McDowell Needs Valhalla Performance

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Graeme McDowell will have the Ryder Cup in mind when he tees off in the US PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club

Along with Lee Westwood,  McDowell is desperate to make the European team for September's showdown at Gleneagles and know a big performance in the year's final major could secure their spots.

To triumph at Valhalla this week, they'll need to get the better of the par 71 course in Kentucky and also new world No 1 Rory McIlroy, who goes into the event on the back of superb victories in The Open Championship at Hoylake and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Ohio on his last two starts.

“He’s the best player in the world, currently," said McDowell of his fellow Northern Irishman. "You can’t set out trying to beat him this week, you can only hope to go down the stretch on Sunday afternoon and hopefully I can be there and give it a shot

Westwood concurs that McIlroy will be hard to beat.

“He’s won more majors than any of the other new lads on the block and he seems more consistent and, technically, he seems better than most as well so there’s not too many idiosyncrasies in his swing that can go wrong,“ said the Englishman.

As well as trying to win his first major, Westwood is also hunting Ryder Cup points.

He showed signs of a return to form at Firestone last week when he closed what looked set to be a modest tournament by shooting a sparkling final round 63 to make the top 20.

Westwood said: “It’s the last chance to win a major this year. It’s an opportunity to hopefully build on what I started last week and keep playing well. It’s about time I started playing well again.”

McDowell, meanwhile, looks to be peaking at just the right time after winning the French Open last month, finishing ninth in The Open at Hoylake and warming up for Valhalla with a top 10 at Firestone on Sunday.

However, the 2010 US Open champion isn’t presuming he’s already done enough to make Paul McGinley’s team just yet.

“It looked like I’d maybe left it a little late but thankfully I’ve played really well the last couple of months and got myself in great shape going forward,” said McDowell.

“No-one’s a lock, let’s be honest, there’s lots of things that can happen between now and the team being picked.”

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Ireland Make Winning Start

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Ireland made a winning start in the defence of their Boys Home Internationals title when they defeated Wales 4-1 in the morning foursomes at Western Gailes Golf Club in Ayrshire, Scotland.

This year’s Junior Open champion Kevin LeBlanc, playing alongside Kerry’s James O’Driscoll in the top match, enjoyed a resounding 7 and 6 win over Jack Davidson and Thomas Williams.

The Irish pair raced into a five-up lead by the time they reached the turn at the immaculate links venue. From there they never looked back and eventually closed out the match on the 12th green.

Eoin Leonard and Cathal Butler put another point on the board for Ireland with their 3 and 2 win over Lewys Sanges and Joshua Davies in the third match. Shortly afterwards the experienced pair of James Sugrue and Rowan Lester, both members of Roy Archibalds’s winning side from Forest Pines last year, defeated Ben Chamberlain and David Ramsay by one hole.

In the bottom match Thomas Mulligan and Owen Crooks had a tight encounter with Tim Harry and Kyle Harman before they secured Ireland’s fourth point of the session by one hole.

It was Gaelen Trew and Thomas Froom who ensured Ireland didn’t have it all their own way when the Welsh pair defeated Conor Purcell and Jamie Fletcher 3 and 2.

It was a much tighter affair in the second foursomes tie where Marco Penge and Harry Hall came through with the decisive point to give England a narrow 3-2 win over Scotland. The English pair defeated Calum Fyfe and Niall McMullen 2 and 1.

The strong pairing of Ewen Ferguson and Murray Naysmith gave Scotland an early point after their 5 and 4 win over Haydn McMullen and Jamie Dick in the top match.

The second tie went to the final green before Bradley Moore and Jonathan Thomson got the better of Robert MacIntyre and Ben Kinsley by 1 hole. 

Adam Fisher and Stuart Easton were comprehensive 6 and 4 winners against England’s Jack Singh Brar and Jamie Li, while Ashton Turner and Jake Storey levelled proceedings with their 4 and 3 win over George Burns and Ryan Lumsden in the bottom match.

However, it was Derek Hughes’ side who will enjoy lunch better after Penge and Hall came through with the wining point.

Today’s opening matches move onto the ten afternoon singles ties to decide the first day’s play in the overall round robin format played over three days.

