The Irish Golf Club Gazette

9/28/2012

Europe Strike First in Chicago

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There was plenty of tension on the first tee as Graeme McDowell got Europe’s bid to defend The Ryder Cup underway.

Partnering World Number One Rory McIlroy, the Northern Irishman drove left of the first fairway in the opening foursomes game.

American Jim Furyk, playing with FedEx Cup winner Brandt Snedeker then followed suit with a near identical pull.

McIlroy and Snedeker were able to recover from their partner’s wayward drives and the first hole was halved in fours.

As they moved on to the par three second Luke Donald and Sergio Garcia took to the first tee to defend their incredible foursomes record of four wins out of four.

Donald split the fairway with his opening drive, but Keegan Bradley did the same – and went 40 yards further – for the US.

Neither Garcia nor Phil Mickelson took full advantage with their approaches and the first was halved in pars again, with Lee Westwood and Francesco Molinari next onto the tee to face Jason Dufner and Zach Johnson.

McIlroy missed a five footer at the second as America drew first blood, and Davis Love’s side took the hole again in the second game out when Bradley sunk a 20 footer for birdie.

Europe got off the mark in game three, however, as Molinari played a terrific approach to the first and Johnson came up short of the green leading to a US bogey.

As they made their way to the second, Ian Poulter and Justin Rose came out to contest the final game of the morning session against Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker – the World Number Two hooking his opening tee shot.

America took the second in all of the top three games – Johnson’s magnificent tee shot leaving Dufner a simple five footer for birdie to leave game three all square.

McIlroy levelled the top game with a magical chip-in at the fourth for birdie, while at the first Stricker produced a fantastic recovery from Woods’ wayward opener but Rose kept the pressure on by firing his approach to 15 feet.

The American final pair had another nightmare off the tee at the second, Stricker finding the water in front of the green and double bogeying to leave Poulter and Rose one up.

Westwood and Molinari took the fourth with a par and Donald and Garcia almost eagled the long fifth, but the birdie was good enough to level the contest and as a result the only colour on the board was the European blue in games three and four.

McDowell Ready to Lead Europe

Graeme McDowell is honoured to be leading Europe's defence of the Ryder Cup alongside Rory McIlroy who he describes as "the greatest player on the planet".

The former US Open champion claimed one and a half points from three matches with McIlroy at Celtic Manor two years ago as well as winning his key singles and is hoping the pair will gel again at Medinah.

It was therefore no surprise to see the Northern Irish duo together again when captain Jose Maria Olazabal announced his pairings for the opening foursomes matches although McIlroy was surprised to be up against rookie Brandt Snedeker and Jim Furyk.

"To be honest they are not the opponents we were expecting," said McIlroy. "We know that their team is so strong all the way through, but it was a little surprise to see a rookie in their first group.

"It is a great honour to lead Europe out in the Ryder Cup. We are going to go out there and get the blue on the board early."

McDowell, who was expecting to face Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley, added: "For me personally it is huge because I was last man out in the last match and I am first out here.

"I am very proud to be playing alongside my great friend and the greatest player on the planet.

"The morning session is hugely important and Jose Maria has stressed that. We know they are all important but we really feel that it is very important to make a fast start."

Europe's only defeat in the last five contests came at Valhalla in 2008 when they never recovered from losing the opening foursomes 3-1.

Mickelson and Bradley contest the second game against Sergio Garcia and Luke Donald, who have won all four of their foursomes outings together.

Garcia is also unbeaten in nine foursomes appearances overall - winning eight and halving the other - while Donald has won six out of six.

Lee Westwood and Francesco Molinari were pitted against Jason Dufner and Zach Johnson, while the final game saw Ian Poulter and Justin Rose paired with Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker.

Poulter has only lost three matches in the Ryder Cup, but two of those came against Woods. However, Woods and Stricker's last two games together saw them thrashed 7&6 by Adam Scott and KJ Choi in the Presidents Cup in 2011 and hammered 6&5 at Celtic Manor by Westwood and Donald.

Asked about putting McIlroy and McDowell out first, Olazabal said: "We are not hiding anything. We are not second-guessing here. We are just going out and try to win points, period. We have to go for it.

"I know we are playing away, the crowds are going to be on their side. So just send the best players out there and see if they can perform well and manage to win those points."

9/27/2012

The Name is McIlroy...Rory McIlroy

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Rory McIlroy is growing into his new role and if the Americans want to target him, let them, he said at a Medinah press coneference - unrecognisable from the uncertain, even shy youth who made his debut at The Celtic Manor.

