WGT Golf News : rory mcilroy

Rory McIlroy’s Major Plans for 2013

WGTwildcat — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 18:17:00 GMT

By Dermot Gilleece for GlobalGolfPost

Wise guidance from respected old hands and the love of a good woman inspired Rory McIlroy – Global Golf Post’s 2012 Player of the Year – to heights this year unimagined even by his lofty standards.

And without giving hostages to fortune, he has reason to be confident of a similar outcome in 2013.

Predictably, the majors will be his prime targets once more, having tucked away the significant bonus of the money lists on both sides of the Atlantic.

“This year, I was out of it for three of them,” he admitted, regarding finishes of tied 40, T95 and T60 in The Masters, US Open and Open Championship. “I’d like to think that I can be in contention for all four next year, while maintaining my position as world number one. They’re the goals I want to set myself.”

In the meantime, his life is held perfectly in balance by a deepening relationship with girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki, with whom he traveled to Aspen, Colorado and Sao Paulo, Brazil in the wake of his Dubai World Tour Championship triumph, to watch her in exhibition tennis matches on the run up to Christmas.

“This is my time off; my time away (from golf),” he said. “And I need it. If I have time, I’ll travel wherever in the world Caroline is, just to see her. That’s what I want to do. That’s what makes me happy.”

Then he added pointedly: “Obviously, it’s very satisfying to win majors and important golf tournaments, but deep down, what makes me really happy is my life outside of golf and how that is at the moment. It enables me to play great golf because everything is sort of in balance.”

To my gentle suggestion that most of us have known what it’s like to be in love, he laughed almost apologetically, adding, “I know, I know” by way of acknowledging that his relationship with Caroline, while obviously special to him, is not unique.

From West Palm Beach, where he enjoys the amenities of The Bear’s Club, the 23-year-old seems happy to travel the world, on and off planes and living out of suitcases.

“That’s just the way my life has become, but I don’t plan for it to remain this way,” he said. “I’d love in a few years’ time to find a base and settle down. That would be ideal. I don’t think someone can do this for a prolonged period like 10 years, say.”

Would marriage create that situation?

“For sure. But I still feel I’d do it anyway.” Meanwhile, Jack Nicklaus, Dave Stockton and Tiger Woods have become serious influences in his tournament career, though boyhood tutor, Michael Bannon, remains his trusted coach.

A finish of five successive birdies in Dubai prompted comparisons with Woods at his peak, and while not necessarily at odds with the notion, McIlroy insists that they are very different people.

“For sure,” he emphasised. “I can’t bring the intensity Tiger brings every week. He can sort of turn it on, which is impressive. It’s something that I struggle to do sometimes. Though I can generally bring it to the big events where I really want to do well, I would find it very difficult to do it every week. That’s why I’ll be cutting my schedule to a maximum of 22 or 23 tournaments next year, starting in Abu Dhabi in January.”

He went on: “Too much competitive golf simply isn’t good for you. That’s where Tiger is very smart, bringing the same level of intensity to 20 tournaments a year. It’s an emotional thing, of course. I had a great end to the summer with the PGA win and two FedEx Cup wins and the Ryder Cup, but you reach such a high that you’ve got to allow yourself get all the way back down again. Then, having got down, I had to build myself up again for a last push towards winning the European money list.”

A closeness to his father Gerry, to Nicklaus and putting coach Stockton, suggests a respect for older heads.

“Of course I have,” he confirmed. “I can still be pretty stubborn, wanting to do things my way, but they’ve obviously seen a lot more of the world than I have. It’s great just to see Jack around and have a casual lunch with him and not even talk about golf. Just talk about normal stuff; what’s going on in the world. And Dave has been a great influence on me and a great addition to my team.”

In late February 2009, the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Tucson marked McIlroy’s professional debut in the US, a few weeks after his first win in Dubai. Ranked 17th in the world, he reacted with remarkable composure to the prediction from Ernie Els that he was set to become the game’s number one.

With a self-assured smile, he remarked: “You’ve got to believe you’re the best; that no one can beat you.”

Fascinated observers sensed instantly that this 19-year-old was different.

And those of us familiar with him, prepared ourselves for what we knew would be a wonderful journey.

