The Irish Golf Club Gazette: PMGgolf

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9/01/2016

Ireland's Strong Ryder Cup Record

Graeme McDowell knew it was a mistake as soon as he glanced up at the scoreboard.

That comfortable lead Europe had taken into the singles matches two years ago was gone, erased in a flurry of American birdies. Instead of coasting into the victory party as he'd expected as the 12th man out, the Ryder Cup - to say nothing of Europe's pride and honor - was in McDowell's hands.

"Those last seven holes, I've never been so nervous in my life," McDowell recalled Tuesday. "Coming down the stretch that day was some of the toughest golf I had ever played in my life, and some of the most nerve-racking golf. Myself and Hunter Mahan, someone was going to be the hero and someone was going to be the villain that day.

"Thankfully I was able to get the job done."

Of course he did. When the Ryder Cup is on the line, the Irish usually do.

McDowell delivered the winning point at Celtic Manor with a 15-foot birdie on the 16th hole, joining Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley, Philip Walton and Christy O'Connor Jr. as Irish heroes on one of the biggest stages in golf.

Don't be surprised if that Irish luck holds this week, too. Though European captain Jose Maria Olazabal refused to give any hints about his lineup, it's almost certain McDowell will be playing with world No. 1 Rory McIlroy, his good friend and fellow Northern Irishman, when the Ryder Cup begins Friday at Medinah Country Club.

Paired together two years ago, the two were 1-1-1 in team matches.

"He's one of our main men," Olazabal said of McDowell. "He loves this competition, and I think it brings out the best in him. He's a very gutsy player. It doesn't matter if he's not striking the ball well, he will fight until the very end. He will fight for every shot, for every inch. And we saw that in the past."

Not just from McDowell, either.

Back in 2006, it was Clarke who carried the Europeans. Playing just six weeks after his wife, Heather, died of breast cancer, Clarke gave the Europeans an emotional charge the Americans never came close to answering. He won all three of his matches, and the Europeans routed the U.S. 18 1/2-9 1/2 for their third straight victory.

Four years before that, McGinley made a spectacular save on 18 to snatch a halve from Furyk and take the cup from the Americans. After McGinley had pulled even with a 12-footer on 17, Furyk was only 3 feet away from a certain par - after a beautiful bunker shot. McGinley, meanwhile, missed the green - badly. But he made a gorgeous pitch to about 8 feet, and sank the putt for the halve.

Back in 1995, the little-known Walton had lost what would be his only other Ryder Cup match, in Saturday morning foursomes. He would go 3-up on Jay Haas with three holes left in singles, only to lose 16 and 17. But Haas was in trouble off the 18th tee, and Walton two-putted for a bogey and the point Europe needed to win the cup, kickstarting its current dominance. The Europeans have won six of the last eight Ryder Cups.

And in 1989, O'Connor - a captain's pick - upset Fred Couples by making two birdies on the last three holes. One of the most celebrated shots in Irish golf was O'Connor hitting 2-iron from 229 yards to about 4 feet for birdie. It shook Couples so badly that he missed the green with a 9-iron, and it was key to Europe retaining the cup.

"The Ryder Cup's become such a big deal, I think people love it as a spectacle," McDowell said. "The aftermath (in 2010) and the 17th green when everyone swamped that green, it was something like I've never seen in golf before, and cool to be part of."

McDowell was hardly an unknown at Celtic Manor. He'd been unflappable in winning the U.S. Open just three months earlier, barely blinking as he withstood charges by Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els at Pebble Beach. He wasn't a Ryder Cup rookie, either, going 2-1-1 at Valhalla.

But it was his performance in Wales that transformed the 33-year-old - on and off the course.

"Winning the U.S. Open, there was sort of an aftermath of congratulations from everyone. I think that lasted a few weeks," McDowell said. "But the Ryder Cup was something a bit different because that was enjoyed by European fans, the European Tour, anyone that calls themselves European. I think I certainly got recognized more for that putt at the Ryder Cup than I did for my U.S. Open. There's no doubt about that, certainly in Europe."

McDowell hasn't won a tournament since 2010 but he's never far from the conversation, either.

He's made all but four cuts in 22 starts on the PGA and European tours this year, and has five top-five finishes. He settled for second at the U.S. Open after missing a 25-footer to force a playoff, and was fifth at the British after blowing up with a final-round 75.

If Olazabal sends him out last again in singles, McDowell will be ready to deliver again.

