The Irish Golf Club Gazette

9/13/2012

Rory Relaxes Before Atlanta Play-off

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Rory McIlroy plans a little "chill out" time in New York before his crack at the FedEx Cup jackpot a week on Thursday.

Having captured the second and third legs of the FedEx Cup play-offs McIlroy will head into the 30-man Tour Championship in Atlanta as firm favourite for the £6.25million bonus that goes to the winner of the four-tournament series.

Add in the £900,000 on offer for winning the event and the 23-year-old Northern Irishman has a golden opportunity to secure a staggering payday of over £7.15million.

Golf's undisputed world number one has already banked more than £2.7million in the past month and that works out at over £2,500 for each shot.

McIlroy now has six victories in the United States to his name - the same number that Nick Faldo and Seve Ballesteros managed in their entire careers.

Four have come this season, the latest a two-stroke triumph over cup team-mate Lee Westwood and Phil Mickelson at the BMW Championship in Indiana on Sunday night.

This week will mostly be about recharging his batteries, but he also has planned a training session with the New York Knicks basketball team.

"I'm making the right decisions out there and everything is really just going to plan at the minute," McIlroy said.

Those decisions included simply playing at Crooked Stick.

"Some suggested that I could have taken a week off and still could have been in the top five in the FedEx Cup standings going into Atlanta.

"But I felt like I was playing really well and didn't want to stop. I sort of picked up where I left off in Boston.

"It's a nice run to be on and I want to try and keep it going for as long as possible.

"I'm confident in my ability and confident with the shots that I'm hitting and confident on the greens."

Tiger Woods, third and fourth the past fortnight and up to second in the world as a result, commented: "He's doing the things he needs to do.

"Right now he's just really playing well and he's making a ton of putts. That's a great combo.

"He's a great player, he's playing great and he's going to be tough at East Lake. But we'll see - we've got 11 days or so to prepare."

The FedEx Cup system means that the top five in the points standings - McIlroy, Woods, Nick Watney, Phil Mickelson and Brandt Snedeker - still go into the final play-off event knowing that a victory will make them the overall champion.

That seems slightly unfair on McIlroy, who actually built a lead of 3,232 points this weekend, but has it slashed to 250 points to make the series climax more exciting.

All 30 qualifiers still have a chance and last year saw Bill Haas come from 25th to take both the tournament and the FedEx Cup.

McIlroy is one of six Europeans left in. The others are Westwood, Luke Donald, Justin Rose, Sergio Garcia and Carl Pettersson.

Failing to make it into the 30, however, means two weeks off for Graeme McDowell and Ian Poulter before the Ryder Cup, whereas American captain Davis Love will see all 12 of his side in action in Atlanta.

Mark Staunton Top of the Q Class

Mark Staunton doubled his lead on day two of the first stage of qualifying for the European Tour at the Roxburghe Hotel in Scotland on Wednesday.

The Ballinasloe-based 30-year-old turned his three-shot advantage after the first round into a six-stroke lead to put even more daylight between him and the rest of the field.

He fired a 68 to go with an opening 67, starting out with four birdies in his first six holes before dropping a shot at the short eighth. Two more birdies and another bogey followed after the turn to leave the Irishman on nine-under-par.

Scotland's Neil Fenwick is his closest challenger on three-under.

Muskerry's Peter O'Keeffe is in joint fourth, eight shots behind Staunton, following a round of 70, while Kerry's Mark Murphy and Damian Mooney of Ballyliffin are in a tie for 11th place.

It was an up-and-down round for Mooney, with the 44-year-old coming home in 74, while Murphy, a former US Tour caddie for Rocco Mediate, produced a level-par 72, which included one birdie and one bogey.

There will be a cut at the end of today's third round and then the top nine finishers plus ties after the fourth round will go forward to the second qualifying stage at one of four venues across Spain in early November.

9/10/2012

McIlroy Clears the Rio Olympic Air

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Rory McIlroy has posted an open letter on his twitter account in response to comments he made in an interview with the Daily Mail newspaper, rejecting any suggestion that he had made a decision on whom he would represent in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

The 23 year old Northern Ireland golfer stated during the newspaper interview that: “I’ve always felt more British than Irish,” during a wide ranging discussion that touched upon whether he would represent Ireland or Britain in Brazil - the first time that golf will be included in the Games.

He was further quoted in the article as saying: “What makes it such an awful position to be in is I have grown up my whole life playing for Ireland under the Golfing Union of Ireland umbrella. But the fact is I have always felt more British than Irish. Maybe it is the way I was brought up, I don’t know, but I have always felt more of a connection with the UK than with Ireland.