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Ireland Defend Home International Trophy

Ireland will seek to defend the Boys Home Internationals trophy in the face of stiff competition at Western Gailes this week. 

The Irish won in dramatic fashion at Forest Pines last year as Scotland failed to beat England in their final match with the result coming down to the last few singles matches. 

England will be looking to win their third title in four years at the Ayrshire links from Tuesday 5 to Thursday 7 August while Scotland will be looking for their first win since 2006 at Moray and Wales will be hoping to achieve their first victory in the round robin series of matches. 

Captain Roy Archibald’s line-up will feature only two members of the victorious 2013 team in Lincolnshire: Rowan Lester, who represented Ireland in the European Boys Team Championship in Oslo last month, and James Sugrue, who won the Munster Youths Amateur Open Championship in April. Kevin Leblanc will be expected to play a key role for the Irish after winning The R&A’s Junior Open Championship at West Lancs last month. 

The English team will be led by Ashton Turner, who will make his third consecutive appearance in the Boys Home Internationals, Bradley Moore, who won the Irish Boys Amateur Open Championship in June, and Marco Penge, who finished tied fourth with Matty Lamb in the recent McGregor Trophy. 

The 2013 Boys Amateur Champion Ewen Ferguson, who recently added the Scottish Boys Open Stroke Play title to his Scottish Boys Match Play crown, will lead a strong Scottish team that also includes Scottish Boys Stroke Play runner-up Ben Kinsley and Robert MacIntyre, who last year became the first player to win the Scottish boys and youths stroke play titles in the same year. 

Newly crowned Welsh Boys Match Play Champion Ben Chamberlain will be in confident mood for the matches as will his team mate Thomas Williams, who will be looking to build on the form which saw him reach the semi-finals at Wenvoe Castle. 

Johnnie Cole-Hamilton, Executive Director – Championships at The R&A, said, “The Boys Home Internationals matches give the talented young players the opportunity to gain valuable experience of representing their countries and playing against their peers from the other Home Nations. We would encourage spectators to come along to support the event at Western Gailes this week where the matches should be as closely contested as ever.” 

The teams are as follows: 

Ireland: Cathal Butler (Kinsale), Owen Crooks (Bushfoot), Jamie Fletcher (Warrenpoint), Peter Kerr (Royal Portrush), Kevin Leblanc (The Island), Eoin Leonard (Wentworth), Rowan Lester (Hermitage), Thomas Mulligan (Laytown & Bettystown), Tommy O’Driscoll (Ring of Kerry), Conor Purcell (Portmarnock) and James Sugrue (Mallow). 

England: Jamie Dick (Forest Hills), Harry Hall (West Cornwall), Matty Lamb (Hexham), Jamie Li (Bath), Haydn McCullen (Delamere Forest), Bradley Moore (Kedleston Park), Marco Penge (Golf at Goodwood), Jack Singh Brar (Remedy Oak), Jake Storey (Alnmouth), Jonathan Thomson (Lindrick) and Ashton Turner (Kenwick Park). 

Scotland: Joseph Bryce (Bathgate), George Burns (Williamwood), Stuart Easton (Irvine), Ewen Ferguson (Bearsden), Adam Fisher (Newmachar), Calum Fyfe (Cawder), Ben Kinsley (St Andrews), Ryan Lumsden (Royal Wimbledon), Robert MacIntyre (Glencruitten), Niall McMullen (Lundin) and Murray Naysmith (Marriott Dalmahoy). 

Wales: Jack Davidson (Llanwern), Joshua Davies (Celtic Manor), Tim Harry (Vale Resort), Kyle Harman (Radyr), David Ramsay (Mold), Thomas Williams (Wrexham), Ben Chamberlain (Padeswood & Buckley), Lewys Sanges (Celtic Manor), Gaelen Trew (Wentworth), Rhys Jones (Mountain Ash) and Thomas Froom (Nefyn). 

The Boys Home Internationals has been a proving ground for dozens of Walker Cup players and future Major Championship winners including Open Champion Rory McIlroy, the 2013 US Open Champion Justin Rose, six-time Major winner Sir Nick Faldo, former Open and Masters Champion Sandy Lyle and former Open Champion Darren Clarke. 

