The Irish Golf Club Gazette

5/09/2013

Sawgrass Dye Cast for McIlroy

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Rory McIlroy keeps showing signs that his game his emerging from an early season slump and the next event up is The Players Championship, a tournament that hasn't been kind to him in his three previous trips.

He has missed the cut every time, never posting a score better than 72.

"The first year I came here, I was in Vegas the week before. That didn't help," McIlroy said with a boyish smile. "The second year was my 21st birthday. That didn't help."

And last year?

"I don't have an excuse," he said.

Upon leaving last year, he said his career was young and he would have another 20 years, hopefully, playing this tournament. And if didn't get the hang of it by then, something would be wrong.

He's still learning, though a few holes in his practice round Wednesday also showed he was picking up some of the nuances.

McIlroy was perplexed while playing the sixth hole Wednesday. He hit two shots off the tee, one in the fairway and one in the rough, about the same distance. He hit an iron with the ball in the fairway, pin-high about 15 feet left of the flag. He used the same club from the rough and watched it sail over the green. That's the trouble with this rough. It's not very high, and the ball can jump out of there.

As he played the par-5 ninth, caddie J.P. Fitzgerald reminded him that it's best to lay up on the hole. McIlroy smashed his tee shot and his caddie told him, "You have 266 (yards) to the front. Perfect 5-iron." McIlroy followed his instructions, hit the shot and then threw down another ball and asked for the 3-wood.

He missed to the right of the green, shrugged and said, "Just wanted to get it out of my system."

In discussing the course, McIlroy is coming to the same conclusion. It's OK to be aggressive, as long as he picks the right spots.

"I think you've got to find a balance around here of being conservative, but also you have to take on things, as well," he said. "There is no point in not hitting the driver anywhere around here because you're not going to make enough birdies to contend, but you don't want to be hitting driver everywhere either because you're going to find trouble. So you have to find a balance.

"There are a few holes out here that you can take advantage of, and you have to because there are so many difficult holes out here that you sort of play for par and if you make birdie, it's a bonus."

NBC Sports analyst Johnny Miller said players have to "tippy-toe" their way around the golf course.

Adam Scott, meanwhile, has virtually disappeared since holing that 12-foot birdie putt on the second extra hole to become the first Australian to win the Masters. He was in New York for a couple of days and then headed to the Bahamas, where he has a home.

He usually takes a few weeks off after a major to decompress. This time, he waited an extra week before picking up a club. It felt that good.

"I've had a really nice break since the Masters, which I had planned anyway," Scott said Wednesday. "But it was even better because I was floating around on the clouds the last three weeks. It's been an overwhelming time for me."

Once he finally put a club back in his hands, the swing felt as pure as that final round at Augusta. He was eager to compete again, and The Players Championship is enough to get any pro's attention.

It features the strongest and deepest field in golf all year, on a Stadium Course that had can be challenging, frustrating, punishing and rarely dull. Scott won The Players in 2004 after hitting 5-iron into the water on the 18th and making a 10-foot bogey putt to win by a shot.

"It's a nice week for me to come back to Sawgrass and The Players, because I've had such a great run here over the years," Scott said. "I'm excited about playing this week. I hopefully can take my head out of the clouds and come back down to earth and play some good golf."

Woods and Phil Mickelson, the best two players of their generation, each have one win at the home of the PGA Tour. The list of winners ranges from power players such as Greg Norman and Davis Love III to pea shooters in the mold of Fred Funk and Tim Clark.

McIlroy and Graeme McDowell last won in America on courses designed by Pete Dye: McIlroy at the PGA Championship (Kiawah Island) and BMW Championship (Crooked Stick); McDowell at Hilton Head a couple of weeks ago.

"I think Pete Dye designed a certain type of golf course," McDowell said. "He likes to penalize the player in his own kind of unique way, and this golf course certainly has its dangers. But it's certainly scorable at the same time.

5/04/2013

Birthday Boy Set for Quail Move

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Rory McIlroy struggled with the speed of the greens on day two of the Wells Fargo Championship -- he felt they were much faster than Thursday -- but rallied on the front nine with three birdies for a 71

" I hit the ball really well again today and gave myself a lot of opportunities. I clearly misjudged the speed and the tempo of the green, and the greens were a lot faster today than they happened to be yesterday afternoon. It took a little bit of time to get adjusted." said McIlroy.

"But I think this week it's all about fairways and greens. If you can do that, not every putt's going to drop, but I think if you've given yourself the chances, you take a few of them and you'll be right there."

Outright leader Phil Mickelson has figured out the secret to the greens at Quail Hollow. Or maybe he's just had a lot of good bounces for two days.

Mickelson opened with a pair of 15-foot birdie putts, dropped in a 40-foot putt at the turn and made back-to-back birdies late in his round Friday. He finished with a 5-under 67 for a two-shot lead going into the weekend at the Wells Fargo Championship.

Quail Hollow, renowned for pristine conditions, had everything go wrong with spring and wound up with putting surfaces that are mostly choppy with brown patches where the grass has died. Two greens were entirely replaced by sod last week.

