3/11/2013

McIlroy Sticks to Master Plan

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Rory McIlroy will resist the urge to add events to his schedule ahead of the Masters Tournament after getting back to his best on the final day of the WGC - Cadillac Championship.

The two time Major Champion headed to Trump Doral with the eyes of the golfing world upon him following his decision to walk off midway through the second round in last week's Honda Classic.

But focus has returned to his golf, which got better as the week wore on in Miami - culminating in an outstanding 65 on the Blue Monster course today.

He said: "I guess that was what I needed to do this week, because I made plenty of birdies and a couple of eagles and stuff. It was the bogeys and the others that were killing me. 

"So to play a round out there today with the conditions the way they are, you know, was very pleasing. 

"I think most of you guys know, I probably wear my heart on my sleeve a bit with my golf. If I have a bad round, it's sort of like the end of the world, but if I play a good one, I'm happy again. 

"You know, that's just the way it goes. I was pretty down about my game coming into this week, but a few days like I've played, you know, it does my confidence a world of good."

McIlroy's next event - and only one between now and the Masters - will be the Houston Open that gets under way on March 28.

Speaking about his calendar building up the the year's first Major Championship, which begins on April 11 at Augusta National, McIlroy added: "I'm going to keep it the way it is.

"I'm looking forward to putting some hard work in over the next few weeks and I'm going to Houston and get ready for Augusta."
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Irish Trio Head for India

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Michael Hoey, Peter Lawrie and Gareth Maybin are the Irish players entered for the Avantha Masters this week in India, where they will be part of a host of European Tour champions, led by the man who has been Number One an historic eight times, Colin Montgomerie.

Of the 156-man field assembling in ‘Incredible India’, 50 have put their names on European Tour titles.

That kind of pedigree will be required for a European Tour Member to lift the beautiful Avantha Masters trophy on Sunday evening as they go head-to-head with the best players from the Asian Tour and the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI).

No fewer than 38 Asian Tour winners, including four Order of Merit champions, are poised to make the Avantha Masters an intriguing contest between the two continents.

Montgomerie, the most prolific British winner in European Tour history, will make his first appearance in the event at Jaypee Greens Golf & Spa Resort, and he will be joined in Noida, near New Delhi, by his fellow former European Ryder Cup stars Niclas Fasth of Sweden, Ignacio Garrido of Spain, England’s David Howell, Italy’s Edoardo Molinari, Frenchman Thomas Levet and Welshman Philip Price.

Spearheading the Asian Challenge will be Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee, the Indian duo of Jyoti Randhawa and Jeev Milkha Singh and China’s Liang Wen-chong, who are all Asian Tour Order of Merit champions.

Jaidee, who won his fifth European Tour title in last year’s ISPS Handa Wales Open, has enjoyed a strong start to new season, finishing third in the Volvo Golf Champions and tied ninth in both the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship and the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.

Singh, who held off Molinari’s younger brother Francesco to win the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open last July, will lead the Indian challenge as he attempts to win a fifth European Tour title.

Asia’s Number One in 2006 and 2008 is joined in the field by compatriot Shiv Kapur, who is going for a double on home soil after winning the Gujarat Kensville Challenge on the European Challenge Tour last month.

Kapur is looking to become only the seventh different player to win on The European and Challenge Tours in the same season.

Both Kapur and Singh will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of countryman S.S.P Chowrasia, who claimed the 2011 Avantha Masters title after overhauling overnight leader Robert Coles with a round of 67 on the final day to prevail by a single stroke.

Prior to that, Chowrasia became the first Indian to win a European Tour event on home soil – and only the third, after Arjuna Atwal and Jeev Milkha Singh, to win one anywhere – when he captured the EMAAR-MGF Indian Masters title in 2008.

Chowrasia was succeeded as Avantha Masters champion last year by South African Jbe Kruger, who won his maiden European Tour title 12 months ago, finishing two shots clear of Germany’s Marcel Siem and Spaniard Jorge Campillo. 

