The Rory Wrist Watch

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I spent more time than I'd like to think about looking at stories on Rory McIlroy's decision to play a shot from near a tree root during round one of the PGA and the coverage is shocking on a number of levels.

A) the sheer idiocy of the shot and lack of intervention by his caddie? Hardly mentioned!

B) the bravado of carrying on when he's reporting "sharp" pains? Amazingly, he was praised.

C) I've yet to find a photograph of the actual shot, including a look at Getty's site where they normally have things covered. There is, however, this video from the telecast posted on the official PGA site.

D) He shot 70. Makes you wonder what he would have shot healthy.

Now, I may be sensitive to this because I had a wrist injury from golf, but right now it's a struggle to see how the decision to play on was wise, much less worth praising (you'll see in a moment). I guess we'll find out Friday and beyond.

AP's Paul Newberry on Rory McIlroy's decision to play on:

McIlroy got into trouble when he drove it among the trees left of the third fairway, the ball stopping against a large, thick root sticking above the ground, about two inches wide. Instead of just punching back into the clearing, McIlroy chose to go aggressively at the flag with a 7-iron.

As soon as he struck the ball, he let the club fall out of his hands. Not soon enough. He began to shake his arm and flex the wrist. Within minutes, he asked for an ice compress, which he held on his wrist between shots.

In hindsight, not a good decision -- especially since he failed to escape the trees with his risky shot and wound up taking bogey anyway.

"It was dangerous," McIlroy conceded. "I think the tree was maybe a foot in front of the ball, and thought if I could make contact with the ball and just let the club go, I might get away with it. ... It would have been better to chip out sideways. I still made 5."

Lawrence Donegan on what rivetting television made. I actually forgot I was watching the first round of the PGA on TNT, usually a lock for a nap:

The injury was a terrible pity for the Northern Irishman, to say the least, but it made for great theatre as he played a succession of brilliant recovery shots while completing his swing with one hand on the club. It was not pretty but it was compelling stuff. Even US television, which is notoriously parochial, hardly diverted its gaze as he battled his way back to the clubhouse.

"The physio said it's your decision, if you want to play on and you feel comfortable doing that; but if not, there's no point in risking it," McIlroy said, conceding he had thought about pulling out midway through the round.

The Independent's James Corrigan:

Certainly the 22-year-old showed remarkable courage and extraordinary talent to post a one-under par 69, despite jarring his wrist on the third hole. But would all the grimacing, all the shots completed with one arm, be worth it?

Here's the statement on his MRI and status for Friday:

Rory McIlroy appeared to injure his right wrist during the first round at the PGA Championship when hitting a shot in which his ball was near the root of a tree. The 2011 U.S. Open winner went on to shoot even par while icing and getting treatment on the wrist throughout the first round. A spokesman for ISM (McIlroy’s management team) released the following statement –

“The initial diagnosis shows that Rory has strained a tendon in his right wrist. He will obviously rest it tonight and he will see how it feels in the morning on the range.”

McIlroy has an 8:35 am tee time on Friday. 

Kevin Garside gets close to mentioning Rory's caddy dilemma.

Was it only a fortnight ago that McIlroy was engulfed by a Twitter rumpus with BBC pundit Jay Townsend regarding his course management? It appeared obvious from the size of the thing, lurking in the undergrowth like some oaken reptile, that the root had a deal of menace stored within its ancient constitution.

Bill Pennington says the incident should ensure the caddy/course management topic lingers.

McIlroy’s decision to hit the ball off the root on what was just the third hole of a 72-hole championship should once again raise the issue of whether he is getting the most seasoned advice from his caddie, J. P. Fitzgerald. A gentle swing with a wedge, sending the ball sideways back into the fairway, would not have exposed McIlroy to the kind of serious wrist injury that can sideline a golfer for a year or more.

Steve Elling explains the possible rules violation regarding advice that some felt occurred after Rory talked to a "physio" who came out to the course to analyze his injury.

The PGA reviewed the replay and determined that the advice was unsolicited and did not materially impact the way McIlroy played the shot, either.

"It was a casual comment," Price said. "In order for it to be advice, he would have to have asked for it. It didn't affect the way he played the shot."

Price said they listened to the audio playback, too.

"All we could pick up was Rory has his back to the physio, the physio told Rory 'no,' Rory turned his head and shrugged. Then he turned back around, grabbed a club and hit the shot anyway.

"Essentially, it was a casual comment meant to avoid injury."

Dave Shedloski returns to the scene of the crime, writing that it's "already become a monument unto itself, a destination for some curiosity seekers in the gallery Thursday at the PGA Championship at Atlanta AC."

Meanwhile, back at The Root, there was obvious signs of trauma as well. McIlroy took a decent gauge out of the wood, and the wound was still fresh hours later. Fans walked up and took a look. "Is that it?" they would ask. Jim Nelson, a marshal stationed nearby, would proudly point it out to those inquiring about it, though no one wondered how the root felt.

Brian Wacker offers a salute to Rory's toughness, before ending his piece with a look at what has happened to the high profile wrist injuries of late.

If Rory McIlroy were American, he’d be likened to Paul Bunyan.

Scratch that; bad mythological folk hero choice with McIlroy injuring his right wrist on a tree. Perhaps Superman, or the Green Hornet since McIlroy is after all from the Emerald Isle, would be more accurate.

Whatever you want to call him, the legend grows.

What’s next? Will he walk across the water on the diabolical par-3 15th? Turn water into wine and chug it from the Wanamaker Trophy?

Jeff Babineau said Rory displayed "Irish grit," which I believe is an…oh I won't go there.

Though others urged him to be safe and stop playing – a plea caddie JP Fitzgerald made to him as McIlroy’s Titleist lay in a cavernous dirt hole on the left side of 12 – but the youngster forged on.

Pro football always will have Jack Youngblood playing on a broken leg; golf now has another tough-guy story to tell, too.

“They said it’s your decision,” McIlroy said. “If you want to play on and you feel comfortable doing that … but if not, there’s no point in risking it.”

What possibly was his rationalization for taking the risk? "It’s the last major of the year,” he said. “I’ve got, what, six or seven months to the Masters?”

Jason Sobel also praises the character defined by playing the shot from behind the root.

This is the type of audacity we should encourage from the world’s best golfers. It was hardly a career-defining shot; no swing in the early part of an opening round ever is. It was, however, the type of shot that defines a player’s character.

So, too, was his choice to finish out the round. McIlroy didn’t come to this conclusion independently, of course – he consulted with trainers on multiple holes, iced his wrist and had it taped up to prevent further damage – but the resolution was all his own.

“They said, ‘It's your decision; if you want to play on and you feel comfortable doing that, but if not, there's no point in risking it,’” he later said. “It's the last major of the year. I've got, what, six or seven months to the Masters. So I might as well try and play through the pain and get it over and done with.

Rory's post round interview transcript is here.