Despite that, Mickelson has taken only 50 putts in two rounds. And the most staggering statistic of all? He hasn't missed from inside 10 feet.

"I think that the greens are putting very, very good, obviously, because I've putted them well," Mickelson said. "But with them being slower, we're able to putt them aggressively. We're able to take some of the break out without fear of racing it way by. And I've made a concerted effort to leave uphill putts, which has allowed me to putt even more aggressive and play even less break. And that's made a big difference in my putting."

For a tournament that already has had six major champions win in the 10-year history, Mickelson is missing from the list. And it's a title he dearly wants. He was at 9-under 135 heading into the weekend, though there is plenty of star power around him.

Nick Watney played with Mickelson the opening two rounds and looks efficient, going bogey-free on the back nine. He had a 70 and was at 7-under 137, along with George McNeill (68) and Scott Gardiner, the 37-year-old TOUR rookie who had missed eight straight cuts coming into the Quail Hollow. Gardiner, the first Aboriginal Australian to become a pro golfer, ran off four straight birdies at the turn and had a 67.

Lee Westwood twice hit into the water on the par-5 seventh and still escaped with a bogey by making a 25-foot putt. He had a 68. They were in a group at 6-under 138 that included Rod Pampling, the ninth alternate and last man in the field.

Sergio Garcia twice made news for his work on the greens.

Garcia used his wedge to knocked in a 5-footer on the third hole, only this wasn't any protest about the overall conditions of Quail Hollow. He had a scrape mark left by cleats, which he described as 3 inches long and nearly an inch high.

"I thought the only way I could make this putt was to get lucky," Garcia, and he wasn't feeling lucky on this day. The prudent move was to hit a 52-degree wedge, chip it just over the rough turf, and he pulled it off beautifully. It was a throwback to the days of the stymie, when players didn't mark their golf balls, or to a generation ago in summer events when spike marks could be an inch high.

Garcia didn't sign for his 68 -- he was five shots behind -- until talking to rules officials and going over the videotape. A TV viewer said it appeared Garcia did not replace his ball in the same spot where he marked it on the 17th. Garcia, demonstrating later for reporters, said he slid the coin to the side of the ball, and turned his hand around when he replaced the ball so he wouldn't brush the coin. He said it appeared his ball was a fraction of an inch away from the original spot.

PGA TOUR rules officials signed off on it, and Garcia said they even called the USGA to confirm.

"I said, `If you guys feel like I gained something by moving it -- I don't know how much, like a centimetre or couple centimetres, whatever it is -- I'm fine with the two-stroke penalty. I'd rather take the two-stroke penalty than come out here like I was a cheater,'" Garcia said. "Obviously, they felt that wasn't the case. I told them exactly what I did, and they felt it was fine."

Garcia also said he tweaked his back on a tee shot at the 10th and would get treatment on it, uncertain he would play depending on how it felt Saturday.

Saturday figures to be a busier day than expected. A couple of late bogeys and one double bogey dropped the cut to 2-over 146, allowing more than a dozen players back into the tournament. That means there will be another cut on Saturday.

Through it all, there was plenty of aggravation. Bubba Watson opened with a three-putt from 10 feet, added a four-putt from about 65 feet on the 12th hole, and had another three-putt from 15 feet.

But it was like that for everyone, which is why McNeill had a peculiar answer when asked what the winner had to do well this weekend.

"It's the guy who keeps control of his emotions the best," McNeill said. "The greens will have an effect on you. You've just got to keep positive. You're going to have good putts that miss, and you might have some bad putts that go in."

Mickelson is less concerned with his run of amazing putting than with getting the ball in play. He has hit only 11 fairways going into the weekend, though he found something in his alignment early on the back nine and was hitting it where he was aiming the rest of the way.

"It's fun to be in contention. It's fun to be in the mix," Mickelson said. `It's great to be leading, but we're only halfway home. There is a lot of golf left. I have to come out and play very well. But I've been putting very well this week, and I've been driving the ball very well before I got here. And I think if I drive the ball the way I've been before I got here, and not the way I did the first few days, I think it's going to be a fun weekend."

Clarke Makes Cut in Jakarta

Asia Tour

With the halfway cut set at two-over-par 146 Darren Clarke was one of the 69 players making the weekend rounds, after carding a second round 75 for an aggregate 145.

Up ahead it was Thongchai Jaidee who drew inspiration from the presence of his family members by firing a superb seven-under-par 65 to take the second round lead at the CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters on Friday.

Thongchai, who holds an unprecedented three Order of Merit titles, posted a flawless round highlighted by seven birdies for two-day total of 10-under-par 134 at the US$750,000 Asian Tour event which is played at the immaculate Royale Jakarta Golf Club.

Australia’s Scott Barr shot a second successive 68 in his 200th appearance on the Asian Tour to trail Thongchai by two shots while Wade Ormsby of Australia was in third position on 137.

Reigning Open Championship winner Ernie Els of South Africa shot 70 to stay in the hunt in tied fourth place with Hung Chien-yao of Chinese Taipei and Australians Kieran Pratt, Jake Higginbottom and Scott Hend, who was the overnight co-leader.

