The Irish Golf Club Gazette: Caroline Wozniacki

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1/22/2016

Bad Light Stops McIlroy Duel

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Rory McIlroy started his second round with eight straight pars before a bogey on the ninth, where his pushed drive finished in rocks on the edge of a lake and dropped him back to five under par at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

Playing partner Jordan Spieth was faring worse with bogeys on the fourth and fifth, and the world number one was lucky not to drop more shots on the ninth, where his drive was heading towards the water before hitting a spectator.

Andy Sullivan grabbed a one-shot lead on Friday, but he will have to wait and see if he still holds it when the second round concludes on Saturday morning.

There was a two hour and 45 minute delay in the morning due to fog, meaning some of the 60 players who have yet to complete their rounds will have as many as ten holes to play upon the resumption at 0740.

Second-placed Bryson DeChambeau will have nine to complete after picking up one shot on the back nine to get to nine under before the sun set over Abu Dhabi Golf Club.

The 22 year old American is bidding to become just the fourth amateur in history to win on The European Tour and he has shown no signs of nerves in a field which includes four of the top ten players in Official World Golf Ranking.

Reigning Race to Dubai champion Rory McIlroy was five off the lead with five to play, level with playing partner Rickie Fowler and two shots clear of World Number One Jordan Spieth, who completed the marquee group.

But Sullivan is the man to catch after a second consecutive 67 for the Englishman who has good memories of his last visit to the Gulf states, when he pushed McIlroy all the way at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.

The 28 year old finished eighth in last season's Race to Dubai after claiming three wins and arrived here on the back of claiming three points out of three for Europe at last week's EURASIA CUP presented by DRB-HICOM.

He continued the theme of threes on Friday as he opened with three birdies from the tenth and, after dropping a shot on the 15th, he played a fantastic second shot from a fairway bunker on the first to set up another gain.

A bogey on the fifth dropped him out of a share of the lead but he put his tee shot on the seventh inside ten feet and rolled it in before picking up another birdie on the next to move ahead.

A closing birdie on the ninth from 25 feet then made him the first man this week into double figures.

"I think today was even more impressive than yesterday," he said. "I think yesterday, I had it under a lot of control and it felt quite easy.

"Today, started off great, lost my way through the middle part of the round and dug deep and finished really strong with three birdies.

"I think on the whole, much much happier with today and obviously it puts me in good stead finishing that way for the rest of the tournament."

He added: "I feel totally different coming in. This time last year, I had already won but still felt this tournament of this magnitude with the players, I knew that I would have to go some to do it.

"It's nice to do that, and obviously to go out there and actually put your A Game to the test is great."

Overnight leader DeChambeu quickly wiped out the advantage Sullivan had established in the morning as he holed from eight feet on the tenth and 15 feet on the 12th but a bogey on the par five 18th saw him drop to second.

Joost Luiten fired a 68 to sit at seven under in his first start since he finished in a tie for fifth at the season-opening Alfred Dunhill Championship.

The Dutchman, who started on the tenth, turned in 33 after making three birdies in four holes from the 15th. Six pars followed but a lengthy putt on the seventh handed him another red number to sit in the clubhouse three off the lead with Rafa Cabrera-Bello.

The Spaniard opened with a bogey on the tenth but had back-to-back birdies on the 13th and 14th and came back in 32 to post a 67.

Thomas Bjørn was also seven under through 11 holes as he got his 2016 campaign under way. Last year was only the second in his career that he failed to record a top ten but birdies on the first, fifth, seventh and tenth have put him in contention to quickly correct that.

England's Richard Bland completed the group three off the lead having also played 11 holes and he had birdies on the 14th, 15th and 18th.

Swede Peter Hanson fired a second consecutive 69 thanks to birdies at the ninth, 16th and 18th to sit a further shot back alongside David Howell who was two under for his round with two to play.

Richie Ramsay fired nine birdies in a 66 to get to five under alongside Ian Poulter who signed for a 69 despite playing with an injured thumb.