"Where will I play on Sunday? Who knows?" he said. "Part of me would love that opportunity again - part of me would love it, part of me would hate it. I'll take whatever comes."

5/03/2016

Caddie Chemistry Not a Given

In 2002 Darren Clarke made the final rounds of the Murphy's Irish Open thanks to advice of his stand-in caddie for the day - after his regular caddie Billy Foster had flown back home to Manchester after the birth of his second daughter. Following a call to his friend Paul McGinley, The Dubliner's caddie JP Fitzgerald was the late replacement and his presence proved pivotal at the 18th - according to Clarke.

Speaking at the time Clarke said: "At the last JP said, 'If you lay up and miss the cut by one you'll be as sick as a dog'.

"So I said right, I'll have a go at it. And I hit a great shot from the top of the hill. I punched in a five-iron. I had 209 to the front. I didn't know what they cut was going to be, par or one under but it was the right decision in the end," explained Clarke

At the start of the following year Clarke embarked on a series of drastic changes with his golf in order to challenge for the Majors again and switched back to Butch Harmon as his coach, parted company with Foster, after six years together, and signed a deal to play with TaylorMade clubs. The complete overhaul came after a Christmas letter from sports psychologist Bob Rotella and as part of his new look team he added J P. Fitzgerald.

Despite much promise the partnership did not last and they subsequently split with Clarke accepting that he is one of the more demanding players on tour to work for, and both parted company following the 2004 Masters - despite winning the 2003 WGC-NEC Invitational at Firestone.

"I know I've been very hard on JP. My demands were too great, I expected him to pick the right club every time, and while I wasn't jumping down his throat non-stop, I was complaining," said Clarke at the time.

Originally from Castleknock, Fitzgerald represented Baltray as an amateur and actually beat Clarke in the semi-final of the Irish Close Championships in 1987. After attending East Tennessee University on scholarship, Fitzgerald was recruited by his close friend Paul McGinley, helping with that infamous putt in the 2002 Ryder Cup at The Belfry.

The short spell with Clarke was followed by two seasons in the US with Greg Owen and returned to the big time when Ernie Els called him in late 2007. It was Els manager at the time, Andrew “Chubby” Chandler, who summed up the fragility of the caddies role when he explained why Fitzgerald was the ideal replacement for Ricci Roberts

“JP happens to be in the right place at the right time.”

“Ernie and Ricci are such close friends that the caddying part of it was putting a strain on their relationship.

Roberts started back with Els in May of 2001 - after a split in the latter part of 1998 – with two U.S. Open victories in 1994 and 1996 to their credit. In the period of Roberts absence there were only a couple of PGA wins for the South African and it fell well short of what was achieved on Ricci’s return when Ernie won The Doral, The 2002 Open Championship, and The Sun City post season event. In that time the pair also added the World Match Play Championship at Wentworth.

Ironically, Ricci Roberts joined Darren Clarke in April 2011 playing their first event at the Trophee Hassan II in Morocco with Clarke’s manager Chandler no doubt playing a role in the decision.

In the same week almost much ink and paper met on the why’s and wherefores of what went wrong with Rory McIlroy at the tenth tee box on the Sunday of The Masters at Augusta National. The last moment the young McIlroy was to lead the 2011 tournament. After which much of the focus started to move in the Fitzgerald direction.

In the musical chairs environment that exists in the caddyshack, those cannot have been good days for the Dubliner - as no one was short of helpful analysis. In some cases drawing comparisons with other such golfing collapses by Greg Norman or Jean van de Velde. As well as Sergio Garcia

Maeks one recall some of those memorable Masters stories.

Like when Bruce Edwards recalled the walk up the 18th fairway in 1996 at Augusta with Greg Norman's bag, who turned to him and said 'I guess it's better to be lucky than good.' A remark that left Edwards stunned given Faldo had outplayed the Australian all day. Edwards reply was tough as he turned to Norman and said, 'I just want to caddie for someone who has heart.'

For McIlroy it was a touch of the same when Schwartzel chipped in at the first and then eagled a blind shot so dramatically at the 3rd. It was clear from those early moments that destiny was marking the South African's card and in all the post analysis the role of fortune and luck got no mention. The reality is no major has been won without it.

Nor any other sporting event for that matter.

At Sandwich for the 2011 Open it was the turn of John Mulrooney to be in the right place at the right time and Clarke was generous in the praise of his caddie when collecting the Claret Jug on the eighteenth green. One hoped that it was the start of a longer terms thing. But it was not to be that enuring.