“And so I have to weigh that up against the fact that I have always played for Ireland and so it is tough. Whatever I do, I know my decision is going to upset some people but I hope the vast majority will understand.”

However in an open letter McIlroy rejected the notion that he had made any decision on who he would represent in the Olympics.

“Having just won three of my last four tournaments, including a second Major championship, I was hoping that my success on the golf course would be the more popular topic of golfing conversation today. However the issue of my cultural identity has re-emerged, and with it, the matter of my national allegiance ahead of the Rio Olympics in 2016.

“I am in an extremely sensitive and difficult position and I conveyed as much in a recent newspaper interview. I am a proud product of Irish golf and the Golfing Union of Ireland and am hugely honoured to have come from very rich Irish sporting roots, winning Irish Boys, Youths and Amateur titles and playing for Ireland at all levels. I am also a proud Ulsterman who grew up in Northern Ireland which is part of the United Kingdom. That is my background and always will be.

“I receive huge support from Irish and British sports fans alike and it is greatly appreciated. Likewise I feel I have a great affinity with the American sports fans. I play most of my golf in the US nowadays and I am incredibly proud to have won the US Open and US PGA Championship in the last two years.

“As an international sportsman I am very lucky to be supported by people all over the world, many of whom treat me as one of their own, not matter what their nationality, or indeed mine. This is the way sport should be.

“Since turning professional at 18, I have travelled the world playing the game that I love and consider myself a global player. As the World No.1 right now, I wish to be a positive role model and a sportsperson that people respect, and enjoy watching. I feel very fortunate to be in a position to play the sport that I love professionally and to have enjoyed the success that has come my way.

“I wish to clarify that I have absolutely not made a decision regarding my participation in the next Olympics. On a personal level, playing in the Olympics would be a huge honour. However, the Games in Rio are still four years away and I certainly won’t be making any decisions with regards to participating any time soon.

“The Olympics will be great for the growth of golf on a global scale, but my focus right now is on being the best player I can be, trying to win Major Championships and contributing to what will hopefully be a victorious European side at the forthcoming Ryder Cup Matches against the USA.

“Lastly, I would like to thank everyone for the amazing support that I receive around the world every time I play. It is hugely appreciated…Rory.”

Play-off Win Makes McIlroy BMW Champ

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Rory McIlroy faced the strongest collection of contenders at any golf tournament this year Sunday at the BMW Championship.

Even more disconcerting for everyone else, Boy Wonder was expecting to win all along.

McIlroy fine-tuned his swing and missed only one fairway at soggy Crooked Stick, powering his way to a 5-under 67 to win his second straight FedExCup Playoffs event. They followed a record win at the PGA Championship, giving him three wins in his last four starts to establish himself as the dominant player in golf.

He became the first player since Tiger Woods in 2009 to win in consecutive weeks on the PGA TOUR, and with his sixth career tour win, he joined Woods and Jack Nicklaus as the only players to win that many at age 23.

"The more you put yourself in this position, and the more you win and the more you pick up trophies, it becomes normal," McIlroy said after his two-shot win over Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood. "And it feels like this is what you're supposed to do."

For the longest time, this was what Woods used to do.

"I don't think I'm quite there yet," McIlroy said. "But I'm getting to that stage where I'm thinking, `This is what I should be doing. I should be lifting a trophy at the end of the week.' It's been great. The last four, five weeks have been incredible, some of the best golf that I've ever played. I'm going to try and keep the run going for as long as possible."

Never mind that Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh -- World Golf Hall of Famers with 74 TOUR wins and seven majors between them -- were one shot ahead. Or that Lee Westwood, a former world No. 1, was playing alongside. Or that Woods was right behind.

McIlroy made back-to-back birdies around the turn to emerge from a four-way tie, and he turned back one last challenge from Westwood and Mickelson with clutch pars. The 23-year-old from Northern Ireland didn't make a bogey until the 18th hole.

"By that time, I had sort of done enough," he said.

Mickelson and Westwood tried to chase him down on the back nine at Crooked Stick, only to mistakes when they couldn't afford any.

Westwood, who lost to McIlroy in the semifinals of the World Golf Championships - Accenture Match Play Championship in February, caught him with a birdie on the par-3 13th. But the weak area of his game showed up at the wrong time -- a poor chip on the 14th for bogey, another pedestrian chip on the par-5 15th that led to par. He wound up with a 69.

"I played with him when he was 13, and you could see it then," Westwood said. "He's just maturing all the time, as he will do. And he's a very, very good player.

Mickelson, tied for the lead going into the final round, was one shot behind when his approach flew the green on No. 12 and he had to scramble for bogey. Mickelson made back-to-back birdies late in the round to get within two shots of the lead, but he badly missed a 3-foot par putt on the 17th to fall three shots behind. He closed with a 70.