Matthew Fitzpatrick was also in that group after he showed considerable tenacity in a battling 71, alongside Matthew Baldwin, David Horsey, Trevor Fisher Jnr and Fabrizio Zanotti.

Then came McIlroy and Fowler, who endured contrasting fortunes in the 13 holes they completed.

Fowler had been overshadowed by his playing partners in round one but he picked up birdies on the second, eighth and 12th as McIlroy and Spieth failed to fire.

The Northern Irishman had 12 pars and a single bogey on the ninth while Spieth struggled off the tee and bogeyed the fourth and fifth before picking up a shot on the tenth.

Three-time winner Martin Kaymer was in the group at five under, two under for the day through 12 holes, with BMW PGA Championship winner Byeong-hun An also two under on the day having played 11.

The third round, going off the first and the tenth holes in three-balls, will not begin before 1045.

1/20/2016

McIlroy Has Number One in Sights

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Rory McIlroy will go head-to-head with Jordan Speith at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship this week with the American's position as World Number One firmly in his sights.

McIlroy, Spieth and Jason Day have been battling it out for the top spot over the last 12 months with Spieth currently in pole position, followed by Day with McIlroy in third.

And on the eve of the first event of his Race to Dubai defence at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, McIlroy, who spent 95 cumulative weeks at the top of the Official World Golf Ranking, is determined to regain that status this season.

"I still like to look at it and see where I'm at," he said. "Especially the strength of field for this week and how many points you would get for a win, so it's always there.

"I know I need to play well this week to leapfrog Jason. I think if I can finish second, I can get up above him.

"But I've made no secret about wanting to get back to that position, and I'd like to do it as quickly as possible. So it's definitely a motivation."

For his part Spieth, who won the Masters Tournament and the US Open Championship last season, is hoping to use the achievements of four-time Major winner McIlroy, and others, to spur him on to even greater things.

"You can be satisfied and think about all the stuff you've done or you can look at what these guys who you've looked up to your whole life have accomplished more than you have," he said.

"So look at Tiger (Woods), Phil (Mickelson), Rory, these guys that have done more in the game of golf than I have, and I want to strive to get to what they have done. I want my name to go down in history for as many things as it can. That's where my mind is, I'm less satisfied with what's happened and more hungry to try and keep it going.

"I understand that it doesn't happen overnight. It's a marathon; it's not a sprint. I'm willing to put in that time and go through the process. And you're going to have good weeks, you're going to have off weeks, I understand that. But as long as you can get just a little bit better each year, then the results will come."

To make any inroads into Spieth's lead, McIlroy will have to finish above the 22 year old this week, with Spieth coming into his first European Tour event outside Major Championships and World Golf Championships off the back of a win at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions where he finished 30 under par.

With a field including eight Major Champions, 89 European Tour winners, six European Tour Number Ones and five World Number Ones, however, the Northern Irishman knows that Spieth is not the only man to beat this week.

"I don't play the game on markers at all," he said. "I want to play my best, and I don't have to just beat Jordan Spieth this week. I have to beat another 142 guys.

"So it would be foolish of me to think that that's all that my competition was, I think it would be an injustice to every other player that's in the field because there's so much talent on Tour and there's so much depth that if you forget about everyone else that could win the tournament, it's not really smart to do that.

"I've had four runners-up and I've been close a couple of times. Hopefully I can change that this week."

This will be the seventh consecutive year that McIlroy has started his campaign in Abu Dhabi with those four second-place finishes all coming in the last five years.

He will tee it up alongside Spieth and Rickie Fowler on Thursday morning and is hopeful that he can once again use the event as a springboard to a successful season.

"It was a nice break over Christmas and new year," he said. "I felt like I needed it mentally and physically a little bit. So it was nice to take that extended break and come back feeling really refreshed and excited to go.

"I've said this before: I don't think there's any better place to start the year than here in Abu Dhabi with the weather, the golf course, the field that HSBC is able to put together.