One of more enduring partnerships is Phil Mickelson and Jim “Bones” McKay. Which undoubtedly has been tested to its limit with all challenges in Phil's private life, given his wife, Amy’s, battle with cancer. Compounded by a similar fate befalling his Mother, along with Phil’s own health worries of sporadic arthritis.

Those events notwithstanding Mickelson won his third green jacket in 2010 with a tournament winning shot on the 15th which commentators suggested his caddie should have advised him against. These days it makes for uplifting footage that confirms that destiny was with Lefty that day and the gap between those pine trees was never an issue.

In the most high profile team of Tiger Woods and Steve Williams the toughest of personal challenges beset the player. With indiscreet remarks by the New Zealander also problematic at times for his employer. Although others were fired for less Williams offered some key components on the course to the former world number 1 and was richly rewarded for his efforts. So much so he commuted almost weekly across the Pacific Ocean as he tried to maintain his own personal life intact as well as caddying.

Having been fired by Norman in 1989 Williams admitted he had got too close personally to Norman, although both remain good friends to this day. To the point that Norman later admitted he had made a mistake furing the Kiwi and tried to rehire him. The fall out last year between the Woods and Williams team showed that nothing lasts forever.

On the other hand the stories of swift caddie changes that have led to dramatic results also abound.

The addition of Phil “Wobbly” Morbey to the side of Ross Fisher shortly before the 2011 3 Irish Open as a replacement for Andrew Morrow proved immediately successful. Fisher won the €500,000 cheque in Killarney with the caddied that had done the same with Ian Woosnam and Thomas Bjorn previously.

“I think wobbly has given me that extra bit of added confidence, some self-belief, and like I say, he's great on the bag. He tells me exact little how it is. Doesn't beat about the bush. Tells me exactly where I need to go, what club it is and it's just real positive. So far, the relationship is good and fingers crossed, we can go a very long way,” explained Fisher in July 2010.

JP Fitzgerald is now part of the more enduring partnerships in golf history. Fast becoming one of the most successful with four major titles to his name.

Good thing Rory ignored all those experts back in 2011

4/10/2015

Mixed Day for the Irish - McGinley

Paul McGinley has no doubts Jordan Spieth will be contending for the Masters title on Sunday following his blistering opening 64, while the expected rain forecast for Friday would help Rory McIlroy's chances.

Jordan played fantastic today. He had a few breaks and things have gone his way, but he's in a good vein of form and that's when you get those breaks.

He's taken advantage and he's certainly a guy who will be there or thereabouts on Sunday.

It was a steady start for Rory McIlroy with a 71. It's a four-round tournament, and if the rains come on Friday, that will help him.

Rory's successes in major championships have generally come on wet golf courses, so if it does rain here that won't hurt his chances.

As for my other fellow Irishmen in the field, none of them have challenged particularly strongly, but at the same time, nobody played themselves out of it.

Rory's successes in major championships have generally come on wet golf courses, so if if does rain here that won't hurt his chances

Graeme McDowell is doing OK at two under and Padraig Harrington is level par. So they haven't set the world alight, but they've kept within touching distance.

Shane Lowry had a disappointing 75, but he's very close to taking that "next step" in his career. He just needs more experience.

He's got the game, got the talent, and he's got the distance off the tee to compete in the modern game. He's also got a great short-game.

He just needs more experience, and with experience comes confidence. He kicked on after finishing second at Wentworth last year and had his best-ever season on the European Tour.

He solidified his place in the top 50 of the world rankings, so he made a lot of progress last year.

As for Padraig, it's hard to say what sort of season he will have. That was a big win for him at the Honda Classic, which gets him back into a lot of the big events.

He still loves to compete and still hits the ball a long way. He’s certainly a guy you can never rule out – never back against Padraig.

4/06/2015

McIlroy Not Yet Woods - McGinley

Paul McGinley believes Rory McIlroy has a long way to go before he deserves to be compared to Tiger Woods.

The two players head to Augusta for the Masters in starkly contrasting form, with McIlroy needing to win a first green jacket to complete the career grand slam and Woods having only confirmed his participation in the year's first major championship on Friday.

Woods has started just two events in 2015, shooting a career-worst score of 82 to miss the cut in the first of them and withdrawing through injury after just 11 holes of the second.

