The Irish Golf Club Gazette: 03/08/13

3/08/2013

Puerto Rico Halts Lowry

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Shane Lowry ended his second round at The Puerto Rico Open presented by seepuertorico.com with a one over par 73, having mixed four bogeys and three birdies at the Trump International Golf Club in San Juan. But it was not enough to recover from an opening day 77 and so his plans for another weekend of play on the PGA Tour was cut short.

Lowry had been seeking a top ten finish to play the Tampa Bay Championship next week but trailing 20 shots off the leader, Andres Romero, ended those hopes.

Peter Uihlein, who has played on four different professional golf tours in four different countries is scheduled to fly roughly 9,000 miles to an European Tour event in India next week.

"That'll be a short trek," he joked. But he may not need to make it.

Uihlein, a past U.S. Amateur champion, could work his way into next week's Tampa Bay Championship presented by EverBank if he finishes in the top 10 in Puerto Rico. So far, so good, as he's 12 under through the first two rounds in Puerto Rico, a total that left him as the clubhouse leader when he finished midway through Friday's second round at Trump International.

"It's one of my favorite golf courses. I love Innisbrook," Uihlein said about the Tampa course, which he played in 2011 on a sponsor's exemption. "But as of right now, I'm scheduled to go to India, so we'll see."

His play in Puerto Rico is a continuation of how Uihlein has performed this season. In the previous five weeks, he's played five events, with four top-20 finishes, including a tie for fourth at last week's Tshwane Open in South Africa on the European Tour.

On Friday, he shot a bogey-free 7-under 65 to follow up his opening 67.

"I felt like I've been playing well for a little while," Uihlein said. "And you know, it's the sixth week for me and I feel like every week's been good. It's just a matter of my scoring clubs, taking advantage of those."

The 23-year-old Uihlein also knows he's still in the learning stage of his professional career. Finding himself in contention will only accelerate the learning curve. At the Joburg Open in February, he was in the top 10 in the first three rounds before finishing tied for 19th. Last week, he remained in contention in the final round.

"Having the lead or being around the lead again is great," Uihlein said. "It's the way you're going to get more comfortable at it. The only way you're going to get more comfortable at it is to keep doing it. So hope I can keep playing well, and I'm excited."

GMAC Taming Blue Monster

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Graeme McDowell had Steve Stricker and Tiger Woods for company at the top of the WGC – Cadillac Championship leaderboard just past the midway point of his second round.

McDowell headed into day two tied with four players for the lead on six under and continued his bogey free exploits in conditions that once again suited scoring.

The 2010 US Open Championship Winner, starting on the tenth, began solidly with seven successive pars before picking up shots on 17 and four to join Stricker and Woods.

Stricker, meanwhile, also continued the solid form he showed yesterday, striking three birdies in an outward 33.

Yet the worrying sign for the rest of the field was how well Woods - a six time winner of this event, one of which came at Trump Doral - began.

Having looked initially solid with three pars, the World Number Two found the outstanding approach play that was the hallmark of yesterday’s birdie laden 66.

He gained a shot on the par three fourth following an iron to four feet, and Woods produced even better with a wedge at the next to set up a two-foot birdie putt.

In the end Woods just took the lead with his third birdie over the last four holes and his 12th over his last 25 here at Trump Doral.

Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson, meanwhile, are another stroke back, while four others, including Rickie Fowler and Keegan Bradley, are at 6 under.

With little wind, temperatures in the 70s and nothing but clear skies, conditions are perfect for scoring, and we've seen that so far with a flurry or birdies.

The course is actually playing to a slightly higher scoring average than it did on Thursday, but that could change as the day goes on.

In all, 45 of the 63 players in the field are under par at the moment.

While playing partner McDowell was producing an awesome display of consistency, another of the overnight leaders Sergio Garcia was enduring a rocky front nine, dropping four shots - including a double bogey on 16 - and picking up just one.

However, the Spaniard responded well on the way in, birdieing the first having narrowly missed his eagle attempt to remain in contention at four under.

WGC Cadillac Championship R2 Leaderboard

Still Miami Vice for McIlroy

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Rory McIlroy vowed to remain patient in his quest to regain top form after enduring another difficult day outside Miami.

While playing partner Tiger Woods was powering his way into a share of the first-round lead at the WGC-Cadillac Championship, McIlroy continued to struggle with his all-round game as he laboured to a one-over 73.

A week after he walked out of the Honda Classic citing toothache, the world No 1 began at Doral with three pars but then bogeyed the next two before getting a birdie putt to drop at the 15th - his sixth.

Rory gave the shot back at 18, but he atoned for a wayward drive at the par-five first with a remarkable second to 18 feet and rolled in the putt for a welcome eagle.

However, he then bogeyed the next three holes - two of them with three putts - although he salvaged respectability with birdies at the seventh and eighth to finish seven off the lead.

"It was a bit of a struggle to be honest," said McIlroy, who has promised never to repeat his walk-off at PGA National last week.

"I hit some good shots, I hit some not-so good shots. As I have been saying all week this is a work in progress, I am staying patient and I have another three rounds to work on it more and shoot a few good scores.

"I just had to play each hole as it came and shoot the best score possible. It was nice to sneak in a couple of birdies in the last three holes and make it look somewhat respectable, even though everyone seems to be going pretty low out there; it was a day where it was perfect scoring conditions.

"I wasn't putting as much pressure on myself and that's why I didn't get as frustrated. If I had played like that last week I would have been not so happy.

"But I understand it's a work in progress and hopefully it will come together soon."

McDowell Has Monster Hopes

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Tiger Woods was on his game, and so were most of the world's best golfers on Thursday in the first round of the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship, with the notable exception of No. 1 Rory McIlroy.