Coincidentally, both Kruger and Chowrasia stand at five feet five inches and are the smallest two players on The European Tour, but both produced big performances to win at the tournament’s previous host venue, DLF Golf and Country Club

This year’s event, which again carries a prize-fund of €1.8 million, is the European Tour’s first visit to the Greg Norman-designed course at Jaypee Greens Golf & Spa Resort, which at 7,347 yards is India’s longest golf course.



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Rory Rebounds with 65

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Rory McIlroy signed for a 7-under par 65 at TPC Blue Monster at Doral, where he ended the week at the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship in eighth place.

"I was pretty down about my game coming into this week,," McIlroy said. "A day like today felt like a long way away if I'm honest."

Only a week ago, McIlroy had walked off the golf course in the middle of his second round at The Honda Classic, and left many open questions over his golf swing.

This week McIlroy answered the questions then let his clubs do the rest.

After breaking par for the first time this year earlier in the week, McIlroy opened on Sunday with an eagle on the par-5 first before adding five more birdies the rest of the day.

"A few days like I've played, it does my confidence a world of good," McIlroy said. "I probably wear my heart on my sleeve a bit with my golf. If I have a bad round, it's sort of like the end of the world, but if I play a good one, I'm happy again."

With the Masters five weeks away, McIlroy has reason to smile again.

Rory plays the Ernie Els' benefit event on Monday for the Els for Autism Foundation before spending next weekend with girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki in Miami. Next it is the Shell Houston Open before heading to Augusta the week before the tournament.

"I always think when I'm playing bad that it's further away than it is," McIlroy said of his play. "That's just where I have to stay patient and let whatever happens, happen, and know that if I put in the hard work, that the results will bear fruit; whether that's sooner or later, it doesn't really matter."


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GMAC Tiger Chase Proves Elusive

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Graeme McDowell, started the final round four shots behind leader Tiger Woods, made a birdie on the opening hole, but never got any closer. McDowell had third place to himself until he went for the green on the 18th hole and found the water - to make a  double bogey. The final round of 72 pushed him into into a four-way tie for third that cost him $172,500.

"The way Tiger was playing, I was always in chase mode," McDowell said. "He was always going to be a tough guy to catch. Fair play to him. He played fantastic golf the last couple of days."

So one year after Tiger Woods hobbled off TPC Blue Monster, he picked up the pace in his march to the Masters. Woods delivered two quick birdies to take the drama out of Doral, and two late bogeys only made his victory in the Cadillac Championship seem closer than it really was. 

Woods had full control of his game and never let anyone get closer than three shots until he had locked up his 17th World Golf Championship title. With a conservative bogey that didn't matter on the final hole, he closed with a 1-under 71.

Woods moves to No. 2, behind Brandt Snedeker, in the PGA TOUR's FedExCup standings. For the first time in five years, he has two wins before the Masters.

And both of them were dominant.

"That's how I know I can play," Woods said. "That's the thing. To be able to bring it out a couple times so far this year -- and then be able to close and get the Ws on top of that -- that's nice. Any time I can win prior to Augusta, it always feels good."

And to think it was one year ago Sunday that Woods withdrew after 11 holes in the final round at Doral because of tightness in his left Achilles tendon, the same injury that had cost him to sit out most of the previous summer. It created uncertainty about his health and whether he could ever get his game back.

Woods now has five wins in the last year, the most of anyone in the world, and he can return to No. 1 with a win at Bay Hill in two weeks.

He won by two shots over Steve Stricker, who might want to claim a share of this trophy.

Woods ran into Stricker on the putting green Wednesday afternoon, and in a 45-minute session, Stricker helped him with his posture over putts. Woods left feeling as good as he did at Torrey Pines, where he won by four shots. And it showed. Woods made 27 birdies this week, one short of his personal best on the PGA TOUR, and he took the fewest putts (100) over 72 holes in any TOUR event.