PHOTO: GlobalGolfPost

McIlroy Breath Of Fresh Air For Golf

WGTwildcat — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 16:00:00 GMT

By Lewine Mair for GlobalGolfPost

Some bemoaned the fact that there was not a tighter finish to the Race to Dubai; rather more saw the week of the DP World Championship as a celebration of a thrilling young talent.

On or off the course, the 23-year-old Rory McIlroy is never dull. His every round is lit with a couple of believe-it-or-not recoveries while, when it comes to his press conferences, he always laces diplomacy with a delicious – if inadvertent – touch of the unexpected.

In which connection, his proud father, Gerry, will tell you that not too much has changed. While watching his offspring last week, he recalled one of those precious Sundays of 15 or so years ago when he would take a rest from juggling the three jobs which helped him to fund Rory’s golfing sorties.

On the Sabbath in question, he had played his usual nine holes with the child and accompanied him to the driving range before finally slumping in his chair. That was when Rory approached and insisted they return to the range – he had more work to do.

“No, Rory,” protested Gerry. “We’ve done enough.” To which Rory hit back with an unanswerable, “Don’t you want me to get better?”

McIlroy’s coach, Michael Bannon, threw in a favourite old story of his own. It concerned how, when he handed Rory a scorecard for one of his first nine-hole children’s competitions at Holywood GC, he noticed that the little lad had labeled himself “Rory Nick Faldo McIlroy.”

Bannon, the Holywood professional for 15 years before moving on to Bangor GC, mentioned in passing that any jealousy towards McIlroy in those early days was short-lived; the culprits recognised almost at once that they were not in his league. “The jealousy would switch to awe,” he remembers.

It has been much the same across McIlroy’s triumphant first five years on the European Tour. Listen to Anders Hansen on the subject: “If anyone feels anything in the way of resentment after what Rory’s done for the Tour, they would have to be mad,” suggested the Dane.

Everything about McIlroy startled Hansen at the outset. “I first saw this curlyhaired kid on the putting green at a British Masters and didn’t have a clue whether it was a boy or a girl,” he began. “Long before I saw Rory hit a shot, I could see he was something special. Everything came so naturally to him.

“What makes him even more admirable,” he continued, “is that he’s one of the nicest guys out here. I wouldn’t say that of a lot of them but he really is that nice. Where he has it over Tiger is that he’s more approachable. He’s a good boy who carries his stardom better than anyone I know in any sport. I can’t think of anyone who comes close.”

McIlroy interacts with spectators during his practice rounds – and always they return for the tournament days. Again, he is friendly with the photographers. They can snap him and he never snaps back.

Dave Cannon, the supremo among cameramen, cites a day at the Open when his state-of-the-art-camera went off on its own on the 18th tee as McIlroy was about to hit. McIlroy pulled out of his drive and waited patiently for him to sort things out. “Are you ready now, Dave?” he asked.

Matthew Harris, another photographer par excellence, said that McIlroy passes the ultimate test: “Even if he’s had a 76, he’ll stick with arrangements. Others, after a bad round, will give you a brief ‘Not today’ at best.”

When, at the start of last week, George O’Grady awarded McIlroy – a five-times winner this season – his gold money-clip for 2013, no-one could have responded more graciously. “I’ll always be loyal to the European Tour,” he promised.

He carried on saying all the right things and it was only when someone hit on the theme of how his wrapping up of The Race to Dubai had stripped the tail-end of the season of its excitement that he slipped up a tad. Asked if he would find it tough to get motivated for the week, he came up with an engagingly truthful, if rather too forthright, explanation as to why that would not apply.

“Obviously, I’ve got to hang on till the end (to collect his Race to Dubai winner’s loot) so I might as well make the tournament count by winning a second trophy.”

Another moment to savour came when he was asked about his switch – allegedly for $250 million over ten years – to Nike. Was he at all wary of changing clubs?

The answer was in the negative.

“Today’s clubs,” he began, “are all much the same and they’re mostly all made up at the same factories.”

Warming to his theme, he added that he could probably get by with a hockey stick and an orange.

You had to feel for those Nike club-makers who might even then have been working on the finishing touches to the world No. 1’s new set. Mind you, the chances are that they would have given a knowing nod to what the young man was saying.

He is that gifted.

