The Irish Golf Club Gazette: Ryan Moore

Showing posts with label Ryan Moore. Show all posts

4/07/2015

It's McIlroy Mickelson and Moore

Rory McIlroy has been paired with three-time champion Phil Mickelson and Ryan Moore for the first two rounds of the Masters.

The world number one will be seeking to become just the sixth player complete a Major grand slam this week at Augusta and will get the bid underway at 10.41am (3.41pm Irish time) on Thursday.

Darren Clarke will be the first Irish golfer in action when he tees off at 1.29pm Irish time along with 2000 winner Vijay Singh and 25 year-old American Russell Henley.

Shane Lowry will tee off with American pair Chris Kirk & Mark O'Meara, while Graeme McDowell will have Matt Kuchar and Brooks Koepka for company when he lines up at the first tee at 6.04pm Irish time on Thursday.

Padraig Harrington is paired with Thomas Bjorn and Ryan Palmer in Group 26 and tees off at 12.42pm (5.42pm Irish time)

Tiger Woods, seeking a 15th major, faces a lengthy wait before he can begin his bid for a fifth Masters title when the year's first major championship gets under way on Thursday. He will play the first 36 holes at Augusta National with fellow American Jimmy Walker and Wales's Jamie Donaldson.

With 98 players in the field, Charley Hoffman and Brian Harman make up the first group out in the tournament proper at 7:45am, with Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer again acting as honorary starters five minutes earlier.

The legendary trio hitting tee shots on the par-four first before retiring to the clubhouse.

Defending champion Bubba Watson is paired with Justin Rose and Gunn Yang.

Selected tee-off times and pairings for Thursday's first round and Friday's second round

8.29am (1.29pm Irish time) Darren Clarke, Vijay Singh, Russell Henley

10.41am (3.41pm Irish time) Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy, Ryan Moore

12.31pm (5.51pm Irish time) Shane Lowry, Chris Kirk and Mark O'Meara

12.42pm (5.42pm Irish time) Padraig Harrington, Thomas Bjorn, Ryan Palmer

1.04pm (6.04pm Irish time) Graeme McDowell, Matt Kuchar, Brooks Koepka

1.48pm (6:48pm Irish time) Tiger Woods, Jamie Donaldson, Jimmy Walker

8/01/2014

McIlroy Opens Bridgestone with 69

Getty Images

Rory McIlroy signed for a one-under par round of 69 at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone on Thursday.trailing the leader by five strokes.

Marc Leishman set the target on six-under in round one

McIlroy carded a double-bogey on his penultimate hole which was come0nted for with a superb shot on the last hole, an eight iron stitched pinned to the fag that that got him back into red figures.

“I drove the ball for the most part well, I got myself into trouble a couple of times which led to a double bogey and a bogey on my back nine – which was the front nine – but apart from that I felt I played really solid golf without doing anything too special,” he said afterwards.

Starting from the 10th, McIlroy opened with three pars before splitting the fairway on the 13th with a drive of 318 yards and hitting his approach to 10 feet to set up his first birdie.

The 25-year-old, who could reclaim top spot in the world rankings from Adam Scott this week, then holed from twice the distance on the 17th to reach the turn in 33 and almost chipped in for another birdie on the first.

McIlroy reached three under par with a two-putt birdie on the par-five second, only to promptly give that shot back on the next after three-putting from long range. Worse was to follow on the eighth when he pushed a drive miles right into heavy rough, finding the greenside bunker with his second and not exactly covering himself in glory before walking off with a six.

But a 340-plus drive straight down the middle of the ninth led to that closing birdie and while there was plenty of room for improvement, McIlroy felt his goal of kicking on from his win at Liverpool was still very much on track.

“I didn’t want any let down,” he explained. “And not just these two weeks, basically for the rest of the season. I’ve got myself in a good position in the FedEx Cup, I can try and get to number one again in the world rankings and there’s a Major still left to play. There’s a lot of golf still left this year, it’s great to win another Major, the Open Championship but I just want to keep going forward.”

Top nine

Ryan Moore and Charl Schwartzel are both one behind the leader on five under. The American Ryder Cup hopeful, Moore, carded a flawless five-under-par 65 as he followed up a good finish at Royal Liverpool with another eye-catching performance.

Moore is currently 14th in the US Ryder Cup points standings, with the top nine after next week’s US PGA Championship sealing a place on Tom Watson’s team for Gleneagles in September.

He was joined on five under by South African Charl Schwartzel, the former US Masters champion carding five birdies in his last eight holes, including four in a row from the fourth. Italian Francesco Molinari dropped his only shot of the day on the 17th to be round in 67, while Wales’s Jamie Donaldson was a shot behind on two under as he looked to cement his place on the Ryder Cup team.

Speaking about his run of birdies, Schwartzel said: “I think it’s the sort of golf course that maybe lends you to going on a run like that. The golf course is in such good shape, there are not many blades of grass out of place. This course can really frustrate you or you can be really happy with the way you played because there is no forgiveness.”

iger Woods was one under par after 14 holes of his opening round.

Graeme McDowell finished one over in a share of 46th place after a round of 71.