Woods made nine birdies on the TPC Blue Monster at Trump Doral for a 6-under 66 that put him in a five-way share of the lead with Masters champion Bubba Watson, former U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell, Sergio Garcia and Freddie Jacobson.

This World Golf Championship lived up to its name with Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker and Hunter Mahan among the big names one shot behind.

But it was another rough day for McIlroy, who hit only three fairways and made six bogeys that kept him at par or worse on a perfect day for scoring. Despite making a 15-foot eagle putt on the par-5 first hole, and lacing a 5-iron over the water for another eagle attempt on the par-5 eighth that narrowly missed, the best he could manage was a 73.

McIlroy has yet to break par this year.

"It was a bit of a struggle, to be honest," McIlroy said to Sky Sports. "Hit some good shots. Hit some not-so-good shots. As I've been saying all week, this is a work in progress and I'm working at it and I'm staying patient."

Coming off a pedestrian performance a week ago at The Honda Classic, Woods looked sharp in most aspects of his game, except for a few lapses with his chipping. He wasted two early birdies with a three-putt bogey on the 13th hole and a delicate flop shot that he mishit on the 14th, leading to another bogey. His chip up the slope on the third didn't reach the green for another bogey.

He holed two long birdie putts, including a 40 footer on the par-3 fourth hole, and missed four reasonable chances inside 15 feet. His final birdie was on the par-5 eighth, when he had to lay up from a fairway bunker and hit a wedge that stopped 2 feet from the hole.

"It was certainly a day that could have been a little lower," Woods said.

Just about everyone could say that in these conditions.

Garcia and McDowell were in the same group. Not only did they have bogey-free rounds, both birdied the same four holes. Jacobson made two eagles in a span of three holes, both times hitting a 5-wood onto the green to just over 12 feet.

Watson played in the group with Mickelson and Stricker, and they were a collective 16-under par.

Stricker had a chance to tie for the lead except he missed a 4-foot birdie putt on the final hole. Mickelson, as usual, kept it entertaining. He pulled his tee shot on the 17th hole and his ball stopped rolling after it traveled some 450 yards. He purposely took a free drop on the cart path to avoid the rough, and chipped that to about 5 feet for birdie.

"You hit the ball in as much trouble as I do off the tee, you learn to hit those kinds of shots and have enough practice at it," he said. "I knew what was going to happen."

McIlroy apologised during a press conference Wednesday, said it would never happen again and wanted to get back to being happy on the golf course. There weren't many smiles.

He didn't hit a fairway on the front nine (he started on No. 10), though two of those shots were in the first cut and led to birdie. But as much time as he has spent trying to rediscover that easy, balanced swing, it was clear he has neglected his short game. On the second hole, he had an 80-foot putt that he left 20 feet short.

"It was nice to sneak in a couple birdies on the last three holes and make it look somewhat respectable, even though everyone seems to be going pretty low out there today," McIlroy said.

Woods played two rounds with him at Abu Dhabi to start the year, and they were frequent playing partners during the FedExCup Playoffs last year. Woods said McIlroy looked "just a little bit defensive" with his swing.

"That happens, and we have all gone through stretches like this," Woods said. "It happens, and it happened to him last year in the middle of the year, and ended up all right at the end of the year. When you play golf for a very long time, you're going to have spells like this. You can't play well every week, even though you try. You're going to have ups and downs, and just got to battle through it."

Padraig Harrington signed for a four over par 76, with the only birdie on the opening hole, and then following the good start with four dropped shots by the turn.

Lowry Luckless in Puerto Rico

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Shane Lowry signed for a quadruple bogey eight on his 17th hole to cap a miserable opening round in the Puerto Rico Open on Thursday. A five -over par 77 left him 12 shots behind the leaders, Argentinian Andrew Romero and Australian Cameron Percy .

Portuguese Open winner Lowry will have been especially disappointed after his stated aim of getting into as many US Tour events as possible between now and and the end of May. A top-10 finish this week would get him into next week’s Tampa Bay Championship.

As one of nine top-100 ranked players in this week’s field, he would have rated his chances highly but bogeys at the fourth, eighth, ninth and 14th had left him struggling before the disaster at the 17th.

Americans Blayne Barber and John Curran were a shot off the lead at the Trump International club in Rio Grande, with Romero’s fellow Argentinian Angel Cabrero a further shot back, alongside American Bill Lunde and Steve LeBrun.

Romero made two late bogeys to grab a share of the lead with Cameron Percy at 7-under 65.

The Argentine golfer who won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in 2008, had an eagle and seven birdies on his first 15 holes to reach 9 under, then fell back with the bogeys on the par-4 seventh and par-5 eighth.

Percy, from Australia, had nine birdies and two bogeys on the Trump International course.

Blayne Barber, who made headlines for disqualifying himself after the first stage of q-school in 2012, and Jon Curran were a stroke back, and two-time major champion Angel Cabrera opened with a 67 to match Bill Lunde, Steve LeBrun, Brad Fritsch, Justin Bolli, Morgan Hoffmann, Brian Stuard, Peter Uihlein and Rafael Campo. Patrick Cantlay, the 20-year-old former UCLA player coming off a Web.com Tour victory last week in Colombia, shot 70.

South Korea's Si Woo Kim withdrew after a 79. The 17-year-old Kim, playing on a sponsor exemption, earned a TOUR card at q-school, but won't become a full TOUR member until he turns 18 in June. He missed the cut at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in his only other TOUR start of the year.

Romero has missed the cuts in four of his five starts this year, shooting 75-67 last week in the The Honda Classic.