PHOTO: Global Golf Post

Hither and Yeon

WGTwildcat — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 17:36:00 GMT

By Brian Hewitt for GlobalGolfPost

Yani Tseng is still No.1 in the rankings. Stacy Lewis was clearly and fairly the LPGA’s 2012 Player of the Year. But the early-line favorite for 2013 No. 1 and POY might just be Korea’s willowy Na Yeon Choi.

The LPGA concluded its official season with a stirring Florida duel Sunday between the most recent U.S. Women’s Open winners – Choi and So Yeon Ryu.

Choi pulled away at the end and reminded us again how good she can be – like when she scorched Blackwolf Run at the Women’s Open in early July with a third-round 65 on a day when the field scoring average was closer to 77.

Meanwhile in Australia, Adam Scott won his country’s Masters while Brit Luke Donald triumphed in Japan and Henrik Stenson came up big in South Africa.

Finally, it all went wrong in Hong Kong for Rory McIlroy in his last tune-up for this week’s Race to Dubai finale.

McIlroy stumbled to eight bogeys and a four-putt double in 36 holes to miss the cut by three shots. Unfortunately for him, when you are world No. 1 and the presumptive Player of the Year on two major Tours, this is news.

Clearly, global Rory is either a) Homesick, b) Lovesick, c) Human or d) All of the above and burned out, too. The vote here is d) All of the above and burned out, too.

The winner in Hong Kong? That colorful Spanish bon vivant, Miguel Angel Jimenez.

Stay thirsty, my friend.

PHOTO: AFP

Rory Be Wary

WGTwildcat — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 17:53:00 GMT

By Mike Purkey for GlobalGolfPost

So, fellow travelers, what to make of this little bromance between Tiger and Rory, them suddenly looking like best buds and all?

Every time you look up lately, they are strolling down some fairway, side by side, smiling and chatting like they’re fraternity brothers. They’ve played together a handful of times late into this season, the last being this one-day exhibition in China in which each was paid a small boatload of money to turn up.

What do you suppose they talk about? Do they dissect the Celtic-Rangers football match? Or whether Ray Allen will get the Heat another NBA title? Did Tiger give Rory the name of his real estate agent and housekeeper? Well, maybe not the housekeeper. Did Tiger invite Rory over to throw something on the grill and play X-Box deep into the night?

Do you think they discuss what it’s like to have a famous girlfriend except in a good way?

If this is the new Tiger, we can’t be sure how to figure this one out. The old Tiger would have never given McIlroy the time of day, much less engage in some harmless convo during a competitive round of golf. Woods would have stared a hole through Rory the size of a cannonball and would have no other thoughts than to beat the living daylights out of his biggest challenger.

McIlroy is No. 1 in the world and Woods is No. 2. That in itself would normally have been enough for Tiger to keep Rory at arm’s length while he goes about the business of regaining the top ranking.

Woods certainly didn’t treat any other of his closest rivals, if you could call them actual rivals, anything like civil. He didn’t have any use for Phil Mickelson, not even for a minute, and when they played together, the only contact they had was a handshake and a nod on the first tee and the 18th green. In between, nothing, absolutely nothing.

The reason Tiger and Phil didn’t win either of their Ryder Cup matches together in 2004 was because both of them had contracted frostbite from the Arctic iceberg between them that prevented them from speaking a word to one another. Go get ’em, pards.

But now, they are Ping-Pong partners in the Ryder Cup team room and, according to Phil, are a dominant force. If Mickelson finds out that you play Pong, he’ll buy a table, set it up and bet you $100 he can kick your ass. Maybe he ought to try that in golf. Just saying.

Where were we? Oh, yes, is it possible that Tiger has turned into a docile house cat at age 37? Has the world’s greatest competitor decided he has nothing to prove? In the beginning of Jack Nicklaus’ career and for years thereafter, he was Arnold Palmer’s bitter rival. But when Arnie and Jack were no longer trying to beat each other’s brains out, they became friends, and now no one is closer than these two of the game’s most prominent citizens.

Or is Tiger a little more content to sit back and count his considerable coin and enjoy the good life that 14 majors bring?

Tiger has all the money that he will ever need and McIlroy is getting there. At the China exhibition, it was reported that Tiger received $2 million and McIlroy half that. Pretty good payday all around but it still demonstrates that Tiger still not only moves the needle but he is the needle.

