The Irish Golf Club Gazette: ThePlayersChamp

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5/15/2016

GMAC Makes Move on Jason's Day

GMAC - Getty Images

Graeme McDowell signed for a 69 on Saturday to move himself up the Players Championship leader board on a day that frustrated many of the leading contenders at TPC Sawgrass.

The 2010 US Open Champions carved out a round of three-under-par, leaving him on five-under for the tournament - nine shots behind Australian Jason Day, who leads on nine under.

That was in stark contrast to Rory McIlroy, who tumbled downwards after a 75 that left him tied 18th with McDowell on five under after three rounds.

Lowry is also on five under after dropping six shots on a day that saw him just a solitary birdie alongside five bogies and a double bogey.

Both had been in the mix heading into their third rounds with the Holywood man three shots behind his potential Olympic team-mate, who added a 68 to his opening 65 to finish 11 under par, three off leader Day. However on a day which had more spills than thrills both men tumbled.

Butch Harmon accused tournament officials of letting playing conditions get "out of control" as Jason Day stayed in control at the summit. He was 14-under for the tournament, four clear of Hideki Matsuyama, Ken Duke and Alex Cejka.

Day had established a new 36-hole scoring record at Sawgrass when the delayed second round was completed on Saturday morning, the world number one having opted not to finish the 15th hole when play was suspended due to darkness on Friday after an earlier two-hour weather delay.

That proved to be an excellent decision when the 28-year-old hit his approach to 15 feet and holed out for a third birdie in succession, before pars at the last three holes meant the US PGA champion added a 66 to his opening 63 for a 15-under-par total of 129, a shot better than the previous record set by fellow Australian Greg Norman in 1994.

Norman dropped just one shot all week on his way to a tournament record of 24 under par and Day finally carded his first bogey on the third hole of the third round, three-putting from 40 feet.

Worse was to come on the sixth when Day four-putted from 17 feet and furiously threw his ball into the water left of the green, and although he bounced back with a brilliant approach to within a foot of the hole on the next, another double bogey followed on the eighth.

The Australian responded immediately with a birdie on the par-five ninth to take a two-shot lead over Matsuyama and Alex Cejka into the back nine, but Tiger Woods' former coach Harmon was not impressed with the hard and lightning fast greens.

After watching Ian Poulter three-putt the 12th, Harmon said on Sky Sports: "Okay I'll say it - these greens are out of control now. They've let them get away from themselves I think.

"These greens are almost unplayable and we don't even have that much wind. I will tell you what, they did not like that 15 under leading did they? They have taken care of that quickly with this course set-up.

"I would like to be a fly on the wall in that locker-room when these players get in there. It's not going to sound good."

The loudest complaints might come from Spain's Sergio Garcia after he six-putted from 70 feet on the fifth, the 2008 champion racing his birdie attempt eight feet past and needing five more attempts to find the bottom of the cup for a quadruple-bogey eight.

Rory McIlroy was similarly disenchanted after he three-putted the fourth from eight feet, the world number three missing from 12 inches for par and then flicking his ball into the water in front of the green in frustration.

McIlroy made amends with a brilliant escape from the trees on the sixth and a birdie from close range on the next, but three-putted the 10th and 12th to fall further off the pace.

Kevin Chappell added his voice to the criticism of the conditions after covering the front nine in 31 and the back nine in 39, telling Sky Sports: "I don't know if someone was trying to prove a point, but point taken.

"The golf course is difficult and probably got a little out of hand."

Despite such complaints, Matsuyama completed a 67 to set the clubhouse target on ten under that was soon matched by veteran American Ken Duke, the 47-year-old firing six birdies in his last seven holes to card a brilliant 65.

Day had birdied the par-five 11th to reach 13 under but McIlroy continued to slide down the leaderboard after another three putt on the 13th and a double bogey on the 15th.

5/13/2016

Lowry Has Irish Open in Sights

Shane Lowry R2 TPC Sawgrass - Getty Images

Shane Lowry is hoping his brilliant opening round of 65 at the Players’ Championship on Thursday can set his season alight and inspire a big performance at next week's Dubai Duty Free Irish Open.

