The Irish Golf Club Gazette: APinv

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3/19/2016

A Good Day as McIlroy Fires 66

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Rory McIlroy eased any concerns about the state of his game heading into the first major of 2016 as Jason Day set an imposing clubhouse target in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Day added a flawless 65 to his opening 66 for a 13-under-par halfway total of 131, just one shot outside the tournament record shared by fellow Australian Adam Scott, Tom Watson and Andy Bean.

"It would be nice to go eight under tomorrow," joked Day, whose best score at Bay Hill before the start of the week had been 68.

Starting on the back nine, the US PGA champion birdied the 12th, 16th and 17th to reach the turn in 33, before picking up four more birdies on the inward half and closing his round in style by holing from 35 feet on the ninth.

"I said after yesterday's round I was just trying to stay patient and came out and started off really solid and kept it up," the world number three added on PGA Tour Radio. "I drove the ball nicely, hit a lot of good quality shots into the greens.

"I had one kick-in on three but for the most part played the par-fives great again and just putted great. The two bombs that I holed today on 17 and nine definitely helped, but I felt like these sorts of scores were coming, I just had to be patient with myself.

"It's very easy to get ahead of myself, especially with how I've played earlier this year. It hadn't been that great and I get a lot of media saying 'What's wrong, what's wrong?'.

"You can get a little bit caught up in it sometimes but you just have to make sure you're doing the right things, you're working hard, you're working towards that goal and the last few days has been fantastic."

McIlroy, who blew a four-shot lead in the final round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship and carded an opening 75 here, had kept pace with Day in the group ahead for much of the round thanks to six birdies in his first 14 holes.

However, the world number two failed to birdie three of the four par fives and eventually had to settle for a 67 after dropping his only shot of the day on the seventh - his 16th hole - after missing the green off the tee.

That left McIlroy on two under par and safely inside the cut, which was projected to fall at level par.

3/22/2015

McIlroy Slips as Stenson Charges

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Rory McIlroy’s bid to go into the Masters with a second victory of the season under his belt suffered a major blow after a poor finish to his third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

In his last competitive outing before trying to complete the career grand slam at Augusta next month, McIlroy was within a shot of the lead when he carded his fourth birdie of the day on the 13th at Bay Hill.

However, the world number one then bogeyed the next three holes and had to settle for a round of 71 and nine under, seven shots behind Ryder Cup team-mate Henrik Stensonon 16 under.

McIlroy had birdied five holes in a row from the second during his second round – having started on the 10th – but could only pick up one shot over the same stretch on Saturday, missing from 11 feet for an eagle on the par-five sixth and having to settle for a birdie four.

The four-time Major winner chipped in from the back of the ninth green for his second birdie of the day and looked to be moving through the gears when he also picked up shots on the 12th and 13th.

But the 25-year-old then bogeyed the 14th after coming up short of the green with his tee shot and dropped another shot on the next, three-putting from 30 feet after an excellent escape from the trees to the right of the fairway.

McIlroy then duffed a chip from right of the 16th green and compounded the error with another three-putt, in stark contrast to Stenson who holed from 20 feet for eagle on the par five after previous birdies on the sixth, ninth and 15th.

“I’m frustrated. I birdied 12 and 13 and got right into the thick of things and then to give three shots back in quick succession was not really the plan,” said McIlroy.

“I’m disappointed with the way I finished but I played well for the most part. I need to try to get off to a good start tomorrow, shoot a good score and see where that leaves me.

“There’s a lot of quality players above me. I would need to get off to a very fast start (to win). 30 or 31 on the front nine it’s possible; just try to start better and go from there.”

Four birdies in five holes wasn’t enough to see Pádraig Harrington move into contention as the Honda Classic also had three bogeys in a one-under 71 that sees him go into the final round on six under.

3/20/2015

Lowry and GMAC Cut at Bay Hill

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Rory McIlroy fired a second round 66 to move up the leader board on Friday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Florida and remains five strokes off tournament leader, Morgan Hoffman at the halfway stage.

After a frustrating opening round which saw McIlroy hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation but take 34 putts with a cold putter, the Northern Irishman was transformed on the greens in a second round for a midway total of 136, eight-under-par.

Although he hit just 12 of 18 greens on Friday, McIlroy used the putter like a magic wand and required only 25 putts to catapult up the leaderboard and become one of Hoffman’s chief pursuers.