Now, we see that Rory and Tiger are going to be teammates of sorts, as McIlroy is about to sign a big, long-term deal with Nike. Reported at $200 million – or more – for 10 years, McIlroy is about to rise near the top of off-course earnings among professional golfers. However, it’s not entirely certain what Woods is making but you can bet it’s more than that.

As the late, great Sen. Everett Dirksen used to like to say, “A billion here, a billion there and sooner or later, you’re talking about real money.”

And, it was reported that Woods and McIlroy have already shot their first Nike commercial together, engaging in some of what you call your light-hearted banter about the company’s new driver and what kind of insane distance they get from it.

It has been rightly pointed out that if McIlroy moves to Nike, he will get the equipment he needs to continue playing his best golf. There’s really nothing to worry about here. Nike has one of the best club designers in Tom Stites and golf ball builders in Rock Ishii. The company will make certain that it does whatever is necessary and go to whatever source is required to get something in McIlroy’s hands in which he has the utmost confidence.

So if golf’s new power couple shares a brand, do they share the same hunger to be the No. 1 player in the world? On the surface, Tiger and Rory look for all the world like best mates – but what’s underneath?

It is thought that Chinese general Sun-Tzu (The Art of War) once rightly said, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”

PHOTO: Global Golf Post

Golf And Turkey: Who Knew?

WGTwildcat — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 19:18:00 GMT

Contributed by John Hopkins for GlobalGolfPost

Merhaba. That’s what they say to one another by way of greeting in Turkey. Merhaba or hello.

The buzz word in golf at the moment is momentum. And momentum right now is with Turkey, where big tournaments, amateur and professional, have been staged for the past three weeks.

First came the Espirito Santo, the women’s world amateur team championship in Antalya on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast. This was followed by the Eisenhower Trophy, the men’s equivalent at the same venue. Last week, it was the turn of the Turkish Airlines World Golf Final, an eight-man spectacular involving Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, among others, playing at a medal-matchplay format with a purse of $5.2 million and a first prize of $1.5 million. There were posters all around Antalya: “Masters meet in Turkey. Tiger v Rory.”

As if this wasn’t enough, midway through the matchplay event the European Tour and the Turkish Golf Federation announced that from November 7-10 next year the Turkish Open will take place at the Montgomerie course for a purse of $7m and a field of 78 players. Significantly, this event will be immediately before the season-ending Race to Dubai World Championship, which could be the start of an end of season series of events on the European Tour to rival the FedEx Cup in the US.

“For years the PGA Tour in the US has been drumming into us that we need new venues and new countries,” Chubby Chandler, the promoter of the matchplay event and the Turkish Open, said. “Now we are.”

What was it we knew Turkey for? Turkish baths, Turkish Delight (note: a sugar-coated jelly sweet), Turkish coffee, cold turkey, turkey shoot. Now, it’s golf in Turkey. They’re trying to make a country that has fewer than 6,000 golfers and not even 25 golf courses, a Turkish delight.

The reason for this is a forthcoming Olympics. Istanbul, Turkey’s second city, is bidding to be the host city for the 2020 Games. Madrid, one of the other candidates, is surely out of the race because of Spain’s well-documented financial woes. Tokyo has already held the summer games (and Sapporo in that country the winter games). This leaves Turkey and Istanbul in prime position, which is why Turkish Airlines put up perhaps $15 million to stage the World Golf Final and why Turkey is blowing its own trumpet so loudly at present.

“We believe our bid is strong because Turkey has become one of the strongest economies in the world in the past decade,” Suat Kilic, Minister for Youth and Sports, said. “More importantly, Turkey hosted a number of huge events in this time frame and, furthermore, it proved to the world what it is capable of as a country by way of making the best of these events.”

In Belek in Antalya there is a 15-mile strip of land adjoining the Mediterranean that has been turned into something of a golfers’ paradise, and attracts 135,000 golfers each year, mainly from Germany, the UK and Scandinavia.

“It’s the only compact golf venue in the world,” Ahmet Agaoglu, president of the Turkish Golf Federation, said. “There are 15 courses on a 15-mile coastline and 52 four-star hotels. Not bad, eh?” At that, Agaoglu, who has the slight build and flat stomach of a former 800m runner (“my best time was 2.04. Even the turtles can go faster than that nowadays.”) gave a satisfied smile.

David Jones, the former European Tour player, has had a hand in the design of many of the courses on this stretch of golfing territory.