"It's a real competitive start to the year, and I feel like it's really helped me start the year quickly and well over the past few years, and hopefully that's the same case this year.

"Teeing off on Thursday morning, it's your first competitive shot in a couple of months. To tee up alongside those guys, the excitement, there's a buzz about it.

"Every year coming back here to Abu Dhabi, it was sort of the same last year with Rickie and the previous couple of years it was with Tiger. You're teeing off the first round of your season and it feels like you're right into the thick of things at the start. So I think that's really beneficial for a lot of guys to start the year like that."

12/11/2014

Conspiracy Just Preposterous - Gerry McIlroy

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A lawyer for Rory McIlroy’s father Gerry has said it was “just preposterous” to suggest there was a conspiracy to end the golfer’s agreement with his sports management company in April last year.

Rossa Fanning said if it was a conspiracy, which is denied, then it was “the worst conspiracy in the world”.

This was because it would have happened around the time of one of the most important events in the golfing calendar, the Masters.

It was also the month after Rory McIlroy had signed an amendment to his December 2011 representation agreement with Dublin-based Horizon Sports Management, counsel said.

Mr Fanning was speaking on the third day of a High Court application by Horizon and two other companies for better disclosure of documents and inspection of mobile phones of Rory McIlroy, his father and two other employees of Rory McIlroy Inc, the golfer’s own management company.

The hearing is in advance of a full trial of Mr McIlroy’s case against the Horizon defendants in which he claims he is entitled to rescind the agreement as it was improvident and signed it without proper advice.

Horizon, and two companies, Gurteen Ltd and Canovan Management Services, have counter claimed for damages.

The defendants say they have not been given all the available data by the McIlroy side, and by people close to him, in order to prepare their case despite a previous court order that disclosure be made.

Mr McIlroy’s father, Gerry, has not properly explained why data on his mobile phone was wiped in circumstances where he was in close contact with his son at the time the agreement was repudiated, counsel said. Information required for the court case may have been contained on that phone.

All that Gerry McIlroy had provided for the Horizon discovery of documents process was five emails, over which legal privilege was claimed on three of them, said Maurice Collins, for the defendants.

Gerry McIlroy had maintained his main form of communication was conversations in person or by phone and he only used messaging infrequently.

Mr Fanning, for the McIlroys, said there was a lack of reality to what was being sought and no substance to the claim there was a co-ordinated deletion of data from phones of the golfer, his father and others.

All parties had explained what had happened with their phones, he said.

“The conspiracy theory is just preposterous”, he said.

Mr Fanning said to suggest there was some sort of conspiracy was “an elaborate smokescreen designed to blacken the names of a number of people”.

An application by Rory McIlroy’s side for the defendants to quantify the amount of damages they are seeking in their counter-claim is also being heard by the court today.

Horizon Claims Implausible - McIlroy

There is "not a shred of evidence" Rory McIlroy was involved in a conspiracy to plan his exit from a contract with his former sports management company, Dublin High Court has heard.

Counsel for the golfer said such a claim by a lawyer for Horizon Sports Management and two other companies was "inherently implausible".

Horizon Sports Management wants orders from court for further disclosure.

These include for documents and the inspection of electronic devices.

Mr McIlroy, who first signed the representation agreement in December 2011, signed a third agreement with Horizon in March of 2013.

That agreement was shortly afterwards repudiated by Mr McIlroy who then brought legal proceedings.

His counsel said Horizon's application to court for the right to forensically inspect the phones held by Mr McIlroy over a three-year period had effectively been dealt with during another hearing earlier this year seeking disclosure of documents.

This latest application was "dressed up" as seeking inspection of phones when it was in fact an application for further and better discovery of documents previously dealt with by Mr Justice Peter Kelly in July, counsel said.

Horizon has claimed Mr McIlroy and others close to him deliberately wiped data on their phones that could be relevant to the case.

Mr McIlroy is suing Dublin-based Horizon, along with Gurteen Ltd, with a registered address in Malta, and Canovan Management Services, also based in Dublin, claiming the representation agreement is unenforceable on grounds including alleged undue influence.

