The Irish Golf Club Gazette

6/04/2013

Harrington in Tennessee Waltz

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Padraig Harrington is the only Irish entry at this week's St. Jude Classic, which will feature five of the PGA TOUR’s current Top 10 money winners and four of the Top 8 players in all-important FedExCup points.

Among the top names are World Golf Hall of Fame member and gallery favourite Phil Mickelson and Tennessee favourite son Brandt Snedeker of Nashville along with defending champion Dustin Johnson.

The field will include winners of 11 TOUR events this year and 26 winners since the start of the 2012 season.

Snedeker, a former Vanderbilt star who grew up in Nashville, currently ranks second in FedExCup standings, second in TOUR earnings for this year, and fifth in the World Golf Rankings. Snedeker is the reigning FedEx Cup champion.

Mickelson, a four-time winner of major championships including three Masters Tournaments, is ranked 11th in the world and seventh in both FedExCup points and TOUR money for 2013.

Among other players joining Padraig at the $5.7 million are Ian Poulter of England; recent U. S. Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III; and two-time major championship winner John Daly.

The 72-hole championship will start Thursday and end on Sunday with the traditional Seersucker Sunday celebration.

“We made a concerted effort this year to beef up our field as related to the Top 50 players in the world,” tournament director Phil Cannon said. “We had our eye on three players in that category for some time for sponsor’s exemptions, but only one was available to play next week – George Coetzee (No. 54).

“We were very pleased to be able to invite Shaun Micheel and David Duval, both winners of major championships. Plus, we have a great group of distinguished amateurs with the young phenom from China, and the two standout youngsters from the United States.

“Two spots remain available and we’ll be watching several options in the next few days, including the results of the NCAA Championship in Atlanta.”

McIlroy Under Stockton's Wing

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Rory McIlroy is off to Merion for two US Open practice rounds this week after a talk with coach Dave Stockton to try to help his golf game before next week's major showdown.

The 24-year-old Northern Irishman, who won his first major title at the 2011 US Open, spoke on Monday at Oak Hill, where he will defend his most recent top-tier triumph at the 95th PGA Championship in August.

"It is the strongest field in golf and it's great to be able to come out on top in a field like that," said McIlroy, who won last year's PGA crown at Kiawah Island.

McIlroy will play Tuesday and Wednesday practice rounds at Merion as he tries to finetune a game that has produced four top-10 showings in US PGA events, including a second at the Texas Open, but only a share of 25th at the Masters and 57th last week at the Memorial.

"I'm playing pretty well. I need it all to click into place and, once I do that, I'll be off and running," McIlroy said. "All parts of my game are there. I just need to sort of put them all together for one week.

"I'm hoping that my sort of trend in the US Open continues, because I went miss cut, win, missed the cut, so hopefully I can win again."

McIlroy spent time with coach Dave Stockton at Memorial last week.

"Dave Stockton was at Memorial for a couple of days, trying to get me to hole some more putts," McIlroy said.

"The ball striking has not really been an issue this year. I've actually hit the ball pretty well from tee to green, and I've given myself a lot of opportunities, but didn't take as many as I should have.

"If I keep hitting the ball the way I know I can and hole putts, I'll hopefully be in the winner's circle."

McIlroy fired a three-under par 67 at Oak Hill on Monday in his first tour of the layout designed by Donald Ross in 1925.

"It's not overly long by today's standards but you have to drive the ball very well. It gives you opportunities to score, but you've got some holes coming in that are very tough."

McIlroy said the course could surrender its lowest score in a major event, breaking the six-under-par total for 72 holes fired by Jack Nicklaus in the 1980 PGA Championship at Oak Hill.

6/01/2013

Rory Makes Muirfield Cut

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Rory McIlroy overcame a sloppy finish to his second round as he survived the 36-hole cut at the Memorial Tournament without a stroke to spare.

In the end, the 24-year-old Ulsterman needed to get up-and-down for a par four at the difficult 18th to secure his place in the third round.

The world No 2 had been unable to complete his round on Friday due to bad light.

Almost 90 minutes had been lost during the afternoon, when play was suspended due to the threat of lightning.

After 14 holes in round two he stood at four-under-par for the tournament and, when he returned on Saturday morning, he immediately improved his position with a birdie at the par-five 15th.

However, McIlroy then bogeyed 16 and 17 before scraping a par at 18 for a round of 69 - he had carded a six-over 78 on Thursday.

At the 16th he found a greenside bunker, before three-putting the penultimate par-three 17th.

And at 18, on which he required a par in order to avoid the chop, he visited a fairway bunker off the tee before getting down in two from around 40 yards - as he single putted from four feet.

With 36 holes remaining McIlroy is 12 strokes off the pace set by Bill Haas who has had rounds of 68 and 67.

South African Charl Schwartzel is one shot behind after he returned on Saturday morning to post back-to-back birdies at 17 and 18.