“You used to be able to fly to Antalya, drive down to Belek and go along the road and to the right there was nothing, not even a rusty old shed,” Jones said. “Now, you need only a wedge to hit a ball from Tat to Novila, a distance of 15 miles, and only in one place, from the Montgomerie course to the Gloria course, would you need any club longer than a wedge.

“Of the 14 courses, eight are Tour standard,” he added. “You’d have to go a long way to find so many good courses in such a small space of land.”

For pure golf, the only areas that match it are those in the Sand Belt in Melbourne, Australia, the Lancashire coast in England, and the west coast in Scotland.

For all this enthusiasm for golf though, the past few weeks in Turkey haven’t gone as well as the enthusiastic (sometimes over-enthusiastic) members of the host nation would have wished. There have been the continuing rumbles of trouble with Syria, 500 miles away, and on Wednesday night a Syrian plane en route from Moscow to Damascus was forced down and detained at Ankara airport.

In an embarrassing incident, Agaoglu got involved in a scuffle with photographers. And then it rained very heavily and one day’s play in the matchplay event had to be abandoned barely one week after one day’s play had been wiped out in the Eisenhower Trophy.

Suddenly, the future of golf in Turkey did not seem quite so rosy as it had at the start of the week. As anyone who has overseen the growth of a child knows, the first steps are the most difficult.

Gule gule (good-bye).

PHOTO: Getty Images

Ryder Cup Euro Story: Whole Greater Than Sum Of Parts

WGTwildcat — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 16:42:00 GMT

Contributed by Vartan Kupelian for GlobalGolfPost

The uniqueness of the Ryder Cup is this: Try as you might, it is difficult – maybe even impossible – to identify the seminal moment of the competition.

It ebbs and it flows until the drama reaches a compelling and ultimate conclusion. And that’s why the Ryder Cup is what it is – an event so riveting and so impossible not to embrace for anybody with a sporting soul.

Captain José Maria Olazábal gathered 12 sturdy golfers from Europe, brought them to Medinah Country Club and authored a story about spirit, fate and extraordinary shotmaking against unbelievable odds. And right there, every step of the way and with every swing of the club, was the memory of the late Severiano Ballesteros, the swashbuckling Spaniard who changed the course of the Ryder Cup with his verve, his manner and his immense golf game.

Europe was determined to honor his passing in the first Ryder Cup played since Ballesteros’ death in May, 2011, in a way that would memorialize his massive contribution to golf in Europe. Mission accomplished.

The sum of the parts enabled Europe to win the Ryder Cup, 14½-13½, over the United States, equaling the greatest final day comeback in the history of the matches. The United States rallied from the same 10-6 deficit in 1999 at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.

“Seve, Seve, Seve, Seve,” said Ian Poulter, Europe’s talisman. “Ryder Cups are what dreams are made of.”

Sergio Garcia, the young Spaniard who follows in the footsteps of Ballesteros and Olazabal, said it was about Seve every step of the way.

“I have no doubt that he was with me today all day,” Garcia said after his 1-up victory over Jim Furyk. “Because there’s no chance I would have won my match if he wasn’t there. It was amazing and it feels so good to be able to win it for him and for our captain, José.”

“Brookline was just one of the worst experiences of my life,” Paul Lawrie said. “Obviously, today is the opposite. Everyone’s been brilliant.”

Medinah was Lawrie’s first Ryder Cup appearance since Brookline, and he made amends with a decisive 5-and-3 victory over Brandt Snedeker. Lawrie was one of three golfers who experienced the crush¬ing defeat at Brookline, along with Lee Westwood and Garcia.

“The last time it was done it was the American team in America,” Westwood said. “This is the greatest comeback in the Ryder Cup, ever.”

Olazábal said, “This one is for the whole of Europe, period.”

The winning stroke was made by Germany’s Martin Kaymer and that, in itself, is the kind of poignant moment that takes over the Ryder Cup. Kaymer’s par putt on the 18th hole of his match against Steve Stricker gave him a 1-up victory and assured at least a tie in the match, enabling Europe to retain the Ryder Cup. When Francesco Molinari followed with a conceded halve against Tiger Woods, it was an outright victory.

