The Irish Golf Club Gazette: AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am

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2/13/2015

Harrington Kick Starts New Season

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Padraig Harrington fired a first round 68, for four under par score at the AT&T Pebble Bach National Pro-Am in California on Thursday.

Currently ranked 289th in the world the Dubliner arrived on the Monterey peninsula following missed cuts in the Phoenix Open and last week’s Farmers Insurance Open in Torrey Pines.

Having grabbed three birdies on the front nine – at the fourth, sixth and eighth holes – to turn in 33, Harrington suffered his first bogey on the 13th but bounced back with birdies on the 14th, from 16 feet, and the 15th, a tap-in from 18 inches, to move to four under.

But he failed to take advantage of birdie opportunities on his closing holes which led to a degree of frustration.

“I’d three good chances on the last three holes,” said Harrington, adding: “It looked as if I made all three but none went in. That can happen. It is one of those days if I finished five-under, I would have been very happy. And I am very disappointed with four-under. But surely a shot can’t make that much difference over 72 holes.”

Harrington’s round left him four shots adrift of clubhouse leader JB Holmes, who shot an opening round 64, eight under, at Pebble Beach. It was the lowest opening round of his professional career, as the American continued his good form from Torrey Pines where he lost out in a playoff to Jason Day.

Shane Lowry opened his inaugural visit to the event with a three-under par 69.

The Offalyman – ranked 40th in the world - card birdies on the second (from five feet), eighth (from 15 feet), 13th (from 16 feet) and 18th (from three feet) to go with his lone bogey, on the 16th where he was in rough off the tee.

Paul McGinley's difficult week continued signing for a round of 73 with a set of new clubs,

McGinley attended San Diego University on a golfing scholarship before pursuing a professional career.

“I was on Trackman for quite a while getting the yardages right and then the adjustment for the heavy sea air, which makes things complicated,” explained McGinley of having to switch to clubs of a more recent design to the ones which were stolen.

Holmes assumed the clubhouse lead in the pro-am, a shot ahead of surprise packets John Daly (65), ranked 839rd in the world, and Dudley Hart.

8/21/2014

Lefty Reckons Rory's Favourite

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Rory McIlroy will be difficult to beat heading into the FedExCup play-offs in New Jersey claims Phil Mickelson.

The PGA Tour begins its four-tournament race to the finish-line with The Barclays at Ridgewood Country Club tomorrow, and all eyes will be on world number one McIlroy as he goes for a fourth win in a row after victories at the British Open Championship, the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the US PGA Championship.

The Northern Irishman leads the FedEx Cup rankings and has two play-off victories to his name from 2012 but has yet to claim the big prize and the $10million cheque that comes with it.

The top 125 players in the standings have qualified for The Barclays, with the field being trimmed to 100 for the Deutsche Bank Championship, 70 for the BMW Championship and then 30 for the Tour Championship.

Mickelson has qualified for every Tour Championship since the FedEx Cup began in 2007, a feat matched only by Steve Stricker, who will not play until December due to hip and back injuries, and Hunter Mahan.

The Californian, who also has two play-off wins under his belt, is currently 45th in the rankings but that can change very quickly with a win and, following a second-placed finish behind McIlroy at Valhalla, Mickelson is brimming with confidence.

“The PGA was a big week for me because it was the first time this year my game was back. It gave me an excitement and energy heading into the FedExCup and Barclays here that my game is back and I’m ready to compete and get back into contention.

“It was so fun being up there again, and the nerves and the excitement of it all, it got me excited.”

However, he also knows that to get to the top of the leaderboard he must overcome McIlroy, whose form in the last few weeks he admits has been “incredible”.

“His level of play this last month has been exceptional,” he said “Now, from what I’ve seen over the years with Tiger (Woods), from 2000, if you want to compare it to that, well, he’s got a ways to go.

“But to win the British and the PGA and throw a World Golf Championships in the middle under anybody’s circumstances, that is just a remarkable month of golf and some of the best that I’ve seen.

“You can probably go back and compare it to some of the Tiger stuff. He’s done that over decades. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Rory did it too. You just never know. He’s that good. He can do it.”

While McIlroy may be the player in form at the minute, the man second in the standings, Jimmy Walker, is without a victory in six months after a blistering start to the season.

Walker had won the Frys. com Open, the Sony Open and the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am by February, and six further top-10s saw him hold the top spot for most of the season.

The 35-year-old finished seventh at Valhalla, his third top-10 finish in a major this year, and he is confident the next win is not far away.

I feel like I’ve played well,“ said Walker. “Yeah, obviously I would have liked to have won again, but before this year it had taken 180 times before I had one and you win three.

“But I’ve continued to play well. I’ve got a ton of top-10s. I’ve played good in the big tournaments and I’m looking to win again.

“It’s close. It’s right there. It’s just a matter of putting four weeks together but I’ve been there.”