However, McGinley experienced first hand how much Woods dominated the game in the early part of his career to amass 14 major titles, including the 'Tiger Slam' of US Open, Open Championship and US PGA in 2000, as well as the 2001 Masters to hold all four major titles at once.

"Rory is evolving as a player and he's evolving as a person too. He's not the finished article," McGinley said. "Even now at 25 it's not right to compare him to Tiger Woods.

"What Tiger Woods has done in his career is a yardstick. Rory is still evolving towards that and every year he is getting better and better, but he still has a long way to go to meet the standards that Tiger set.

"Also, the great thing about Tiger was the way and the varying conditions that he won in. You see him win at Augusta obviously, but you see him winning at the Open in Hoylake (in 2006), on a firm, bouncy golf course. He showed two disciplines there; he showed massive ball control, b ut secondly to be able to play an examination paper like Hoylake, it's all about patience. And he exemplified that there.

"A nd that's one of the things that Rory knows he has to improve, that level of patience, if he wants to evolve to the heights that Tiger set."

McIlroy's lack of patience got the better of him when he threw his three iron into a lake at Doral following a poor shot in the WGC-Cadillac Championship in March, with the pressure of Augusta perhaps already beginning to tell.

The world number one is well aware he is on the verge of joining Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Woods in an exclusive club by winning all four majors, but McGinley believes he does have one thing in his favour.

"What's been clever about what Rory's done is that he hasn't put a number on the number of majors he wants to win," added McGinley, who will be at the Masters in Augusta commentating for Sky Sports, the only place to watch all four days live. " He's not chasing anybody's record. And that's been very clever.

"To a large extent I wonder if that has hindered Tiger more than anything else, because everyone is relating him to Jack Nicklaus (Nicklaus has 18 majors, Woods 14). And if he doesn't reach Jack Nicklaus' level then some people will say, 'Well he didn't get quite as good as Nicklaus.'

"And that would be a shame considering the career Tiger has had. Rory hasn't done that, he's just said I'm going to keep on playing and whatever number of titles I end up with at the end of my career, I end up with."

Almost forgotten amongst the focus on winning the career grand slam is that McIlroy is also aiming to win his third major title in succession after the Open and US PGA last year.

A dramatic victory in near-darkness at Valhalla saw McIlroy pushed the hardest in any of his four major wins and McGinley believes the Northern Irishman will benefit from similar challenges in the future.

"A rival will be good for Rory," McGinley added. "If Dustin (Johnson) steps up to the plate like some people are expecting him to, or Jordan Spieth, or Rickie Fowler... some of those guys step up and win a major, that'll only be good for him because Rory has reacted well to adversity and guys challenging him in the past.

" The biggest challenge that Rory has got is keeping the fire lit in his heart. That's what made Tiger phenomenal, being at the top for as long as he was. At the moment Rory's had it for a number of years, he's got that incredible passion. Keeping that lit for another 20 years is another question."

2/06/2015

Lawrie Flawless in Kuala Lumpur

Getty Images

Peter Lawrie jumped up the leader board in Kuala Lumpur after carding six birdies without loss on Friday to sign for a 66 at the Maybank Malaysia Open. Placing him at the halfway stage in a share of fourth place.

Lawrie lost his card on the back of a disappointing 2014 campaign and failed to come through Qualifying School by a single shot, but almost matched Waring’s exploits at the 15th as his tee shot struck the pin to set-up a straightforward gain.

“I’m delighted to be here and very lucky to have received a sponsor’s invite, so I thank Maybank for that,” said the former Open de España winner. “To shoot 66 today was wonderful.

“I’ve been in the doldrums for the past 20-odd months, since the Irish Open in 2013. It’s been a long wait, but hopefully I can keep my name up there.

“I’ve struggled with a lot of swing changes and confidence, but my confidence is coming back and I can see the ball going in the hole, so it bodes well for the rest of the year.

“I struggled with my confidence all last year and I kept on getting kicked and kicked. When you’re down and you keep on getting kicked, at some stage you say you’re not going to get up. But at some stage things have to turn around, everything changes and I’m here now. I’m delighted to be here.

“The swing is in good shape now and it’s just a matter of trusting yourself. There are still bad habits in there that I’m trying to keep at bay, but yesterday and today I played flawless golf. I haven’t put a foot wrong yet and I’ve holed a few putts to be near the top of the leaderboard.

“I’ll just do my best and maybe a top five will get me into next week. It’s tough this year relying on sponsors’ invites. I’m writing begging letters and I’m a sole trader, not being with a big management group. It’s difficult, but I’ll keep trying and when I get the opportunities I’ll hope to play well.”

