Ryder Cup Flashback: When McIlroy Almost Messed Up The Miracle Of Medinah

Remember that epic, incredible, awe-inspiring ‘Miracle of Medinah’ at the 2012 Ryder Cup? Of course you do, but do you remember how Rory McIlroy almost ruined it all by missing his Sunday singles tee time?

With Europe trailing 10-6 and needing to get out of the blocks quickly, world number one at the time McIlroy was among the top-loaded singles line-up Jose Maria Olazabal was sending out to put some blue on the board.

However, as his tee time approached McIlroy was nowhere to be seen, and news soon broke that with less than half an hour to go he was not on the property and was in fact in a police car heading to Medinah after somehow managing to oversleep.

McIlroy later blamed the Golf Channel, as they’d continually stated his tee time against Keegan Bradley was 12:25 – but crucially they meant Eastern Time in the United States, where Medinah, near Chicago, operates on Central Time an hour behind so he was in fact heading out at 11:25.

“I’ve never been so worried driving to the golf course before,” McIlroy said. “Luckily there was a state trooper who gave me the escort to here. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have got here in time.”

You could mention that even for a 12:25 tee time he was cutting it far too fine considering the circumstances, but anyway, McIlroy shot out of the police car with about 10 minutes to spare.

In a scene more like a golfing stag do or an over-adventurous night out on a golf trip, McIlroy staggered onto the putting green to hit a few putts, munched down an energy bar, gave Olazabal a hug and went straight to the first tee.

The Northern Irishman sprayed his opening tee shot wide right, but McIlroy being McIlroy, he went on to beat Bradley 2&1 and play his part in pulling off the Seve-inspired Miracle of Medinah comeback.

Oh – and a nice sidebar is that a certain Erica Stoll helped McIlroy get to the course as part of her job working for the PGA of America – and she’s now Mrs McIlroy…

A relieved Olazabal even presented McIlroy with an alarm clock during their celebrations – he may not have been so generous had McIlroy turned up 15 minutes later and lost his point as a result.

However, it all turned out well for McIlroy, Olazabal and team Europe, and is one of the best Ryder Cup stories of recent times – and surely one unlikely to be repeated.