There, he had still to be convinced of the power and authenticity of Ryder Cup mythology, wasn't sure what all the fuss was about.

But he has a better understanding now, not only of the scale of this event but of his role in it, as he has been the focus of American interest.

The points-scoring begins long before the first shot, and, to borrow from the Ryder Cup lexicon of Ian Poulter, McIlroy is the one with the biggest bull's eye on his back.

"I think it's a huge compliment that people are saying they want to beat me and whatever," he said yesterday. "Whoever wants to take me on, they can take me on."

This is just the flavour of belligerent rhetoric required to douse American flames. Bombast does not come easy to McIlroy, but he is learning the law of the golfing jungle and with two majors under his loin cloth, the second coming just a month ago at the PGA, the chest-beating is justified. It comes with due deference to his team-mates, a hallmark of the European team ethic.

"There are guys that have played more Ryder Cups than me and are more experienced in the team room. I don't think my role is to be leader in the team room. The way I have played the last couple of years it's more a leader on the course, to try to win my point and put points on the board.

"I don't have a number, a total (in my head)," McIlroy said. "The US are a strong team and with them playing at home, they are favourites. We have to play very well to have a chance. So if I play on Friday morning I want to go out there, get my point and take it from there."

The "if" was diplomacy. McIlroy will feature in the opening foursomes almost certainly alongside Graeme McDowell, with whom he was paired on the opening day of practice on Tuesday. Few know better than captain Jose Maria Olazabal about the importance of chemistry to a pairing.

Playing alongside Seve Ballesteros, Olazabal formed the most potent twosome the event has known. He would not want to disturb the equilibrium of a pairing that draws on friendship as well as roots.

Lee Westwood has enjoyed great success with Luke Donald and Sergio Garcia in previous Ryder Cups. Assuming the combined 59 Westwood and Donald shot in taking money off Poulter and Justin Rose on Tuesday is significant then Olazabal's big decision is who to pair with Garcia on Friday tomorrow morning. He will not be short of volunteers.

As McIlroy maintained, the sense of camaraderie in the European team room is overwhelming. He checked in his No 1 ranking at the door.

"This week I'm not the No 1 player in the world. I'm one person in a 12-man team and that's it. It's a team effort. There's 12 guys all striving towards the same goal. I'm just part of that. I just want to go out and get a point for the team, whether that's going out first, fourth or in the middle it doesn't make a difference to me and it does not make a difference who I play. I'm going to go out there and give it my best to win that point."

If you infer from that the view that McIlroy is ready to take on all-comers, you will not be contradicted. For all-comers, read Tiger Woods, in whom the American team continues to invest everything. "As I said earlier I'm just going out to win my point. If that's against him or someone else, it doesn't matter."

This is the real strength of McIlroy.

He has mastered all doubt. He knows that when he reaches for that extra gear and finds it, he is beyond the reach of all. And this feeling of personal empowerment is significantly enhanced in the team setting. "Playing at Celtic Manor opened my eyes. The majors are still the tournaments I want to win but I got to the Ryder Cup in Wales and my perception changed.

"I'd been to Ryder Cups to watch and I know how exciting they are, but until you are actually involved it's different. When you stand on that first tee on Friday morning, everyone screaming your name, you see how important it is to everyone. You are not just playing for yourself, you are playing for a lot of other people. That's what makes it so special and so important."

9/26/2012

Feherty Declares for Team USA

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David Feherty's loyalties are divided no more.

Golf's funny man said during the taping of his "Feherty Live" special that he will be rooting for the Americans at this week's Ryder Cup. That's big news, considering the analyst is from Northern Ireland, played for Europe at the 1991 Ryder Cup and still counts former European captain Sam Torrance as one of his closest friends.

But Feherty has lived in the Dallas area for the better part of the last 20 years and became a U.S. citizen in 2010.

He's an ardent supporter of U.S. troops and has a foundation -- Troops First -- that raises money for wounded soldiers.

These days Feherty holds place on the CBS team golf commentary team alongside Sir Nick Faldo, Jim Nantz, Peter Osterhuis and Ian Baker Finch. The Augusta National Golf Club has consistently chosen CBS as its U.S. broadcast partner, it has done so on successive one-year contracts.

Feherty was born in Bangor, Northern Ireland and spent most of his playing career in Europe, where he won five times and finished in the top ten of the European Tour's Order of Merit twice, coming tenth in 1989 and eighth in 1990.