Luke Donald, who left the course after 15 holes on Friday, returned to make pars on each of the last three holes and the Englishman's brace of 73s left him one stroke better than McIlroy.

World No 1 and defending champion Tiger Woods is 10 strokes behind Haas in a tie-for-43rd.

The 37-year-old American did not help his cause by posting a double-bogey seven at the 15th and he eventually signed for a second round 74.

Dunbar Masters Swedish Cut

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Alan Dunbar made the cut in his first European Tour event as a professional after a three-under-par 69 second round at the Nordea Masters in Brof Hof Slot Golf Club. The Rathmore golfer will now secure his first pay cheque as a professional as heads into the weekend in share of 43rd pace on 3 under par.

Dunbar will have Damien McGrane for company after the Meathman recovered from an opening 73 to make the cut after a five-under 67 moved him to four under.

Sixteen strokes ahead is Matteo Manassero, who shot a second-round 65, to take a two shot lead on day two and kept up the form that secured the BMW PGA Championship last weekend.

It gave the 20-year-old a two-shot lead over Finland’s Mikka Ilonen, who fired a stunning 63, while Scotland’s Peter Whiteford matched that score and is a shot further back on 10 under.

Manassero landed the fourth title of his blossoming career at Wentworth last Sunday and there has been no holding him back in Sweden so far.

He reached the turn in a healthy two under par but five birdies on the back nine saw him shoot past Whiteford, who was already in the clubhouse.

Low scoring was the order of the day, with the temperature warm and the sun out, and Whiteford relished the chance to set an early clubhouse target.

“It’s a good start but there’s a long way to go. I’ve had nine under two or three times in my career but I’ve never gone better than that,” he said.

“I have been swinging pretty well over the past month but today was special. It was near perfect conditions and the golf course is in great shape.”

Whiteford, 32, has never won on the European Tour but he had an impressive second place at the recent Ballantine’s Championship in South Korea, where he lost out in a play-off to Australian Brett Rumford.

He finished off in style today, pitching in for an eagle at the 622-yard par-five 15th which he followed up with birdies all the way home.

Dutchman Joost Luiten reached nine under after a 67, while Swedish players Jonas Blixt and Alexander Noren were flying the flag for the hosts. Blixt signed for a 66 and Noren a 69 as they reached eight-under 136, one ahead of compatriot Rikard Karlberg, Italian Francesco Molinari, Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn, and Welshman Jamie Donaldson.

The first-round co-leader, Spaniard Pablo Larrazabal, recovered from a triple-bogey six at the short 11th hole, with four birdies thereafter repairing the damage and giving him a round of 70. It was not ideal, given the conditions, but enough to move him alongside Blixt and Noren on eight under.

Peter Lawrei carded seven birdies in eight holes on the back nine but is was not enough to make the cut, with the Dubliner running up a triple-bogey six on the par-3 16th to end a run of five straight birdies.

He then birdied the final two holes to card a five-under 67 and close on one under, a shot outside the cut.

Darren Clarke finished on one over after a 73 and also missed the cut.

David Higgins returns home early too after a 76 left him on seven over.

England’s Paul Casey squeezed through on the cut mark and so did Australian Andrew Dodt, in extraordinary fashion.

Dodt made two holes-in-one in his round, the first player to achieve that feat on the European Tour, as he went straight from tee to cup on the seventh and 11th holes in a round of 65, after yesterday’s 77.

5/31/2013

Memorial 78 for McIlroy

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Rory McIlroy's miserable run of form showed no sign of abating as he shot an opening-round 78 to finish six over par on the first day of the Memorial Tournament in Ohio.

This week's tournament in Dublin offered McIlroy the chance to put the missed cut last week at the BMW PGA Championship behind him with the US Open only a fortnight away, but he failed to fire once again.

Starting on the back nine, McIlroy had an ideal first hole with a birdie at the par-four 10th, but it was all downhill from there.

A double-bogey at the 12th heralded a woeful day, with a further three bogeys racked up before the turn.

There was no respite on the front nine as he hit a further three bogeys, interspersed with a birdie at the fifth, before squandering birdies chances at the final two holes.

England's Lee Westwood also endured a miserable opening round of 76.

The Englishman had appeared to be on the brink of victory last week at Wentworth only to squander a two-shot lead in the final round.

While not as disastrous as the round of his Ryder Cup team-mate, Westwood looked in the doldrums as he hit three bogeys and a double-bogey on his way to a four-over total.

In contrast, South Africa's Charl Schwartzel made up for hitting a bogey and a double-bogey with 10 birdies seeing him to a seven-under-par 65.

That was one shot ahead of Scott Piercy, who hit eight birdies - five of them consecutively on the front nine - only to drop shots at the 12th and 18th.

A further shot behind were Josh Teater and Russell Henley, who both shot 67.

World number one Tiger Woods was among the later starters.