The Irishman saw his fortunes on the greens take a dramatic upturn following a tip from Graeme McDowell at Sawgrass last week, and he hopes that brilliant seven-under-par first round is the catalyst for an unforgettable summer.

A strong showing in America this weekend would see Lowry, who won the 2009 Irish Open as an amateur, arrive at The K Club full of confidence and ready to produce his best in front of an adoring home crowd .

Lowry has missed only two cuts from ten appearances in 2016, with his best performance so far coming at the Phoenix Open, where he tied sixth in February.

An unforgettable hole in one on the par-three 16th in the final round of the Masters left Lowry an Augusta memory to savour, but he left the first Major of the season knowing he should have finished higher than 39th place.

With a huge prize fund of €4m, a victory in Kildare would reignite Lowry’s Ryder Cup dream and send him into the most important stretch of golf in his career with the confidence and swagger that saw him claim his first World Golf Championship title last summer.

“Next week's a massive week for me,” said the Offaly man. "I feel like I have the game to contend in Majors and the biggest tournaments in the world."

“I'd love nothing more than to go back home next week and win the Irish Open. I am very much a confidence player, and rounds like I had on Thursday make me believe more and more that I am close to getting some big results.

“I need to kick on and start winning and getting into contention. I want to be playing well this summer because there are so many big events and I feel like I have the game to contend in Majors and the biggest tournaments in the world.

"I also want to secure my place on the Irish Olympic team and put myself in contention for the Ryder Cup team.”

“The Irish Open is a bit of a crazy week for the Irish players because there is so much going on during the week, but you have got to embrace it and try to enjoy it.

"I definitely thrive on playing in front of a home crowd, and the Irish fans are always brilliant with the home players. The support I get at home is unbelievable.”

McIlroy Overcomes Sawgrass with 64

McIlroy at Sawgrass R2 - Getty Images

Rory McIlroy’s second round in The Players produced a career-best 64, to move to eight-under-par at TPC Sawgrass, and some satisfaction over course that has over the years has caused the Holywood golfer grief.

McIlroy wasted no time in making his move, an opening with a 25 foot for birdie on the 10th, his first of the day, which was followed by four birdies in a row. There was a six-footer on 15 for his fifth birdie and then rolled in a 55 footer from off the green for eagle on the Par 5 16th.

That run on his front nine enabled him to match the day-old record of 29 strokes set by Shane Lowry on Thursday. “The back nine could not have played any easier,” admitted McIlroy.

However the fireworks of that stretch didn’t continue into the homeward run, with further birdies at the second and seventh only to come unstuck on the Par 5 ninth where McIlroy opted to lay-up with his approach.

Having left 270 yards to the front of the green he played a poor third shot into the grassy bank of a greenside bunker and ran up a bogey six.

“I guess I have got it in my head that any time I have went for the green it hasn’t really worked out that well for me. With hindsight, that pin being on the left side, (hitting it) anywhere on the right and I would have had a chance to get up and down. But I thought if I get it within 100 yards and take my chance from there. I didn’t hit a great third shot. Maybe if I had it back, I would go for the green,” explained McIlroy, who had eyed a possible 62 if he’d managed to birdie his closing hole.

A round of 64 moved him into contention and into a position far removed from his early years in playing at Sawgrass when he missed the cut in his first three appearances in the tournament.

“I hit a lot of quality shots, hopefully I’ll continue to see that over the weekend.”

McIlroy wasn’t the only one to take advantage of benign conditions and soft greens, as Colt Knost hit all 18 greens in regulation and shot a course record equalling 63 to leapfrog through the field to lie on 135 at the halfway stage.

Knost even had a chance to set a new course record, but three-putted the 18th for a bogey. “I was fine over the first putt. I was trying to two-putt it, which is probably the problem instead of trying to make it. I was a little nervous over the second one. I knew what it was for. But I didn’t hit a bad putt, I hit it on the left lip and it just stayed there and lipped out.”

Graeme McDowell fired a second round 70 for 142 to at least survive the midway cut.

Pádraig Harrington’s 74 means he missed back-to-back cuts after also failing to survive at the Wells Fargo last week.

Lowry 29 Sets Sawgrass Record

Lowry at TPC Sawgrass - Getty Images

Shane Lowry fired a record back nine of 29 strokes at TPC Sawgrass for an opening round of 65, seven under par, at The Players Championship on Thursday.