A sequence of five straight birdies constituted the best of McIlroy’s PGA Tour career and came in a stretch from the second to the sixth holes, the 11th to 15th of his round having started on the tenth: he got the run going with a 15 footer on the second; hit a gap wedge 126 yards to three feet on the third; rolled in a short putt for birdie on the Par 5 fourth; hit a lovely approach from 144 yards to tap in distance on the fifth, then completed the sequence with an eight-footer on the sixth.

McIlroy took his time to get going but, once he did, there was no stopping him. “At that point, it feels pretty easy,” he explained of getting into the zone with a run of five birdies. “You can sort of feel the momentum building.”

Having brought his coach Michael Bannon over to Florida for a five-day session following inconsistencies with his swing in the WGC-Cadillac championship a fortnight ago, McIlroy was very much back in the groove at Bay Hill to set about chasing down Hoffman. The American assumed the clubhouse lead with a second round 65 to add to his opening 66 for a midway total of 131, as he searches for a maiden tour win.

McIlroy said: “”It was good. I didn’t play as well tee-to-green (as Thursday) but the putter is a great equaliser. Maybe I can creep up the leaderboard a little bit the next two days.”

Hoffman attributed his good form - and quest for a first career win on the PGA Tour - to being “mellow” and “trying to hit the middle of the greens.” He explained: “If you hit the fairways, you have better scoring opportunities and I execute (the game plan) well. I’ve been working on putting and chipping. My caddie and I are betting each other if I can chip in . . . . I know (the win) will come eventually. If this weekend, so be it.”

Among those chasing Hoffman going into the weekend will be defending champion Matt Every, who shot a 66 for 134.

Pádraig Harrington added a second 68 to sit five-under-par, at the halfway stage.

The winner of the Honda Classic just three weeks ago - was cruising along until hitting some speed bumps. Harrington ran up three successive birdies from the 14th to the 16th but demonstrated typical resilience to birdie the 17th, where he sank a 15 footer, to get under par again for the round.

Graeme McDowell finished with a second round 72 for 144 and Shane Lowry improved by five strokes on his opening round with a 70 for 145.

Both were destined to miss the cut. Lowry was three-under for his round coming down the stretch but failed to birdie either of the two Par 5s coming in and suffered a bogey on the Par 3 seventh after he put his tee shot in a greenside bunker.

The missed cut was Lowry’s first on tour going back to last June’s Irish Open at Fota Island. The Offalyman continues his build-up to a maiden appearance in the Masters by competing - like McDowell - in next week’s Valero Texas Open in San Antonio.

All Positives for McIlroy

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Rory McIlroy insisted there were plenty of positives to take from his opening round at Bay Hill, despite squandering several chances to move higher up the leaderboard.

McIlroy hit all but one of the greens in regulation on his Bay Hill debut – equalling his career best on the PGA Tour – but was only able to convert that into three birdies during an opening round 70.

The Northern Irishman, yet to post a sub-70 round in America this year, had already missed five birdie putts from within 20-feet when he saw his approach to the par-five 16th pitch into a bank short of the green and roll back down into the water.

Although McIlroy’s fourth shot after a penalty drop found the green, his 35-foot par-save putt drifted left of the cup in his only blemish of the round.

Despite the disappointment with the putter leaving McIlroy four strokes off the lead, the four-time major winner was left encouraged by his opening round.

Golf's world No 1 Rory McIlroy insists he feels okay and isn't worried about a below average round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Speaking to Sky Sports 4, McIlroy said: "I feel okay. I saw a lot of positives out there and was just trying to stay as patient as possible.

“I’m disappointed to play the par-fives in even par for the day, especially around here. If you can play the par-fives well you’re going to do well, so hopefully I can improve on that over the week.”

“The greens are not quite as good as they could be and if it had been a better putting day it could have been a lot lower, but I feel a lot better about my game and it was nice to finish with a birdie."

This week’s event is McIlroy’s last before attempting to complete a career grand slam with Masters victory at Augusta next month.

While McIlroy has struggled, in recent displays at Palm Beach and Doral, to replicate the form that saw him storm to victory at the Desert Swing finale in Dubai, he is determined to get back to challenging at the top of leaderboards.

"I want to feel that feeling of being in contention,” McIlroy added. “The win in Dubai feels like a long time ago. It will be nice to get myself into the hunt going into the weekend."