Spectators are admitted free of charge to the event, which runs from Tuesday to Thursday, 5-7 August. The playing format is a full round robin series of matches comprising five morning foursomes and ten afternoon singles matches. The morning foursomes tee off from 8am and the afternoon singles matches from 12.30pm each day. 

Match one on Tuesday 5 August will be Ireland versus Wales and match two will be England versus Scotland.

McIlroy Looking After Number One

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Rory McIlroy repeated the winning trick in Akron, Ogion, on Sunday, to capture the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and return to world No 1 - holidng off Sergio Garcia for the second time in as many weeks.

McIlroy turned a three-shot deficit into a two-shot lead within the space of five holes at Firestone Country Club, before Garcia battled back to leave the pair tied heading into the back nine.

Garcia had played the same back nine in just 27 shots in his second round of 61, but it was McIlroy who came out on top two days later in a tense duel, the 25-year-old carding a closing 66 to finish 15 under par and claim his first World Golf Championship victory.

With Adam Scott finishing outside the top five, that meant McIlroy reclaimed the world No 1 spot he last held in March 2013, just in time for the final major of the year, next week's US PGA Championship at Valhalla.

After 16 birdies in the first three rounds Garcia could only manage one in a disappointing closing 71 to finish 13 under, meaning the 34-year-old has now won just three times after holding the 54-hole lead on 16 occasions.

"What I am really proud of this week is following on from the Open with a performance like this," McIlroy, only the second European winner of the title after Darren Clarke in 2003, told CBS. "I said straight after I did not want any let down, I wanted to keep going and performing until the end of the season.

"It's great to come to one of my favourite tournaments of the year and to perform like this I am pretty satisfied."

McIlroy pulled his opening drive into the rough but had a gap through the trees and hit a superb low pitch to three feet, while Garcia had to settle for a par by two-putting from long range.

Three-time major winner McIlroy then two-putted from long range on the par-five second for another birdie and also birdied the third to take over the lead as Garcia bogeyed, but that did not tell half the story of an amazing hole.

Garcia's errant drive into the crowd somehow knocked the diamond out of a female spectator's engagement ring and after giving her a signed ball, the Spaniard asked for her contact information after hitting his second shot over the green.

Thankfully, the precious stone was quickly recovered but Garcia was unable to get up and down to save par and McIlroy holed from eight feet for a third straight birdie.

When McIlroy also birdied the fifth from five feet it meant a five-shot swing had taken place in the space of five holes and gave the world number two a two-shot lead.

Garcia desperately needed something to go in his favour and it happened on the eighth, McIlroy driving into the rough and finding a greenside bunker with his approach, from where he failed to get up and down.

Garcia then got back on level terms with a birdie from 15 feet on the ninth, McIlroy missing from just six feet.

That meant the pair went into the back nine tied on 14 under par but it was McIlroy who edged back in front with a birdie on the 11th from eight feet, Garcia then missing from a few inches closer.

The decisive moment then came on the par-three 15th, where Garcia's tee-shot left of the green left him with a near-impossible pitch over a bunker and led to a bogey four.

That gave McIlroy a two-shot lead with three to play and when Garcia failed to convert a birdie chance from 10 feet on the 17th his chance had gone.

The big story earlier in the day had come when Tiger Woods was forced to withdraw with a back problem.

Woods hit a number of poor shots in the fourth round and, after missing the fairway with his tee shot on the ninth hole he grimaced and reached towards his back before being driven off the course in a cart.

The 38-year-old had back surgery on March 31 which ruled him out of action for three months and the latest problem must put his participation in next week’s US PGA Championship in doubt.

Low scoring had been the order of the day on the rain-softened course, five-time major winner Phil Mickelson charging through the field with an eight-under-par 62 which featured 10 birdies and two bogeys.

"I don't know what to say, it kind of came out of nowhere," Mickelson said after finishing five under for the tournament. "The first two rounds really threw me for a loop. I have been struggling getting my short irons close and today they were right on.