Overnight leader Graham McDowell on the otherhand went the other way following a one over par 73 and dropped to 8th place.

Lee Westwood retains the lead after a second round 67.

Bernd Wiesberger continued his outstanding recent form to hold the clubhouse lead at the Maybank Malaysian Open.

The Austrian finished tied for sixth, third, and tied for fourth in the three events of the recent Desert Swing to climb into the Official World Golf Ranking’s top 50 for the first time.

And the two-time European Tour winner carded a second round 66 at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club to reach eight under par and lead England’s Paul Waring and Ireland’s Peter Lawrie by a single stroke.

Wiesberger started on the back nine and dropped a shot at the 11th, but recovered with three birdies in the next five.

The 29 year old then produced a strong finish with birdies at the third, sixth, eighth and ninth.

“It was a nice day and I finished really well,” said Wiesberger. “I holed a long curling putt on the sixth, which was my 15th, and I hit it really close on the last two. I felt comfortable out there and it was much better today.

“I wasn’t at my best yesterday - mentally I was a bit tired and not in the zone like I have been for the past few weeks. I got the bill for it straight away by making a bogey on the second – which was a good bogey as I was looking at a triple bogey when I hit it right. I struggled on the front nine but got away with it on the back to shoot under par and kept it going today.

“Sometimes you get in a groove and play well and things happen for you, and I just hope it lasts a long time.”

Waring, who turned 30 on Monday, aced the 15th during his opening round and followed that with a 68.

Michel Hoey completed the 36 holes in an aggregate 145 and is one over par.

Paul McGinley joins Hoey despite a second round 76.

Damien McGrane is set to miss the cut on +4

2/04/2015

McGinley Credits EurAsia Cup

Paul McGinley, who is headlining this week’s Maybank Malaysian Open, has credited the successful staging of the inaugural EurAsia Cup last year as a vital ingredient in the continent’s victory over the United States.

“The EurAsia Cup (between Asia and Europe) is very important from a European perspective for the captain in preparation for a Ryder Cup. It was a great success and an important ingredient in our success at Gleneagles,” said McGinley.

“I learned about the Graeme (McDowell) and Victor (Dubuisson) partnership (during the EurAsia Cup). That solidified itself there. That was a very important partnership. There were a number of other guys there who looked like they would make the team. Miguel (Jimenez) looked likely – I would say if the team was picked around the time of the EurAsia Cup, he would’ve been one of the picks.

“He played incredibly well there as captain and he’d recently done well in the Masters, too, but he didn’t keep it up over the summer. Joost Luiten was another one. Even though they didn’t make the team, I learned a lot and I was well prepared if any of them made the team. It was a big learning curve and I hope the next captain will get the same out of it next time.”

The Irishman believes the EurAsia Cup, which is slated to be held in 2015, will continue to grow after a tantalizing 10-10 tie in the inaugural edition at Glenmarie Golf and Country Club.

“… it will grow. I don’t know what the viewing figures were like back home, but certainly everyone on Tour followed it. It’s never going to get to the level of The Ryder Cup straight away. Even when The Ryder Cup started, even 20 years ago, it was quite small to where it is now,” he said.

“We definitely need another outlet from The Ryder Cup. The Americans have the Presidents Cup and learn a lot from it in terms of preparing for a Ryder Cup. We need an outlet and Asia is the obvious place for it. It’s very important for whoever the next captain may be to have an opportunity to oversee the EurAsia Cup.”

Jimenez, who is playing in Malaysia this week, was the only player to win all his three matches in the EurAsia Cup, which was presented by DRB-HICOM. He will be keen to see the match play showdown grow.

“The EurAsia Cup was very nice. The tournament itself was very good. It was a new tournament and a nice change that it was match play instead of stroke play, which we play every week. It helped keep players in tune for match play, which for the European players was very important,” said the Spaniard.

“It was good for golf in Malaysia and for golf in Asia generally. Of course Europe wanted to win and Asia wanted to win, but in a way it was nice that the match ended in a draw. I think people were more interested for that reason.

“My experience of being a captain at the EurAsia Cup was very good. Some of the European players went on to play in The Ryder Cup later in the year and for that it was very important and very helpful. It gave Paul McGinley an idea of how players play together, and how they cope with match play situations. I think it’s something we definitely need to keep.”

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