"Thank you to Steve for the putting lesson," Woods said at the trophy presentation. "It was one of those weeks where I felt pretty good about how I was playing, made a few putts and got it rolling."

Stricker, playing a part-time schedule, picked up his second runner-up finish in just three starts. He closed with a 68, and had no regrets about offering Woods some help.

"At times you kick yourself," Stricker said with a laugh. "He's a good friend. We talk a lot about putting. It's good to see him playing well."

Asked if he would have won without that chance meeting with Stricker, Woods hedged a little.

"I would like to say I probably would have, but ..." he said with a smile. "I've been putting at home and it just still hadn't felt right. I still was a little bit off. ... He basically got me in the same position that I was at Torrey. So once he put me in there where I felt comfortable, I said, 'Well, this is not too foreign. This is what I was a month or so ago.' And I started rolling it and it felt really, really good."

The Masters is a month away, and Woods is sure to be the favorite.

"Majors and World Golf Championships are the best because you know you are playing against the best players," Woods said. "That's what makes wins like this special. That's why I love to compete."

Rory McIlroy, the No. 1 player in the world, showed signs of recovering from his rough start to the season. He had a 65 and tied for eighth.

Phil Mickelson (71), Sergio Garcia (69) and Adam Scott (64) also tied for third.

Woods improved to 41-2 on the PGA TOUR when he had the outright lead going into the final round, the last two wins with McDowell at his side. Woods last won while ahead at Bay Hill a year ago.

Woods finished at 19-under 269 and earned $1.5 million in winning this World Golf Championship for the seventh time.

McIlroy's week ended on a happy note.

Not only did he finish the tournament, he might have turned the corner with a bogey-free 65. McIlroy opened with a 7-iron into 18 feet for eagle, which he called one of the best shots he hit. He shot a 32 on the back nine for a round that surprised him considering how far away he felt when he arrived at Doral.

"Just goes to show, it's not as far away as you think," McIlroy said. "That's been one of my problems. I always think when I'm playing bad that it's further away than it is. That's just where I have to stay patient ... and know that if I put in the hard work, that the results will bear fruit. Whether that's sooner or later, it doesn't really matter."

McIlroy said he won't add a tournament the next two weeks, returning at the Shell Houston Open before going to the Masters. He is signed up for the member-guest a week from Monday at The Medalist Club, presumably as the guest of former NBA great Michael Jordan.

"He's asked me, so depending on what my schedule is and where I have to be ... we'll see," he said.

Scott had the low round of the tournament with eight birdies in his round of 64.

That's what McDowell, Mickelson and Stricker would have needed to have any chance of catching Woods. As he did early in third round, McDowell gave it his best shot, only to have Woods answer on every occasion.

McDowell two-putted for birdie on the par-5 opening hole as Woods blasted a shot from a buried lie at the back of the green well past the pin and off the green. He had to chip close just to save par. McDowell hit his approach on the second hole to 7 feet and looked as if he might pick up another shot.

In what could have been the most significant putt Woods made, he buried an 18-footer for birdie.

"It was important to make that," Woods said.

That's how it went all weekend. Woods never gave anyone a chance, and he didn't give anyone much hope. His lead was back to four shots, he hit an 8-iron to 4 feet on the par-3 fourth hole, and no one seriously challenged him the rest of the way.

Mickelson hit a 200-yard shot into the breeze and over the water to a foot for a tap-in birdie on the par-5 eighth to get within four shots with 10 holes to play. He missed far too many short putts, however, making bogey on the ninth and 11th holes to fall too far back to matter.

That allowed another easy walk up the 18th hole for Woods to collect another WGC title, another seven-figure check, and offer another reminder that he is closer than ever to getting back to the top of golf.

Woods now has won more than $24 million in the WGCs alone since the series began in 1999, winning 42 percent of the tournaments. This was his 76th career win on TOUR, leaving him six short of the record 82 wins by Sam Snead. He now has more wins than Mickelson and Vijay Singh combined.


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