He spent 1994 and 1995 playing mainly on the PGA Tour, and the best result on the tour was a second place finish at the 1994 New England Classic. His combined career prize money exceeded $3 million.

Feherty represented Ireland in international competition including captaining the victorious 1990 Alfred Dunhill Cup team. Feherty played for Europe on the 1991 Ryder Cup team.

In 1997, Feherty retired from both the European and PGA Tour and joined CBS Sports as an on-course reporter and golf analyst.

Feherty is also a contributor to Golf Magazine and has his own column in the back of the magazine called Sidespin. He has also published a number of books A Nasty Bit of Rough, Somewhere in Ireland a Village Is Missing an Idiot, An Idiot for All Seasons, and David Feherty's Totally Subjective History of the Ryder Cup.

Feherty lives with his wife, Anita and five children in Dallas, Texas.

He appears in advertisements for the Cobra golf company, showing off his trampolining and cheer leading skills in the advert.

In 2008, Feherty was hit by a truck, while cycling suffering three broken ribs, which punctured his lung and was hospitalised for a few days with a tube in his chest. He resumed his broadcast duties at the 2008 Masters.

Never far from controversy, Feherty was one of five writers to comment on George W. Bush's move to Dallas using the article to express his support of Bush and to speak on politics. At the time it caused CBS to distance themselves from Feherty's comments.

He now has regular interview feature on the Golf Channel - aptly named "Feherty".

European Tour wins

1986 Italian Open

1986 Bell's Scottish Open

1989 BMW International Open

1991 Credit Lyonnais Cannes Open

1992 Iberia Madrid Open

Irish wins

1980 Irish National PGA Championship

1982 Irish National PGA Championship

Other wins

1984 ICL International (South Africa)

1988 South African PGA Championship

1992 Bell's Cup (South Africa)

Ryder Cup 1991

Record: 3 matches, 1.5 points

Alfred Dunhill Cup (representing Ireland): 1990 (winners)

Four Tours World Championship: 1990, 1991 (winners)

Fact File

Date of Birth : August 13th 1958

Birthplace: Bangor, Co. Down

Turned Professional: 1976

Original Club : Balmoral Golf Club

GMAC Spills Beans. Or Does He?

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The topic that holds most intrigue during a Ryder Cup is which pairings the captains will send out on Friday for the opening matches.

Telescopic lens have long been deployed on the skippers with the aim of garnering clues and the golfing paparazzi struck gold four years ago in Valhalla when European captain Nick Faldo was snapped holding his list of players. Faldo tried to explain it away as "a sandwich list" but the only pickle was the one in which the captain found himself.

His successor at Medinah this week, José Maria Olazabal, is much more canny.

"I’m not going to talk about pairings, seriously," the Spaniard said yesterday, when asked about a reprise of the Graeme McDowell/Rory McIlroy axis that won one, lost one and halved a match at Celtic Manor in 2010.

"You know, G-Mac has played with Rory before. They have done well, but I’m not going to talk about pairings obviously."

Obviously, José? Just a couple of hours beforehand, the aforementioned McDowell had abandoned Ryder Cup convention and come right out with the line-up for Friday’s four foursomes matches.

"The established partnerships are fairly obvious: Myself and Rory, Poulter and Rose, Donald and Garcia, perhaps a Westwood and Lawrie. You can pretty much predict our first eight players Friday morning. You don’t need me to tell you that. Will we be that predictable? Who knows," McDowell said.

"I can tell you today that the first four guys (in practice groups), Poulter, Rose, Westwood and Donald, and myself and Rory are in the second group with Lawrie and Garcia.

"So there’s your eight, the first two groups, fairly predictable. But it’s really going to come down to putting. You’ve got 24 great players. I don’t see any real stand out advantage for either team. It’s just going to boil down to who holes the most putts this week."

Maybe McDowell had overdosed on his morning coffee or it was all part of some elaborate mind game; the Ulsterman might just have been telling the truth. But no-one else confirmed same.

Asked to explain the make-up of his practice groups, the third of which featured Nicolas Colsaerts, Peter Hanson, Martin Kaymer and Francesco Molinari, Olazabal said: "Well, I’ve made these groups. We have quite a lot of players that have done well in the past, and then I’ve tried to mix a little bit of, not the same characters, but guys that I believe can complement each other and who understand each other really well. "We are trying to just figure out certain things still," he offered.