It was slightly overshadowed though by Jason Day’s course record-equalling 63 which was made up of nine birdies and nine pars and enabled the Australian to grab the lead.

Day’s error-free round gave him a two-stroke lead over Lowry,Justin Rose and American trio of Cameron Tringale, Brendan Steele and Bill Haas on a day of little wind and fine scoring.

Jordan Spieth – playing for the first time since his Masters collapse last month – suffered a double-bogey seven on the Par 5 ninth, his finishing hole. Asked what had happened, he quipped: “ I hit it seven times.” He signed for a level par 72.

Rory McIlroy was nine shots off the lead after a 72 containing two birdies and two bogeys, the 27-year-old finishing alongside Rickie Fowler after the defending champion carded a double bogey on the 18th.

Graeme McDowell and Pádraig Harrington, both out in the tougher afternoon conditions, shot level-par 72s.

Day’s 63 was 18 strokes better than his second-round 81 a year ago when he missed the cut for a third time in five appearances on the Pete Dye design.

“I was under par going through my first nine but there were guys at seven under when I was five under and I’m there going, ‘Okay, I’ve got to keep pushing. When you see someone up the leaderboard distancing themselves away from the field, you’ve got to do something to catch up to them,” said Day.

Lowry, bouncing back from a missed cut in the Wells Fargo at Quail Hollow last week, turned in level par before lighting a fuse that ignited his play on the homeward stretch.

Lowry’s run of birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie from the 10th was sensational and far removed from the frustration he endured in his final practice round on Wednesday. The Offalyman was so at odds with his game and his swing that it took some calming words on the phone in “an emergency call” with his coach Neil Manchip and a piece of live advice from Graeme McDowell to rectify matters.

Of that “meltdown,” Lowry recounted: “I was losing the head (in practice). I was like almost thinking, ‘what’s the point being here?’, because I felt like I was playing poorly and I was struggling on the greens.”

He added: “I’m very much a confidence player, highs and lows are a bit too much at times. But, yeah, when I get it going I’m normally quite good. Sometimes I can get very hard on myself and beat myself up. So, it’s just trying to get somewhere in between.”

A word in the ear from McDowell – who was playing the practice round with him – provided a light bulb moment. “I got a little tip from G-Mac (in practice) and it seemed to help me. Hopefully I can carry that forward and do all the right things come the weekend. I was just getting over the ball a little too close and he just told me to move it an inch away from where it was and see how it feels. For some reason, it just felt easier to see my lines.”

There was no evidence of Lowry’s transformation on a front nine that saw him merely treading water with one birdie and a bogey to turn in level par. On the back nine, however, he opened his shoulders, found his targets and, most critically of all, got the putter working as he rolled in birdie putts and, on occasion, par saves to leapfrog through the field.

On the 10th, Lowry rolled in a 35-footer for birdie that gave him a pep in his step. From there, he moved into a zone. He eagled the 11th, rolled in a five-footer for birdie on the 12th and another from six feet on the 13th.

On the Par 5 16th, Lowry putted from off the front of the green for a tap-in birdie and, after failing to convert a birdie chance from 10 feet on the famed island hole, where he’d hit “a hard sand wedge from 124 yards” off the tee, he then ripped a 332 yards drive down the 18th and put his sand wedge approach to 15 feet and sank the birdie putt to finish in style.

On being told he was the first player to shoot 29 on the back nine, Lowry remarked: “It’s probably as good a golf course as we play all year. It’s a proper test of golf. And to go out and do it on that nine was nice.”

His score was all the more remarkable for the low expectations he carried into the tournament, missing the cut at Quail Hollow and struggling in practice on Wednesday.

“I kind of was coming out thinking, ‘if I can just get four rounds in here it will be a big help for (the Irish Open) next week. So, I’m on my way to getting four rounds in anyhow . . . next week’s a massive week for me. This week is big as well, but I’d love nothing more than to go back next week and win a tournament.”

5/10/2015

Rory Suffers Cold Putter at Players

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Rory McIlroy admitted he needs a "pretty special" final round at TPC Sawgrass if he is to contend for a maiden Players Championship title on Sunday.