He claims he was just 22 at the time with no business experience and without the benefit of legal advice.

The defendants deny the claims and have counter-claimed for some US$3m allegedly outstanding under the agreement for off-course revenues.

Counsel for the defendants said at the opening of the hearing that the March 2013 agreement had barely been signed when Mr McIlroy had set up his own sports management company, Rory McIlroy Inc.

His personal assistant Sean O'Flaherty left Horizon to work for the new company as did Donal Casey who later became CEO of Rory McIlroy Inc.

It was part of Horizon's case that Mr McIlroy and a number of others were instrumental in bringing about the unlawful attempt to repudiate the contract, the counsel said.

Despite the existence of legal proceedings, Mr McIlroy, his father Gerry, Mr O'Flaherty and Mr Casey destroyed relevant data on their mobile phones by "factory resetting" them, counsel also said.

On the second day of the defendants' application to inspect those people's phones and seek better disclosure, the counsel for Mr McIlroy said the application was "wholly misplaced" and should be refused.

Mr McIlroy had done nothing wrong and Horizon's criticism of him was wholly misplaced.

It was criticism "made against a backdrop of an allegation of conspiracy that he planned his exit from Horizon for which there is not a shred of evidence", counsel said.

In reply, counsel also for the defendants, said there had been significant destruction of data and this was not an inference or speculative assertion.

The hearing continues.

12/09/2014

McIlroy Devices in Dublin Discovery

The High Court in Dublin has been told that golfer Rory McIlroy deliberately wiped clean up to eight mobile phone and electronic devices, even though they may have contained important information relating to his legal action against his former sports management company.

Lawyers for Horizon Sports Management and two other companies said the "factory resetting" of devices was also done to devices belonging to three other key figures in the case, including Mr McIlroy's father Gerry.

Senior Counsel Paul Sreenan said this resetting was "incredible" for a person in Mr McIlroy's position.

Horizon wants orders from the court for further disclosure of documents and inspection of electronic devices.

Mr Sreenan said his clients had to bring the application because Mr McIlroy had refused or failed to respond to requests for better disclosure.

He said Rory McIlroy and three others close to him had also wiped their devices before passing them on to others or to charity.

Mr McIlroy is suing Horizon, along with Gurteen Ltd, with a registered address in Malta, and Canovan Management Services, also based in Dublin, claiming a representation agreement signed by him in December 2011 is invalid and unenforceable on a number of grounds including alleged undue influence.

The defendants deny the claims and have counter-claimed for around US$3m allegedly outstanding under the agreement for off-course revenues.

Mr Sreenan said Mr McIlroy had given no satisfactory explanation for the destruction of electronic data on his devices.

He said if his side's experts gets the devices, it may be possible to recover some of the information sought or other information of assistance to the case.

He said it was a very serious matter for the administration of justice where someone involved in court proceedings had failed to preserve material, he said.

Mr McIlroy had initially claimed he changed his devices regularly because of his "transient lifestyle".

But today he had stated he changed them to avoid phone calls from journalists, the court was told.

The defendants believe he could not have changed phones and devices without backing up data and conversations because it would mean, for instance, ongoing conversations about who would be on the Ryder Cup team would be wiped.

Earlier, Mr Sreenan said difficulties over the December 2011 agreement arose "when the ink was barely dry", counsel said.

Mr McIlroy had set up his own company called "Rory McIlroy Inc" essentially to manage himself which was resisted by Horizon.

Around the same time, key figures who had worked for Horizon, including Mr McIlroy's personal assistant and a consultant, started working for the golfer's new firm, counsel said.

Mr Sreenan said the amount of lost commission to his clients is now estimated at $9m.

Mr McIlroy, in his claim, says Horizon charged commission "many times greater" than is standard in the sports agency industry including one agreement in which he must pay 20% of his sponsorship and 15% if the contract is renewed after 2017.

