Padraig Ready to Valspar It

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Padraig Harrington returns to action for the first time since his dramatic victory in the Honda Classic in this week’s Valspar Championship at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club.

Harrington’s first win on a major worldwide tour since the 2008 USPGA Championship secured his return to the US Masters next month and lifted him back inside the world’s top 100, but did not get the Dubliner a place in the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral.

That at least allowed the 43-year-old three-time major winner the time to reflect on his victory, which came in a play-off with American rookie Daniel Berger after a double bogey on the 71st hole.

“It feels great to have won and now that I have done so I have allowed myself to think of the things that come with it, the Masters, the Players, WGC-Bridgestone and I am exempt for three years on the PGA Tour, but above all that the confidence a win brings,” Harrington explained this week.

“It has been tough at times but the last couple of months, with my two wins (he won in Indonesia in December), have made it worthwhile.

“I never doubted myself, I know a lot of people did and many asked me why I would do things differently, but then that wouldn’t be me.

“I don’t feel any different now that I have won, as I always felt that the win was around the corner.

“Little did I know that it was going to be a nearly seven-year corner and then, like buses, two come along one after the other.

“I feel that I have found the mental solution that I have been searching for and that I will kick on from here. I know that it won’t work all of the time, but that some of the time it is good enough.”

Harrington has been paired with world number two Jordan Spieth and former Masters champion Adam Scott for the first two rounds, Scott finishing joint fourth in the WGC-Cadillac Championship on Sunday in his first start of the season. Fellow AustralianJohn Senden is the defending champion.

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Rory McIlroy Proves No Cadillac

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Rory McIlroy threw one of his clubs into a lake during his second round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship in Miami.

The Northern Irishman had just pulled his approach shot into the water on the par-five eighth hole - and sent his long iron after it in frustration.

McIlroy, 25, is attempting to recover from a first-round score of 73, which left him 11 shots off the lead.

His missed cut at last week's Honda Classic was his first since June 2014.

Inexcusable behaviour!

McIlroy had just recorded his third birdie of the day to get back to level par for the tournament when he pulled his approach to the par-five eighth - a hole he had eagled on Thursday - into the water.

And after a few seconds' thought the 25-year-old then hurled the offending club into the same stretch of water on his way to recording a six, his third bogey of the day.

McIlroy recovered to card a round of 70 to lie one under par.

"Frustration got the better of me," he told Sky Sports. "Following on from last week I feel like it's very close and to hit shots like that you get frustrated, but I shouldn't have did what I did.

"It all bottled up and had to let it go somehow and that's what happened. I don't feel good about doing it but I will hopefully have a new three iron on the way in the morning and be able to got out and play with another one.

"I wouldn't encourage kids at home to do the same thing."

It is not the first time McIlroy's frustrations have got the better of him. At the US Open in 2013 he apologised for throwing one club and leaning so hard on another during the final round that he bent the shaft out of shape.

And that came just months after he walked off the course midway through the second round of the Honda Classic, where he was defending champion, telling reporters he was in "a bad place mentally" before his management company issued a statement blaming toothache.

McIlroy missed the cut in the Honda Classic last week and struggled to an opening 73 at Doral, but looked to be getting back on track when he began his second round with two straight birdies.

However, the four-time major winner then bogeyed the third after driving into the water and three-putted the fourth before the frustrations of the course known as the 'Blue Monster' truly took their toll on the eighth.

McIlroy added on Sky Sports 4: "You can see I'm aiming left to try and cut it and it's been frustrating this week because the shots I want to cut I draw, and the shots I want to draw I cut. I'm just not quite there with the swing the way I want to and another ball in the water wasn't good.

"(I have) another couple of rounds just to try and find a little bit of rhythm. I'm a little behind at the minute but it seems like the scores are quite spread out so if I can get off to a decent start tomorrow you never know."

Shane Lowry finished one over after a second round of 74.

Graeme McDowell finished two over a second successive 73.

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McIlroy Cadillac Follows Honda Cut

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Rory McIlroy believes missing the cut in last week’s Honda Classic has given him the "kick in the backside" he needed ahead of the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral.

McIlroy failed to make the weekend on his 2015 PGA Tour debut at PGA National after posting scores of 73 and 74 in the opening two rounds.

However, the world No 1 feels that could be something of a blessing in disguise following the lengthy weather delays which resulted in a Monday finish and the work it highlighted he needed to do on his game.

"I could have approached it two ways," said McIlroy at his pre-tournament press conference in Miami.

"I could have got really down on myself and wondered where that had come from or thought this was the first event after a three-week break and there were things that need to be sharper.

"Sometimes you need a little kick in the backside to make you realise what you need to do. I was disappointed but I feel like it has given me clarity on what I needed to do on my game going forward.

"It was my mum's birthday on the Friday night so we went out for a nice dinner and then got back to work on Saturday."

McIlroy admitted he struggled to play his usual controlled draw in the wind last week but appeared to have quickly ironed out the problems after shooting a 63 to win a pro-member event at Seminole Golf Club on Monday.

The 25-year-old Northern Irishman will play in the Arnold Palmer Invitational in a fortnight's time before fully turning his attention to trying to complete the career grand slam with victory in the Masters in April, although he will take a "social" trip to play Augusta with his father and some friends next week.