"A lot of people stayed neutral and Rory geared ahead," Mickelson said.

Woods was never seriously in the mix. Five shots behind with seven holes to play, he made three late birdies and shot 68 to tie for fourth with Robert Garrigus (69).

McIlroy's work is not done.

He is the No. 1 seed going into the FedExCup finale in two weeks at East Lake, but any of the top five seeds can win the TOUR Championship and capture the FedExCup with its $10 million bonus. The other four seeds are Woods, Nick Watney, Mickelson and Brandt Snedeker.

"Rory is putting on a show out there," Woods said. "And we've got one more tournament."

Any of the top 30 players who advanced to the TOUR Championship have a mathematical shot at winning the $10 million prize. One guy who won't have that opportunity is Vijay Singh, who started the final round tied for the lead with Mickelson. The 49-year-old Fijian fell apart on the back nine with three bogeys in a four-hole stretch to fall out of the top 30. A birdie on the final hole gave Singh a 73, but by then it was too late.

McIlroy finished on 20-under 268 and earned $1.44 million, pushing him to over $7.8 million for the season to effectively lock up the money title and all but assured being voted by his peers as the PGA TOUR Player of the Year.

He has four wins on TOUR this year -- one more than Woods -- and that includes a record eight-shot win at the PGA Championship.

This doesn't rate as highly as winning a major at Kiawah Island, though the All-Star cast that he beat made it satisfying -- Mickelson, Singh, Westwood, Woods, Dustin Johnson and Adam Scott all were within range of the lead going into the final day.

McIlroy not only beat them all, he managed to take the drama out of the final hour with a towering 4-iron from 226 yards that landed softly and set up a two-putt birdie from 15 feet on the 15th. He followed that with another birdie putt from just inside 15 feet on the next hole to build a three-shot lead.

"He's going out there and is up near the lead and posts a good number," Woods said. "He's doing the things he needs to do, and as he said yesterday, he's feeling very confident about his game. Right now he's just really played well, and he's making a ton of putts. That's a great combo."

The 70-man field was whittled to 30 for the TOUR Championship. Singh's late collapse enabled Scott Piercy to grab the final spot, despite a double bogey on the 14th hole and a bogey on the 18th for a 68. A day earlier, Piercy had a two-shot penalty for removing an out-of-bounds stake on the 14th hole.

But he's in THE TOUR Championship, which puts him in all the majors next year.

Bill Haas suffered another Sunday meltdown at the BMW Championship, and this time it cost him. He was No. 28 in the FedExCup and started the final day in reasonable shape. He made seven bogeys and a double bogey and closed with a 78, falling out of the top 30 to miss the TOUR Championship.

A year ago, Haas closed with a 78 at Cog Hill to lose an automatic spot on the Presidents Cup team. But he made it to East Lake, won the TOUR Championship to capture the FedEx Cup and the $10 million bonus, and was picked for the Presidents Cup team, anyway. There is no second chance this time, adding to the biggest oddity of this series. For the sixth straight year, the reigning FedExCup champion will not be at the TOUR Championship.

"When nerves are an issue and under the gun, I've got to be better," Haas said. "And right now, I'm far from competitive."

Haas wasn't alone in his heartache.

Kyle Stanley was at No. 30. He had a triple bogey on the par-3 sixth, a bogey on the par-5 11th and closed with a 74 to miss out on East Lake by one shot.

Mickelson set the tone for this wild day when he pushed his opening drive so badly that he started to hit a provisional ball when he realized it clattered off the trees and back into the fairway, just 200 yards off the tee, though he safely managed a par. Then, he holed out from just over 40 feet off the green at No. 2 to take the lead, and kept a slim margin with a nifty up-and-down at the par-5 fifth.

But when he missed the green from the fairway on No. 7 and made bogey, the final round was wide open.

Ahead of him, Johnson chipped in for eagle on the par-5 ninth to create a four-way tie for the lead with Mickelson, McIlroy and Westwood.

Westwood made birdie from the bunker on the ninth, while McIlroy hit a sky-high 4-iron that landed softly and set up a two-putt birdie that put them ahead at 18 under. Mickelson, playing in the final group, ran a chip out of muddied grass to 12 feet and made birdie to join them.

McIlroy stuffed his approach into 5 feet for birdie on the 10th, and he never trailed again.

9/07/2012

McIlroy in Share of BMW Lead

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy seem to be spending a lot of time together lately. That includes the top of a busy leaderboard at the BMW Championship.

The biggest star in golf and his heir apparent put on a dazzling show Thursday at Crooked Stick, where the gallery caught a glimpse of the best players in the world for the first time since the 1991 PGA Championship.