He also alleges Horizon is not entitled to be paid certain fees into the future related to his $20m a year sponsorship deal with sportswear giant Nike.

He says he has paid more than $6.8m to Horizon based on commission rates of some 5% on his pre-tax on-course earnings and 20% for off-course.

This agreement was entered into when he was 22, with little business expertise and without the benefit of legal advice, he says.

5/28/2014

McIlroy Targets More Majors

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Rory McIlroy arrives at The memorial with a new found confidence knowing that a major lurks just around the corner having won the US Open at Congressional in 2011. Then matched it with the Wannamaker Trophy a year later at Kiawah Island, making the visit to Pinehurst in a couple weeks a chance to banish the demons of of last season.

Consequently Rory has targeted two major victories this season to make up for his winless year in 2013.

The Northern Irishman keen to make up for lost time following a slump in form last year that saw him fall from world No.1 to outside the top 10.

"My game is really coming back," he said. "I won a major in 2011 and 2012 but last year, so I'll try to make up for that with two this year."

McIlroy's victory at Wentworth, just days after announcing his break-up to tennis star Caroline Wozniacki, surprised even the man himself. But now, he admits, it is time to look forward.

"I knew I was playing well going into the BMW," he said. "I'd finished in the top 10 four times in a row just before this - including the Masters and at Sawgrass - so I knew I wasn't far off my best.

"Top 10s are great but not what I'm looking for.

"The last couple of years I came to Wentworth struggling with my game and getting frustrated. So going there in good form, I was excited.

"Winning does my confidence the world of good, knowing that I can get the job done under pressure and when I need to. That was the most pleasing thing about the win.

"The win in Australia at the end of last year stopped all the questions about reasons behind my form, such as equipment and all that stuff.

"This victory, against one of the best fields of the year, just shows my game is back on track again. Hopefully it won't be long before I'm contending in majors again and it validates all the hard work I've put in this past year."

McIlroy's will not have to wait long for his next shot at a major, with the US Open starting at Pinehurst on June 12.

"I've never been there, but I hear there is going to be no rough and that, for a US Open, is going to be very different," he said.

"I don't think it will be a course that suits one player or another. You'll need to be long - but most players these days can get it out there and it'll suit me to get my driver in my hands.

"It's all about the second shot. Obviously the greens are very tricky at Pinehurst with a lot of run-offs and slopes, and you'll have to be very imaginative around them. Some guys will try and bump it into hills and run it up, while others will try and fly it to the top. It's going to be very interesting.

Earlier in the year, McIlroy claimed that golf needs a player to push on and take Tiger Woods' mantle as the dominant player in the game. A comment he stands by.

"I would like to be that guy," he added. "I like to think my win at Wentworth is a springboard to do just that.

"There are still three majors to play this year and a lot of big tournaments to win. Even though we are halfway through the season, I feel like mine is just beginning."

5/23/2014

McIlroy Rors Back After Turn

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Rory McIlroy fought back from double bogey on the 7th hole he eagled the day before to card a 1-under-par 71 in miserable, wet conditions to stay in contention at the BMW PGA Championship on Thursday.

McIlroy's two-round total of 5-under 139 left him tied for second in the clubhouse, a shot behind Rafa Cabrera-Bello of Spain, who scored 73.

McIlroy finished much better than he started, as he eagled the par-five 12th for a second straight day, and birdied three of his last four holes.

"The way the conditions were this morning, being 3-over par after seven wasn't all that bad, and it wasn't disastrous," he said.

Jonas Blixt of Sweden was tied with McIlroy after also hitting 71 in his Wentworth debut. The Masters runner-up is eyeing his maiden European Tour victory, especially if the weather remains poor.

"My golf hasn't been too great but I kind of saved myself a couple of times, hitting some really good shots," Blixt said.

"I don't think now with the rain settling in that anyone is going to run away with it.

"But I can't remember the last time I played wearing so much clothing. It became really cold out there, and I'm going back to my hotel for a sleep as it was very long day yesterday with the two delays, and then the early tee time today."

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