planned to follow the N.B.A. finals this week in his down time at Merion Golf Club. In Game 1, Bosh played as if he were a 6-foot-1 point guard and not a 6-11 center, taking four 3-pointers, all of which he missed in a loss to the Spurs. McIlroy, ranked No. 2 in the world, is part of a golf power threesome at the 113th United States Open. He is in a group for rounds Thursday and Friday with No. 1 Tiger Woods and No. 3 Adam Scott. It is not often that the world’s top three golfers are in the same field of a men’s event, much less the same group. It is a treat that the United States Golf Association has served before to the golf-watching public. “It’s a cool idea and I’m just happy to be a part of it,” McIlroy said, adding, “I like it because you’re in a group like that, there’s a lot of buzz and a lot of atmosphere around it and it gets you focused from the first shot.” There is no comparing the power threesomes of the Heat and the one at Merion, McIlroy said. “Those guys have got the luxury of playing off one another,” he said, adding, “We’re trying to beat one another.” WOODS’S LAST MAJOR The last major title Tiger Woods won was five years ago, when he beat Rocco Mediate in a playoff at the United States Open while competing on a broken leg. Reminiscing about the victory earlier this year, Woods said: “I remember several things. No. 1 that comes to my mind every time I look at it or see highlights of it is just the pure pain that I was in. I don’t ever want to experience that again. That was a very, very difficult week.” In June 2008, Rory McIlroy was a 19-year-old pro who was trying to qualify for events on the European Tour. He watched the Sunday telecast because a friend, Lee Westwood, was in contention. “Then, obviously, Tiger holed the putt on the final green and beat Rocco in the playoff,” McIlroy said, adding: “I think there was a lot of people pulling for Tiger. He was playing on a broken leg, pretty much, so I was definitely pulling for Tiger. It was probably one of the best performances golf has ever seen, if not sport in general.” LONG COMMUTE This year’s United States Open is set up like a progressive party, with the practice range on the West Course and the tournament on the East Course. The practice range is roughly a mile from the clubhouse, and negotiating the distance between the two can be a challenge. Players are being advised to allow at least 20 minutes to get to their tees, which is the time it took for Ernie Els to make the trek Monday because of security stops and road closures. “It is going to present some logistical issues for some players, especially when a lot of them border on obsessive-compulsive when it comes to their schedule,” said Notah Begay, a former Tour winner working as an analyst for Golf Channel. Rory McIlroy described the journey as no big deal. Parking on the West Course, however, was another story. “I drove in and I could hardly get in the car park because it was so wet,” he said. “The wheels were spinning and the car was going sideways.”