"There is always excitement and anticipation and hype surrounding Augusta and I feel it regardless whether I am going in there as favourite or under the radar," McIlroy said. "It's the first major of the year and really the start of the golfing season for the general public.

"Right now I'm taking it week by week. After Bay Hill I will start to think about it more and every practice session will be looking ahead at the shots I need.

"I think the best way to go in is to have confidence but sometimes if you go in with low expectations that can help as well. If things were to go the right way at Augusta I would not care if I had gone in there with two wins or two missed cuts."

McIlroy will play alongside two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson in the first two rounds at Doral as well as Sweden’s Henrik Stenson.

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McIlroy to Miss Honda Cut

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Rory McIlroy is set to miss the cut at the Honda Classic after posting a four-over 74 in a rain-affected second round.

In a round twice interrupted by bad weather, McIlroy carded five bogeys and just one birdie to move to seven-over, four shots outside of the projected cut. Beginning the day three-over, the Northern Irishman opened with a bogey at the 10th and dropped another shot at the par-five 18th after finding the water with his second shot.

McIlroy missed birdie putts at two and three, before making his only gain of the round by firing his tee-shot at the par-three fifth to within five feet of the hole.

The 2012 winner on the Champion Course then found the bunker at successive holes to card back-to-back bogeys, and added another at the last after three-putting from 50-feet.

The 25-year-old had arrived at PGA National full of confidence after victory at last month's Dubai Desert Classic extended his run to seven top-two European Tour finishes in a row, and was expecting another good weekend in Florida despite an opening round 73. 

"I don't like missing cuts," the world No 1 said. "You want to be playing on the weekend, and I'm not going to be playing which is not nice. 

"I guess after coming off a three-week break, I felt, I wouldn't say rusty, but just not quite on top of my game yesterday. Today I felt like I was trying to get something going and couldn't.

"Coming off three weeks off and playing in conditions like these, it sort of shows you where your game's at. I've just got to regroup and put some work in and get ready for Miami next week."

Failing to qualify for the weekend ends a run of 22 consecutive cuts made on the PGA Tour for McIlroy, who hadn't missed a cut since last year's Irish Open and has reached the third round of every tournament he's featured at in America since the 2012 US Open. 

McIlroy will continue his preparations for April's Masters at next week's World Golf Championships event at Doral, before making his first-ever start in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill a fortnight later.

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Shane Lowry Chases a Top Spot

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Shane Lowry rebounded from a first round 78 with a 69 that included a mid-round run of birdie, birdie and then an 11th hole eagle where he drilled a 5-iron from 213-yards to just eight feet.

“It was a good bounce back from yesterday after a very disappointing round and that 78 came out of nowhere,” he said. “I had nine birdies winning the morning Pro-Am on Wednesday, so then come out and shoot a 78 really sat me on my backside. But I was delighted today with how I got myself back into the tournament and to shoot three under par was very pleasing. If I can get myself back to par tomorrow then I will be delighted.”

Lowry heads to the final two rounds sharing 49th place and needing to break into the top-20 to be assured of a top-50 world ranking for a first time in his career.

Graeme McDowell singled out the dangers of breaking political correctness in sport’s four-letter game after Patrick Reed’s ‘trial by TV’ verbal outburst during the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai.

McDowell was competing in the same group as his Ryder Cup rival and admitted after moving three shots clear of the field he actually never heard Reed launch a four-letter tirade of abuse at himself in three-putting the first green on day one.

Reed was so upset by reaction to the incident, including TV giant CNN running with the story in media-controlled China, he sought out countryman Bubba Watson to seek guidance from the self-confessed Bible-loving double Masters winner.

“Patrick said to me, ‘Hey, I did something bad’ and then he showed me the video clip,” said Watson, who shares third place behind McDowell on six under par.

Watson advised Reed to ‘tell everyone you’re sorry’ so he then went back to his own room tweeting his apologies.

“I made a stupid error that’s for sure and I’m definitely sorry for the word. It should never have happened and in this game of golf it’s a gentleman’s game and that should never happen,” said Reed. “I’m young and growing up and I’ve had temper issues on and off the golf course, and as you know I live and die through every shot.

“I’m not sure if I will get a fine or not. I will just have to wait and see. All I can handle is myself moving forward and playing some good golf.”

McDowell stressed the implications of crossing the line of political incorrectness, as we saw with Ted Bishop being sacked as PGA of American president over his sexist remarks directed at Ian Poulter.

“We always joke that golf is a four-letter word and there is a lot of four-letter words when you play the game of golf but then we are on global television and we have to be aware that we have to be very careful what we say,” said McDowell. “I don’t blame Patrick for using a profanity but then it was just an unfortunate choice of words, and we also live in a world where those small snowballs turn into one giant snowball when someone videos that and puts it up on Twitter. Then it gets repeated and repeated round the globe.

“He didn’t mean anything by his remarks and playing with him today I know he is sorry for what he said, and he wishes he hadn’t said that.

“Yes he should not have said it but is Patrick being unfairly dragged across the coals? I don’t know.

“Though guys say things all the time out here and it gets picked up by microphones, and Patrick uses one word that is politically incorrect and here we are still talking about it.

“We also saw a few weeks ago a leading official used sexist terms. Bad things can happen and you don’t want to be saying anything that is not PC so it’s a very sensitive universe these days.”

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