The world No 1 continued to delight from tee to green, but he struggled to contain his frustration after again failing to convert a number of excellent birdie chances as he carded a two-under 70 to close on six under.

McIlroy made a confident start with a birdie at the second, but his problems scoring on the front nine over the Stadium Course continued as he bogeyed the fifth and eighth and then whiffed a pitch at the long ninth.

Left of the green in two, McIlroy's lob wedge slid straight under the ball in the lush rough, but he composed himself before playing a sublime fourth to within three feet to save his par.

He got one shot back with a four at the 11th, and he rolled in a tricky downhill putt for birdie at 13 before two-putting from 15 feet for another at 16.

McIlroy had a chance to get to seven under following an excellent drive and approach to within 10 feet at the last, but the opportunity slid past and left him to reflect on what might have been.

"Tee to green it's been really good, I've given myself a lot of chances and really could not convert much," McIlroy told Sarah Stirk at the Sky Cart on Sky Sports4.

"I've struggled to read the greens all week and just don't quite have it on the greens like I did last week (when he won the WGC-Cadillac Match Play).

"I've left myself in a position where I am going to need something pretty special tomorrow to have a chance; a 64 or 65 to get somewhere around 13 or 14 under. I think that would go very close."

5/09/2015

Lowry Misses Cut at Sawgrass

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Rory McIlroy looked assured of scoring a points victory over newest rival Jordan Spieth on the second day of the lucrative Players Championship at Ponte Vedra Beach in Florida.

McIlroy headed into the back nine on the TPC Sawgrass course remaining at his round two starting score of three under par while the World No. 2 ranked Spieth stayed at three over also heading to his inward half.

McIlroy struggled early on with five opening pars before having to play a shot off a bitumen cart path right at the sixth in taking bogey before landing a super 76-yard wedge shot to just two feet for birdie at the ninth.

But while McIlroy was fighting hard to keep sight of clubhouse leading American Kevin Na, who shot a 69 to move two strokes clear at eight under par, former double winning Players champion Tiger Woods left a volunteer with a deep bruise on his leg.

Woods again had his caddy working over-time and calling distances from parts of the course not on the yardage book in posting a one under par 71 to move to back to even par for the $US 10m event.

The 14-time Major winning Woods hit the middle-aged volunteer with a wild drive down the right side of the 11th hole or the second of his round but in the process of hitting the volunteer it stopped the ball going deep into trees, and with Woods remarkably grabbing the first of six birdies but also posting in his round five bogeys.

Woods last regular PGA Tour win won on the Ponte Vedra Beach course two years ago and he’s not ruled winning again this week.

“My expectations at the start of the week remain still the same and I feel like I am playing well enough to get myself up there, but then anyone who makes the cut this week has a chance of winning,” said Woods.

“But I am just not capitalising on my opportunities and I need to start doing that over the weekend.

“I feel my golf is finally at a point where I can play tournament golf on a consistent basis but then I have worked my butt off to change it, and I’m pretty proud of that, to be able to show up at Augusta and do what I did, and now I’ve just got to keep building from there.”

Graeme McDowell signed for a second round 70 and a share of 46th place.

Padraig Harrington ended his two days on the cutline and his round of 73 on Friday just enough to ensure a weekend stay in Ponte Vedra. Good news for the Dubliner who is chasing a top-10 so he can qualify for next month’s US Open.

Shane Lowry missed the cut and will return home with just a pair of commemorative 2015 Players cuff-links, and his gift as a Players first-timer, having slipped to four over par after a second round 74.

Spaniard Sergio Garcia posted 32 putts in his round of 72 to remain at three under par but then as he headed to the clubhouse was heard to remark: “Is there a garbage bin around here?”

Garcia then snapped his putter over his knee and binned the club with three spectators sharing the broken putter and its head cover.

Five-time Major winning Phil Mickelson was a certain Sawgrass casualty posting scores of 73 and 76 to easily miss the cut with a shock five over par total.

Mickelson won the Players in 2007 but with his second round a mix of just three birdies but also two bogeys, a double bogey and a ninth hole triple bogey after his sprayed his second shot deep into the water guarding the green.

