Grinder McGirt takes his best shot at Shriners Open
He signed the scorecard and then stopped at his golf bag for a quick check of things, and when William McGirt noticed there were only 20 messages awaiting on his cellphone, he was a bit surprised.
I’m not certain one was from his father, because I’m not sure Curtis McGirt wasn’t still in a bit of shock.
“He’s probably sitting in his recliner right now going crazy,” McGirt said. “He’s probably clicking refresh and going, ‘Is that really accurate? Am I seeing the right scores?'”
The phone kept buzzing with incoming messages as a guy you would consider a classic PGA Tour grinder explained how he just tied a career-low round of 62 that gave him the lead at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open for about as long as it took you to read this sentence.
McGirt, 36, was correct in believing his 14-under-par total of 270 wouldn’t hold up as groups continued to finish at TPC Summerlin, where Smylie Kaufman shot 16 under over four days to win the annual event.
It left McGirt tied for eighth place on a leaderboard in which nine names finished 14 under or better, still searching for his first win on the tour since turning professional in 2004. But if the stars eventually align, and he puts together more rounds like the exceptional 9-under he executed Sunday and sits alone on top when all shots have been taken on a particular weekend, winning here would rank among his most desired locations.
And not because of the weather and buffets.
Curtis McGirt was born with clubfeet, and as a boy had surgery at the Shriners Hospital for Children in Greenvile, S.C. He feet never grew much after that — he wears a size 3½, 5E shoe today — and over the years lacked motion in his ankles and struggled walking across hilly and soft surfaces.
But never lost on his son was the help those at Shriners offered his father decades ago, and playing this well at the event sponsored by those 22 amazing hospitals ranks among his most memorable efforts.
“The Shriners is such a great organization for all it does for kids,” William said. “It’s crazy to think the biggest problem they have is finding enough patients. Children are born with disabilities and problems every day. You would think there would be enough patients. I’ve tried to jump in and help them as much as I can because it hits so close with what they did for my dad. It’s easy to jump in and support them, and they’ve been very supportive of me as well.
“If I had to pick one place to win my first event, it would be Greensboro, Charlotte, Hilton Head or here. The first three, I grew up in North Carolina and now live in South Carolina. But here, it would be great simply because of everything (Shriners) stands for.”
He shot a career-low 62 at the Wyndham Championship in August, and you couldn’t have a found a soul here Sunday morning who believed McGirt would match that number in the final round.
The course played tougher this week than its usual inviting form, so when McGirt made birdie at the par-3 eighth, few outside his group took notice.
His next eight holes went like this: birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie, par, birdie, eagle.
Or, as only a PGA Tour player can describe it: “I made a good one on 9, hit it close on 10, made a good one on 11, hit it close on 12, had a great two-putt from short of the green on 13 to make a 15-footer there, hit a great one on 14, I still don’t know how that one missed, had to take my medicine on 15, hit it to about 30 feet and made that, and then the bomb on 16.”
Well, OK then.
Eventually, everyone took notice.
McGirt figured that 15 or 16 under would be good enough to win the tournament, so he needed to make an 11½-foot birdie putt on 18 to have him stick around the course for the field to finish, or at least waste some time awaiting an 11 p.m. flight home.
He missed the putt, missed a chance at a career-low score, missed it and bent at the waist for a good long while.
His best Tour finish is second in 2012 and 2013. He’s a grinder who attended Wofford College in South Carolina, one of those guys nobody knows until he shows up one Sunday and tears up the back nine.
“Starting where I started the day and ending up where I did, I’m tickled to death,” McGirt said. “It was a great day.”
He was leading the tournament at that point.
A few minutes later, he wasn’t.
McGirt shot the day’s second-lowest score. A rookie named Smylie had the best one at 10 under and was holding a trophy as the sun set over TPC Summerlin.
Either way, Papa McGirt was going crazy back home in his recliner, all the while refreshing those scores.
— Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be a heard on “Seat and Ed” on Fox Sports 1340 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Follow him: @edgraney