Kaymer grew up with countryman Bernhard Langer as his mentor and idol. Langer is the two-time Masters champion and was captain of the 2004 European Ryder Cup team that routed the United States at Oakland Hills. It was in 1991, at the War by the Shore on Kiawah Island where antagonism ruled over golf for the most part and ultimately re-shaped the tenor of the matches. On the 18th green of the final match against Hale Irwin, faced with the same situation as Kaymer, Langer missed a putt of almost identical six feet in length. Had Langer made the putt, Europe would have tied the United States and retained the Ryder Cup.

“I was so nervous the last two, three holes when José Maria came to me and said we may need (my) point to win the Ryder Cup,” said Kaymer, the 2010 PGA Champion and only second German to play in the Ryder Cup. “Just to have that Cup, to win the Ryder Cup, that is what I practiced for the past 10, 15 years.”

Kaymer came to Medinah with his ranking in disarray and was benched for the Saturday matches. On Friday, he sought out Langer for help.

“I talked to him a little bit about the Ryder Cup because my attitude wasn’t the right one,” Kaymer said. “I know how important the Ryder Cup became. Bernhard helped me so much just to sit down with me and talk about it.”

The 12 singles matches Sunday produced nail-biting excitement, uncontrolled emotion, tears, passion and captivating golf. Olazábal front-loaded his team, just as U.S. Captain Ben Crenshaw had 13 years earlier at The Country Club, and the blue representing Europe on the scoreboards was prevalent from the start.

“The first two days we just got beat up,” Graeme McDowell said. “But there was a sense of relief in the room (Saturday night), something good had to happen to us. When we saw the singles draw we just figured we could win a lot of matches.”

The Europeans had hope because they knew the story of Brookline. There was so much of Brookline at Medinah. Upsets and comebacks, by necessity, have similar origins.

On the 17th green against Phil Mickelson, England’s Justin Rose made an unlikely, curling 35-foot birdie putt to square the match. Rose won 1 up with another birdie at 18. On the 17th green at Brookline 13 years ago, Justin Leonard made a massive 50-foot putt for birdie, the point to clinch the Cup and a serious case of American euphoria.

Leonard’s opponent that day? José Maria Olazábal.

No surprise there. In the Ryder Cup, fate has become a part of the game.

PHOTO: Getty Images

Validation

WGTwildcat — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 17:28:00 GMT

Brian Hewitt for Global Golf Post

As tune-ups go, playing for $10 million is nice work if you can get it.

Tennessee’s Brandt Snedeker, who will make his Ryder Cup debut this week, got it all Sunday in Atlanta.

By winning The Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup at historic East Lake, Snedeker bagged a cool $10 million in season-ending playoff dollars along with $1.44 million more for winning the tournament proper. All of which makes him one rich, ready Ryder rookie.

And all of which makes U.S. captain Davis Love III’s grin wider than the first fairway at the Old Course.

“I had complete confidence in what I was doing,” Snedeker said, moments after closing with a 2-under 68, three ahead of runner-up Justin Rose.

So, too, did American skipper Love, who raised more than a few eyebrows earlier this month when he made Snedeker one of his captain’s picks.

So, it’s on to Chicago and the Ryder Cup where the plot will thicken and the pace will quicken in the always-charged matches that begin Friday at Medinah No. 3. Thirteen of the players who finished T15 or better at East Lake will be playing in this Ryder Cup.

Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods wound up second and third, respectively, in the final FedEx standings. Both paid a steep price for driving it all over Atlanta all weekend.

One last thought in advance, Medinah: The 15th hole has been shortened and is now a perfectly situated drivable par 4 for match play. Expect fireworks there.

And don’t be surprised if red-hot Brandt Snedeker is the one who lights the fuse.

PHOTO: Reuters

Another Playoff Payoff For Rory

WGTwildcat — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 16:46:00 GMT

Contributed by GlobalGolfPost

There can be no doubt, no question, no dispute. Rory McIlroy is the No. 1 player in the world, and given the kind of golf he has displayed in the last month, he will hold that spot for some time.

McIlroy won the BMW Championship on Sunday for his second consecutive PGA Tour FedEx Cup playoff event and his third victory in his last four starts, which includes the PGA Championship in August at Kiawah Island.

He is by far No. 1 in points in the three playoff events going into The Tour Championship next week at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. The playoffs take a week off following the BMW Championship.

McIlroy has now won four events on the PGA Tour this year and is a certainty for Player of the Year honors. And he can win the $10 million bonus for winning the FedEx Cup playoffs at East Lake.