“It’s a tough course and I was thinking to myself as I was walking around today, I can’t believe I’ve actually won here,” he said smiling.

Dustin Johnson has not yet ruled out contesting the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open later his month at Royal County Down.

Johnson was a member of the 2007 winning USA Walker Cup team on the course laid out in the shadow of the Mourne Mountains. And after seeing a 63-yard wedge lip-out for eagle at the last in a second straight round of 72 the big-hitting American confirmed he is still in dialogue with McIlroy and joining winning Walker Cup team-mate Rickie Fowler.

“I’m still not sure if I will play the Irish Open and it’s still up in the air, and as much as I would like to return to Royal County Down, I’m still balancing my schedule over here,” said Johnson.

“I would very much like to go and I have been talking to Rory about it.”

5/11/2014

Game of Two Halves for McIlroy

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Rory McIlroy remains perplexed by the front nine at TPC Sawgrass where he has struggled during the opening three rounds of the Players Championship.

After just making the cut on Friday, the Northern Irishman returned on Saturday to post a third round 69 - his lowest score of the week.

But, once again, the front nine caused him problems with McIlroy needing 38 strokes to reach the turn before notching five birdies coming home - including a hat-trick on the last three.

Teeing-off early, he made a bogey on the first, had a double-bogey on the fourth and another bogey at the sixth.

On day one he suffered three bogeys on the front nine which then required 42 strokes on Friday - when he carded a 74.

So far this week he has played 117 shots - nine-over-par - on holes one-to-nine and has had just 96 on the homeward journey.

And McIlroy said: "If I had just kept it around even par for the front nine, I'd be up near the leaders.

"I'm really happy with how I've been able to come back the last couple of days but it's also a little frustrating that I've had to come back because I feel like I'm playing good enough to not have these little stretches of bad holes.

"I felt like I wasn't playing as badly as the score was suggesting today. I'd hit five greens in seven holes and I was four over par.

"I hadn't really done much wrong. I had three really big lip-outs on the front nine also."

5/10/2014

Rory McIlroy Makes Cut

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Rory McIlroy signed for a 74 in the second round at the Players Championship on Friday with four birdies on the back nine, having made the turn in 42 strokes at TPC Sawgrass to sneak in on the cut line.

McIlroy remains 2 shots behind Martin Kaymer who continued his streak with a second round 69 to lead by one from Jordan Spieth.

The Masters runner up reached 36 holes without a single bogey.

Spieth only turned professional in December 2012 and was a 19-year-old special temporary member on the PGA Tour when he won the John DeereClassic last July, the youngest winner on Tour since 1931. But he held a two-shot lead after seven holes of the final round on his debut at Augusta before finishing joint second behind Bubba Watson.

Kaymer, who won the US PGA Championship in August 2010 and became world number one the following February for eight weeks, said: "I was very happy the way I played golf the last four or five weeks, so the next step is just putting yourself in contention, hopefully win.

"If not, it's okay, but as long as you put yourself in contention for the next few weeks, especially now we're coming up to the US Open and British Open."

Lee Westwood, Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia were all six shots off the lead after adding rounds of 71 to their opening 67s, with England's Brian Davis a shot behind after a 67.

Adam Scott endured a long wait before discovering his latest bid to become world number one remained alive, the Australian rebounding from his opening 77 - which featured double bogeys on the 17th and 18th - to return a 67 with three birdies in his last four holes.

Scott, who could have overtaken the absent defending champion Tiger Woods by simply staying at home, needs at least a top-16 finish and eventually discovered he had made the cut with nothing to spare.

"I don't think I played that much better than yesterday to be honest," said Scott, who revealed he married his long-term girlfriend Marie Kojzar in a small ceremony in the Bahamas last month.

Henrik Stenson, Bubba Watson and Matt Kuchar are also able to overhaul Woods depending on their results, with Stenson needing a top-six finish, Watson to finish alone in second and Kuchar requiring a victory. European number one Stenson and two-time Masters champion Watson were three under, with Kuchar two under after a second consecutive 71.

Graeme McDowell added a 71 to his first round 69 to share 19th place.

Darren Clarke though misses the cut as his second round 73 was not enough to recover from an opening round of 76.

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