2/09/2015

McIlroy Confirms First Bay Hill Trip

Rory McIlroy has committed to making his first appearance at the Arnold Palmer Invitational next month as part of his pre-Masters schedule.

McIlroy has yet to feature on the PGA Tour in 2015 but is on a run of seven consecutive top-two finishes on the European Tour, following a runners-up finish in Abu Dhabi with victory at the Dubai Desert Classic.

The world No 1 has turned down previous invites from tournament organisers and seven-time major winner Palmer to appear at Bay Hill, but is looking forward to featuring on March 19.

"I'm delighted to add the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill to my 2015 playing schedule," McIlroy said.

"Mr Palmer is the father figure of modern golf, widening its appeal and bringing the game to a new audience. Every playing professional of my generation owes a debt of gratitude to Arnold Palmer."

The reigning Open and PGA champion will return to action in the Honda Classic later this month, before featuring in the WGC-Cadillac Championship the following weekend.

"I am very pleased that Rory is going to be playing here," Palmer said. “I have talked to Rory about playing here, and it didn't work into his schedule in the past, but he told me that when it did work into his schedule that he would be here, and he is making good on his word.”

First staged in 1979, the event usually boasts a star-studded field ahead of the following month's Masters.

Matt Every is the defending champion after his one-stroke victory over Keegan Bradley last year, while world No 62 Tiger Woods has won the tournament a record eight times.

3/24/2014

Harrington in Texas Scramble

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Padraig Harrington carded a round of 80 on the final day of the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Florida at the Ball Hill Lodge and Country Club.

Harrington had just one birdie in a round that included a first-hole double bogey and also seven bogeys to end the event near the tail of the field at five over par.

Harrington managed to find just half the Bay Hill fairways and after averaging 28 putts the first three days, he had 34 putts over his last 18 holes.

Padraig remains positive ahead of the Valero Texas Open.

“There are a lot of positives I can take from the week with me to San Antonio,” he said.

“Of course, there was nothing much I could take from the front nine today but outside of that there is a lot of positives.”

“The Texas Open course is usually a windy course and that should suit me,” said Harrington.

Graeme McDowell played the final round alongside Davis Love III, shooting a 70 compared to the American’s 73, and a day after facing Celtic Manor singles rival Hunter Mahan when McDowell got himself back into the Florida event with a 67.

And after averaging less than eight of 14 fairways over his first two rounds, McDowell missed just one fairway on the weekend — that being the 15th yesterday where he took a bogey ahead of then doubling the par-three 17th where he found water guarding the green.

“I went back home on Friday panicking a little where I pulled about 10 drivers out of the archives and went down to the Lake Nona range and tried to find something,” he said.

“It was one of the new Cleveland Classic drivers I was testing a lot last year but when the new Srixon came out, I archived the Cleveland,” he added.

“This driver is not as long as I have been using this year but it is a hell of a lot more accurate and I will be taking it with me to Malaysia this week.”

McDowell now makes his way to Malaysia for the inaugural EurAsia Cup.

Darren Clarke missed the cut.

3/19/2014

Harrington Backs The Wild Thing

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Padraig Harrington defended playing-partner John Daly, the 1995 Open Champion, who posted a round of 90 during last week's Valspar Championship at Innisbrook in Florida.

The 47-year-old's card included an eight-over-par 12 at the 16th, plus three other double bogeys.

The American missed the cut by 19 shots but Harrington believes he did not give up during his second circuit of the Copperhead course.

Twice Open Champion Harrington said: "He came out pressing as we all did on Friday after a 74.

"But he was very respectful to play with. He was useful out there. He was trying in terms of lines and getting clubs and things like that.

"You could see what he was doing. It wasn't like I wouldn't prefer him to be there.

"But he didn't walk in. He didn't stop trying. He tried to hit the right shots on the last two holes. It didn't seem to us he was shooting that score.

"If I was going to say anything, it's that he tries too hard. He's caring too much. I know that's not what people see."

Daly, a winner of two major titles in the 1990s, is currently ranked outside the world's top 500.

David Duval, winner of The Open in 2001, also plays this week in a season he has deemed as his comeback year. He is currently ranked 195th in FedEx rankings.

Graeme McDowell was due to tee off with Tiger Woods and Harris English. However Woods has now withdrawn from the tournament he has dominated over the years due to injury.

Darren Clarke is paired with JJ Henry and Vijay Singh.

Padraig Harrington plays with Camilo Villegas and Erik Compton.

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