The third round of the CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters will start at 7am and is expected to finish at approximately 2pm local time due to expected thunderstorms in the afternoon.

Thongchai, who has four top-10s this season, wielded a hot putter as he continues his search for a 14th Asian Tour victory.

“My wife and two sons are here with me this week. My oldest son followed me for nine holes today but my youngest is at the hotel. I’m very happy with my family support. I want to show them that I can play very well,” said Thongchai.

A top-three result at the CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters will push him inside the top-60 on the Official World Golf Rankings, giving him a strong chance to qualify for the U.S. Open next month. Thongchai was the first Thai to ever play in all four rounds in the 2001 U.S. Open.

“I hope I can keep my confidence like this in the next few days. If I drive, hit and putt like today then I think I have a good chance to win the tournament. My putting wasn’t that good in the last few months but it is coming around now,” said the world number 65.

“I played very solid and I have no complains at all. I think I have a chance to go even lower in the next few days. I’m only halfway there. There are many strong players here but getting off to 10-under after two rounds gives me a good chance.”

Barr hopes to make it a really special 200th Asian Tour event by winning his first victory this week. His wife is also expected to give birth to his second child on Tuesday.

“This week sort of feels like a special week for me. I’ve had a lot of media attention and you sort of feel like you are in the limelight and ready to go. I’ve enjoyed it. Hopefully it will be a week that I will remember,” said Barr.

“I’ve been preparing for my second child for months now. Obviously when I get home after this week, I will be pretty busy. It is very exciting and I’m looking forward to it,” he added.

Els, nicknamed the Big Easy, endured an energy-sapping day but remained confident that he can shoot a low number and contend for the title.

“Today was a bit of a jetlag day for me. I was trying to get some energy going. Hopefully I will have more energy tomorrow. I think my game is all there. I just need to get a bit sharper mentally,” said the four-time Major champion.

“I was hoping for a better score but I didn’t quite get it. My game is not too bad. I just need to eliminate some really small mistakes. This is the type of course where you can get a little bit aggressive. I’m hitting the ball quite nicely so I like to stay aggressive. If I get myself in position, I will go for flags and get my putts in,” added Els.

5/03/2013

McIlroy in Wells Fargo Chase

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Rory McIlroy joined six other players in a leadership log jam after the first round of the Wells Fargo Championship.

McIlroy birdied the 18th hole at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte to end the opening round alongside Americans Ryan Moore, Nick Watney, Robert Garrigus, Derek Ernst, Daniel Summerhays and Nate Smith on five under at the top of the leaderboard.

Watney and Moore both posted bogey-free rounds with the former, who started on the back nine, producing a brilliant run home, birdying the first, second, third, seventh and eighth holes to take a share of the lead.

Moore also took a little while to get going on Thursday but a birdie on the 9th hole set him up for an impressive back-nine performance.

The 30-year-old birdied the 10th, 13th, 14th and 15th holes to card a five-under 67 in North Carolina.

McIlroy looked on track to be the sole leader at the end of the first round of the PGA Tour event when he birdied four consecutive holes from the par-five 5th onwards.

While the 2010 champion also birdied the 10th and 11th holes, bogeys on the 9th and 12th left the Northern Irishman on four under and he needed another birdie on the 18th to take a share of the lead.

The tight nature of the opening round of the Wells Fargo Championship was underlined with 30 players within three shots of the leading seven players.

Rod Pampling and Steven Bowditch are the highest-placed Australian players at three under, while John Senden is a shot further back heading into Friday's second round.

Harrington Anchors at Wells Fargo

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Padraig Harrington used a belly putter in the opening round of the Wells Fargo Championship.

Despite shooting an eight-over-par 80 - his long game was more to blame - the three-time major winner said he would consider sticking with a belly putter until the proposed ban on anchored strokes comes into effect in 2016.

"The R&A and USGA support the rules of golf and (anchoring) is well within the rules," Harrington told reporters at Quail Hollow.

"I think (anchoring) is bad for the game of golf. But if something's going to help me for the next three and a half years I'm going to use it.

"It's the same as the box (square) grooves. It's hurt me deeply having the box grooves banned. I knew it wasn't good for my game, but it was for the good of the game.

"For the majority, I believe anchoring shouldn't be there. It doesn't look good. The commentators are talking about it. You (the media) are talking about it now. It's a story, just like the grooves.

"As much as the grooves cost me dearly, I know nobody wants to talk about that now. Six months after they were gone, nobody talked about it. It will be the same with the putter. Once it's banned, six months later everybody will move on.

"And there is no doubt there are individuals that it's going to be tough on (Keegan Bradley, Webb Simpson, Ernie Els and Adam Scott have won four of the past six majors between them using anchored putters).

"But it cost me a couple of shots a day, at least a shot a day, not having the box grooves because that's my style of game. So it's not like it hasn't happened before. But for the game, I definitely think that I don't agree with anchoring at all."

Speaking after Els' Open Championship win at Royal Lytham last year, Harrington said he was expecting a ban, adding: "I just hope that they don't wait too long - I hope they don't wait until I'm 50 years of age to change the rule."