McIlroy, flawless with his irons, birdied his last two holes for an 8-under 64 and was part of a four-way tie for the lead with Indiana native Bo Van Pelt, U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson and Graham DeLaet, the Canadian who is quietly becoming the Cinderella of these FedEx Cup playoffs.

Just three days after McIlroy won the Deutsche Bank Championship, he looked just as impressive in the opening round at Crooked Stick.

"He hits it great, putts it great and top of that, he's just a really nice kid," Woods said in some of his strongest praise ever for another player. "The game of golf is in great hands with him, and he's here to stay."

Woods, who finished two shots behind Monday in Boston, isn't going away quietly. He was only sharp when it came to scoring, making enough birdies to stay in the game, including a 30-foot chip-in on his last hole for a 65.

McIlroy had every reason to be a little flat because of the short turnaround from the Labor Day finish. But that wasn't the case at the BMW Championship, not with fans lined three-deep down the entire 10th hole to see him and Woods in the same group for the second time in three weeks.

"It definitely gives you a little more of a lift, especially coming off a win and maybe being a little flat," McIlroy said. "You're focused from the get-go, and you want to go out and shoot a good number, and I was able to do that today."

They made it look easy, and Crooked Stick was every bit of that on a broiling afternoon north of Indianapolis.

Because of heavy rains earlier in the week -- so fierce on Wednesday that the course was briefly evacuated -- players were able to lift, clean and place their golf balls in the short grass before firing at the flags. Really, there was no other option in such soft conditions.

Sixty players in the 70-man field were at par or better. Forty players were in the 60s. All but five holes played under par, and the average score was 69.47.

"I think we all knew it was there for the taking today," said Justin Rose, who opened with a 67 and was tied for 10th.

Vijay Singh had a chance to join the leaders until he drove into the water on the 18th hole, though he escaped with par and was at 65. Luke Donald was in the group at 66. Phil Mickelson was at 69, worth noting because it looked as though he might quadruple bogey on his last hole. Instead, he made birdie.

His second shot from the fairway on the par-5 ninth sailed toward the corporate tents, and Mickelson feared it was out-of-bounds. He hit a provisional that went onto the driving range, which definitely was out-of-bounds. Before he could hit again, Mickelson discovered the first one was in play. Mickelson had a clear enough shot at the green, and he hasn't lost his magic with the short game -- his wedge settled 2 feet away for a birdie.

"I got lucky," Mickelson said.

Mickelson played in the group in front of Woods and McIlroy, a dream for any gallery. Even so, cheers could be heard from all ends of Crooked Stick, a testament to how many people were on the course for a Thursday afternoon.

But the biggest crowd followed the two biggest stars at the moment.

"I definitely felt left out for a while," said Nick Watney, the Barclays winner who played with Woods and McIlroy. "But it was fun to watch. Those guys ... they're really good. Rory swings so aggressively, but he never looks uncomfortable. I wish I could have kept up."

Watney, who rallied for a 70, opened with four pars and coming off the 13th green said, "I'm playing like the Giants' offense." He was talking football, not baseball.

Woods and McIlroy got after it from the start. Woods hit into about 10 feet on the opening hole, and McIlroy hit next to 12 feet. McIlroy made his putt, Woods followed that with his birdie putt. There was a two-shot swing for Woods when he hit 8-iron to 4 feet on the 13th hole and McIlroy went long of the green. There was a two-shot swing for McIlroy when he hit 6-iron to 6 feet on the next hole, and Woods came up short and missed his par putt.

Woods even popped up a tee shot -- just like McIlroy did in the final round at Boston -- on the fourth hole. It went only 186 yards, so short that marshals came running back down the fairway trying to figure out where it went.

There was a stretch in the middle of the round when on just about every hole, one player would hit it close and the other would match him. They made it look as though they were playing at their home club on a Saturday morning, chatting on the tee and down the fairway, Woods playfully shoving him after an exchange behind the 12th green.

"I've always enjoyed playing with Tiger, and every time that we're paired up, we seem to have a good time," McIlroy said.

It was the sixth time they played in the same group this year -- three times in Abu Dhabi, twice at Barclays and Thursday.

For Woods, he didn't need the No. 1 player in the world -- and the only player besides him in the last half-century to win two majors by at least eight shots -- to concentrate on posting a good score. It was the soft ground beneath their feet, the gentle breeze and a 70-man field that meant the greens wouldn't be chewed up by spike marks.

"We just couldn't afford to have a bad start today," he said.

The surprise was Delaet, the Canadian who started these playoffs at No. 106 until he tied for fifth at The Barclays. Now he's No. 60 and facing elimination -- only the top 30 go to East Lake for the Tour Championship -- but with an eagle on his last hole, he's tied for the lead.