"I made a lot of birdies and it was nice. Today was a big day to give me a lot of confidence and momentum heading into the US PGA next week."

England's Lee Westwood had also found some welcome form after four consecutive missed cuts, the 41-year-old carding a flawless 63 that did not go unnoticed by watching Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley.

"If you look at the one pillar that has been consistent throughout the Ryder Cup success we have had since the 90s it has been Lee Westwood but you want to see Lee in form," said McGinley on Sky Sports 4, well aware that Westwood is outside the automatic qualifying places.

"He is not going to get in on his reputation alone. He needs some form, he knows that and it's good to see him playing well today."

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Firestone for Garcia and McIlroy

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Rory McIlroy will chase Sergio Garcia on Sunday in a role reversal from two weeks ago in LIverpool where the now Open champion was holding off the challenge from the man once knon as El Nino. 

At Hoylake Garcia chased McIlroy all the way before eventually finishing joint second, recording his 19th top-10 finish in his 64th major championship.

But the Spaniard has the opportunity to put that near-miss behind him by claiming his first World Golf Championship title at Firestone Country Club on Sunday, despite suffering from a lengthy weather delay in Akron.

Tee times had been brought forward several hours due to forecast thunderstorms, but the final group had just finished the 15th hole when the threat of lightning forced players off the course.

Garcia held a five-shot lead over McIlroy and Marc Leishman at the time, but when play eventually resumed three hours and 15 minutes later, the 34-year-old struggled to recapture his rhythm and had to battle to par the final three holes.

In contrast, McIlroy missed a good birdie chance on the 16th but picked up shots on the 17th and 18th to card a third round of 66 and finish 11 under, three behind Garcia, who returned a 67.

"I came here this week talking about wanting to just keeping the momentum going and not really dwell on The Open too much and keep moving forward and I have done that really well this week," McIlroy said. 

"I'm obviously really excited to give myself another chance to win a tournament tomorrow." 

"I drove it great at the Open as well and have been driving it great all year and that's why my results have been pretty good. Driving is the foundation of my game and if it's good it seems like everything feeds down from there and I've never driven the ball better than I am right now."

Leishman and world number one Adam Scott were two and three shots behind McIlroy respectively, the Australian pair having finished joint fifth together in the Open.

"It's great to see all the guys continue their good play," McIlroy added. "Sergio was chasing me down at Liverpool, I'm going to try and chase him down this week and we'll see what happens. It's a great leaderboard with a lot of good names and hopefully it will be a good battle tomorrow."

Justin Rose had been Garcia's closest challenger when he recovered from just his second bogey of the week on the eighth with birdies on the ninth and 10th, but then three-putted the 13th from 20 feet and did the same on the next, amazingly missing from no more than 12 inches.

The former US Open champion parred the final four holes either side of the delay to card a round of 70 and join Scott and Keegan Bradley on eight under, six off the pace.

Garcia had started the day with a three-shot lead after a sensational second round of 61, the Spaniard equalling the course record thanks to a back nine of just 27 shots which featured eight birdies, seven of them in succession from the 12th.

He was soon back into his stride when play resumed on Saturday, picking up shots on the second, fourth and sixth to reach the turn in 32.

The 11th was the only hole Garcia failed to birdie on the back nine on Friday, but the world number five made amends with a superb approach to two feet to move to 15 under par.

That was briefly good enough for a six-shot lead when McIlroy, who had also gone out in 32, missed from similar length on the 11th and followed that with a bogey on the 12th after failing to get up and down from a greenside bunker.

However, Garcia then carded his first bogey since the 12th hole of his opening round when he pulled his approach left of the 14th green, the siren sounding to suspend play after the final group had completed the 15th.

Defending champion Tiger Woods had already struggled to a 72 to lie one over par for the tournament, further reducing his slim chances of qualifying for the FedEx Cup play-offs.

The 14-time major winner needs the equivalent of third-place finishes here and in next week's US PGA Championship to move from 215th in the standings into the top 125.

Woods carded one birdie, one bogey and a double bogey on the sixth, where television commentators apologised after the 38-year-old was heard to tell photographers to "Give me a little f****** space" as he walked out of the rough.

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