8/14/2012

Bagman JP Dubs McIlroy Destroyer


Rory McIlory was dubbed ‘Destroyer’ by caddie JP Fitzgerald after his USPGA win.

McIlroy, 23, repeated the eight-shot drubbing he handed the opposition at the US Open last year — but this was even better.

Rain-softened Congressional was tailor-made for McIlroy’s power and high ball flight last year but this time he had to answer the doubts over whether he could handle high winds and unforgiving greens.

He provided the perfect answer and Fitzgerald insisted he was not surprised.

He said: “I called it at The Open. I said the way this guy is hitting the ball he is going to destroy fields.

“He was playing that well in practice, I knew if it wasn’t going to be that week it would happen soon.

“Yes, you could say he destroyed everyone at Congressional but the conditions here were very different. You wouldn’t have thought they would suit him.

“You can see he has this ability now to hit shots like the four-iron he held up against the wind on Friday.

“That is the result of hard work.”

Fitzgerald also said that McIlroy refused to let his intensity drop.

He added: “We got to seven clear standing on the 18th and Rory said to me: ‘We won our last Major by eight — let’s do it again’.

“Then he made that 20-footer for birdie at the last. Incredible.”

Padraig and Graeme Lead McIlroy Tributes



Rory McIlroy’s fellow Irish Major Champions Padraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell led the tributes for the 23 year old history-maker after the season’s final Major saw the 23 year old from Holywood crowned the US PGA Champion.

McIlroy’s record-breaking eight-shot win over David Lynn at Kiawah Island further underlined his staggering ability, and Harrington believes the curly haired one can go on to challenge the intimidating Major record of the great Jack Nicklaus – the man whose US PGA record-winning margin Rory eclipsed on Sunday evening in South Carolina.

“At this stage, people could be saying I was right when I was saying he could challenge Jack,” said Harrington, who still holds the bragging right over his young colleague with three Major titles to his name.

“To get to Tiger's 14 or Jack's 18, you really do have to start doing it when you're in your early 20s, because they don't come around as easy as people think they do. You know, it's prolific winning to win one a year, so he has another 20 years ahead of him, maybe 25 years of golf.

“He's lapped the field twice now. That's two Majors where he has lapped the field and the only other person that's ever done that in Majors in my time has been Tiger. Rory has done it twice now and that's quite impressive.

“He won the U.S. Open last year and he has not had an easy ride of it since then. It brings a lot of pressure with it and I think winning his second Major is going to make things a lot easier for him. I think he'll be a better player for winning this time around.

“The last time heaped a lot of pressure on him and I think winning a second time now will help him relax in that position and make it a lot easier on him going forward; to handle being the Number One player in the world.

McDowell will always have one over his Ryder Cup team-mate due to the fact “my name will always be above his on that US Open trophy”, but the Portrush man concurs with Harrington that McIlroy is a very special player.

“He's a hell of a talented player,” said McDowell. “He's had a few months off by his standards, so you could say he's back to his game. I've been saying it for years how good he is. He showed us at Congressional how good he is; he showed by getting to Number One in the world this year after winning the Honda Classic how good he is, and here we are again.

“Rory was already a star of the game but he's a real superstar now. He's going to be the player that kids look up to; the player that kids measure their own games by. Ten years ago it was Tiger Woods. It still is Tiger Woods to a certain extent, but now we've got superstars like Rory McIlroy for kids to be looking at.

“Young kids now will be looking at how Rory swings the club, how he strikes the golf ball, how he chips with just incredible, touch and feel and technique, and how he has learned how to putt and how to score. And he does it all with a great attitude and great charisma and great character. That's pretty much in a nutshell: he's great for the game, an absolute breath of fresh air for the game of golf. He’s a superstar.



Love Names Ryder Cup Backroom


Davis Love III has completed his backroom team for next month's Ryder Cup match by naming Scott Verplank and Jeff Suman as his final two assistant captains.

They join Fred Couples and Mike Hulbert for the match at Medinah Country Club in Chicago on September 28-30, when Europe under Jose Maria Olazabal's leadership will try to retain the trophy they won back at Celtic Manor two years ago.

Olazabal has yet to name any of his four assistants, preferring to wait until he knows certain individuals cannot make the side on points.

Miguel Angel Jimenez, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn and Darren Clarke are thought to be front-runners, with McGinley also being the favourite to succeed Olazabal as skipper for the 2014 contest at Gleneagles.

Love also today gave strong hints that Hunter Mahan, Steve Stricker and Jim Furyk will be three of his four wild cards and that Rickie Fowler may edge Dustin Johnson for the final spot.

Stricker is Tiger Woods's obvious partner, Love said that Furyk "can be paired with anybody" and he added that Fowler and Bubba Watson were the side's clowns in Wales.

"They had a lot of fun - they loosened up our team," Love commented. "Obviously Bubba and Rickie go well together in everything they do, on and off the golf course. Maybe not that well in those videos, but they go very well together."

The pair have done a music video with Mahan, the player whose defeat to Graeme McDowell cost America defeat and who finished the American points race just outside the top eight.

He was ninth, Stricker 10th, Furyk 11th and Fowler 12th, with Johnson down in 15th after missing part of the season - including The Masters - through injury.

"We are going to need some guys with experience, that's obvious," Love added. "When you look at our top 15 or 20, some names obviously jump out at you - like Hunter has won twice this year.

"Hard to believe he didn't get in there on points with the year he's had."

Love names his choices on September 4 after the first two events of the FedEx Cup play-offs.

That gives some others the chance to impress, although Love did say that he was asked by the PGA of America not to announce anybody before then.

"We wanted September 4 to be fun," he stated.