The Irish Golf Club Gazette

11/22/2012

Wozzilroy's Christmas Crackers

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Caroline Wozniacki brought the house down on Thursday when she spiced up Rory McIlroy's post-round news conference at the DP World Tour Championship by asking her boyfriend what she was getting for Christmas.

The Danish tennis player, a former world number one, interrupted the normal talk about birdies and bogeys and five-irons and three-woods with a question out of the blue from the back of the room.

A smiling Wozniacki, dressed in all white, took the microphone from one of the reporters and asked McIlroy amid roars of laughter from the assembled media: "If you win this week am I going to get a really nice Christmas present?".

The world's number one golfer pulled his cap over his eyes before telling his girlfriend: "Have you not already got a lot of nice presents?

"I have been looking, I have been looking. But it won't take winning this week to buy you a nice present - I'll get you a nice present anyway."

It drew another smiling response from the golf-watching Wozniacki: "That must be because I'm an unbelievable cheerleader".

McIlroy prompted more giggles from the floor when he said: "You're a better tennis player", to which the Dane replied, "That's not very nice".

An expensive gift is sure to be heading Wozniacki's way next month with the Northern Irishman having already banked almost $13 million in official earnings by winning the money-lists on both sides of the Atlantic.

McIlroy can add $1.33 million to his bulging account by landing the first prize here this week plus a $1 million bonus from the end-of-season prize pool.

He is, however, more concerned about adding the Dubai title to his European money-list crown come Sunday night.

"It would be great to emulate what Lee Westwood did in 2009 and win both trophies," he told reporters after a first-round 66 left him one stroke behind tournament leader Luke Donald.

"That's the goal and the motivation this week. I've come to the last two DP World Tour Championships with a chance of winning the money-list and missed out.

"Having already wrapped it up this year, I guess I can go out there and play without thinking about it. It is definitely a nice thing to not have that pressure on your shoulders."

Padraig on Top of DP World

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Padraig Harrington was low on confidence entering the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai and so a 5-under 67 opening round was more than a pleasant surprise.

"I shot 67 doing handstands today," Harrington told reporters. "Sometimes you do that when your expectations are low.

"Today I wasn't very confident going into the tournament so anything was going to keep me happy out there and I'm pleased with the score."

Harrington, winless on the European Tour since 2008, chose not to fret on the handful of missed opportunities he had to tie or claim the outright lead. Instead, he was satisfied with his performance and relatively good health.

"I had the flu all week in Hong Kong," he said. "I played two rounds of golf but the rest of it I spent holed up in bed trying to recover.

"I suffered a bit of a relapse this Tuesday. I still have a bit of a cough so I won't be doing too much practice this week, just taking it easy."

Harrington trails leader Luke Donald by two strokes.

DP World Championship Leaderboard

Illness Knocks Lowry Dubai Out

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Shane Lowry's hopes this week of crashing into the world's elite top 50 and topping the magical €1m mark for the first time in one season hung in the balance overnight after a mystery virus landed him in a Dubai hospital.

Lowry only needed to tee it up in Thursday's first round of the €6.2m DP World Tour Championship to be guaranteed at least €19,371, sending his winnings for 2012 to €1,015,910.

A top-six finish on Sunday would propel the Clara man into the world's top 50, earning a first invite to the Masters if he's still there on December 31.

Forced out of Tuesday's Pro-Am with a searing headache and persistent vomiting, Lowry was taken to hospital when symptoms continued yesterday. Badly dehydrated, he was placed on a saline drip as doctors performed tests.

He was discharged three hours later.

11/21/2012

Clarke Collects OBE at the Palace

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2011 Open champion Darren Clarke said meeting the Queen was more nerve-racking than winning a major tournament after he was awarded his OBE.

The charismatic Ulsterman, 44, who won the 2011 Open Championship, was a vice captain of the European Ryder Cup team which memorably beat the US at the Medinah Country Club, Chicago, in September, having also played in five of the tournaments.

He captured the nation's hearts in 2006 when he put in one of the greatest ever performances in the history of the Ryder Cup at The K Club near Dublin, just six weeks after his first wife Heather lost her long fight with breast cancer.

He said Heather would have been proud of him, as was his second wife Alison, who was there to see him presented with his medal by the Queen, along with his children.

But he added: "She would have been proud of me but more proud of the kids than me, sitting in there and seeing the Queen."

He said it was a great honour to meet the Queen as he was made an OBE for services to the sport.

Asked how it compared to winning the Open or the Ryder Cup, he said: "It is right up there but the Open and Ryder Cup were much easier than this."

He added: "This wasn't a case of nerves, this was a great honour to meet the Queen. She asked me about the golf and the charity things as well."

Mr Clarke set up the Darren Clarke Foundation in his first wife's memory after her death.

11/20/2012

Rory Seeks DP World Tour Championship

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Rory McIlroy is keen to cap a successful season with victory in this week's lucrative DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

McIlroy heads an elite field of 57 players at the Jumeirah Golf Estates, with 28 of the season's winners in attendance, but the European Tour Order of Merit has already been secured by the Northern Irishman.

More than £6m in prize money is on offer and McIlroy hopes he is well placed to put last week's disappointing missed cut in Hong Kong behind him with a fifth 2012 title.

"Obviously Hong Kong wasn't the week that I wanted, but at least it gave me the chance get to Dubai a bit earlier and work on a few things," McIlroy said.

"I definitely needed to work on my putting a little bit, because I feel like I'm still hitting the ball well, I just haven't holed enough putts over the past two weeks. I was maybe also a little bit tired, mentally and physically.

"I think if I was completely fresh, I wouldn't have made the mistakes I did in Hong Kong last week. So in some ways, even though I obviously wanted to defend my title in Hong Kong, maybe having the weekend off worked out for the best, as it gave me the chance to rest up and recharge the batteries.

"It's already been an amazing season, and hopefully I can round it off in style in Dubai this week.

"Obviously I'm very proud and very honoured to win the Race to Dubai. I've had four goes at it and came close a couple of times, so it's great to be able to do it and it's been a phenomenal year."