“I knew I could win big tournaments but I didn’t think it would come this quickly,” said the 23-year-old McIlroy. “I’m on quite a little run right now and I’m trying to keep that going as long as possible.”

McIlroy shot a final-round, 5-under 67 to post 20-under-par 268 at Crooked Stick Golf Club – site of the 1991 PGA Championship – good enough for a two-shot victory over playing companion Lee Westwood and Phil Mickelson.

This playoff event created the most buzz because of the quality of the field that was on the leaderboard most of the last two days. Joining the top three players in the fray were Dustin Johnson, Vijay Singh, Tiger Woods and Adam Scott all pushing toward the lead at some point during the weekend.

But McIlroy put his nose in front with four birdies in his first 10 holes to move ahead of 54-hole co-leaders Singh and Mickelson and took the lead for good with birdies at the par-5 15th, which he reached in two, and a birdie at the par-4 16th. He had a three-shot lead going into the final hole and made his first bogey in 27 holes for the final winning margin.

Woods shot 68 on Sunday to tie with Robert Garrigus (69) for fourth at 17 under. Johnson and Scott were next at 16 under. Singh shot 73 and went from safely inside the top 30 to outside the list with three bogeys in his last five holes.

Bill Haas, last year’s FedEx Cup champion, fell outside the top 30 and failed to advance to The Tour Championship with a 78 on Sunday. Garrigus and Ryan Moore were the only players outside the top 30 to play their way in, replacing Haas and Kyle Stanley, who fell out.

Photo: Getty Images

Ryder Cup Team Europe Finalized

WGTwildcat — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 18:52:00 GMT

Ryder Cup captain of Team Europe, Jose Maria Olazabal, announced his 2 wildcard picks, including Nicolas Colsaerts and Ian Poulter, to finalize the European golfers playing in the 2012 Ryder Cup,

Left off the European Ryder Cup team was top player Padraig Harrington who appeared in the last 6 Ryder Cup championships.

Below are the final 12 golfers on Team Europe competing in the Ryder Cup 9/28 to 9/30 at Medinah Country Club in Chicago.

Ryder Cup Team Europe

Nicolas Colsaerts
Luke Donald
Sergio Garcia
Peter Hanson
Martin Kaymer
Paul Lawrie
Graeme McDowell
Rory McIlroy
Francesco Molinari
Ian Poulter
Justin Rose
Lee Westwood

Team Europe official site

Read more from WGT

Check out Team USA’s Ryder Cup Picks

Rory’s Labor Day Body Of Work

WGTwildcat — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 19:11:00 GMT

Contributed by GlobalGolfPost

It was a Labor Day finish and the way the top two combatants played down the stretch, it was more labor than either had planned.

Rory McIlroy managed to keep Louis Oosthuizen at arm’s length for the last few holes to win the Deutsche Bank Championship and take the points lead in the playoffs for the FedEx Cup on the PGA Tour.

McIlroy, who won the PGA Championship in August, captured his third PGA Tour victory with the win on Monday, beating Oosthuizen by one at TPC Boston. McIlroy started the day three shots behind Oosthuizen, who was the 54-hole leader, and shot a 4-under 67 in the final round to post 72 holes at 20-under 264.

“That was more survival on those last few holes,” McIlroy said afterward. “I didn’t finish the way I wanted to but it was a win in the end. I’m delighted at the minute and looking forward to the next few weeks.”

McIlroy, the No. 1-ranked player in the world, was at one point eight shots back of Oosthuizen early in Sunday’s third round. He caught and passed Oosthuizen early in the final round, with five birdies in his first eight holes, while Oosthuizen made double-bogey at the par-4 fifth.

“I played a very solid front nine and a solid first 13 holes,” McIlroy said. “I had a couple of wobbles coming in but I got the win.”

McIlroy held a three-shot lead around the turn and Oosthuizen made birdies at the par-4 13th and the par-4 15th to close to within one. Both players made a mess of the par-4 17th, each making bogey to take the pair to the 18th with one shot between them.

McIlroy drove through the fairway into the rough and Oosthuizen left his second to the par-5 20 yards short and right. McIlroy narrowly missed a birdie putt of about 20 feet at the last, while Oosthuizen pitched up to 12 feet and missed his chance to tie.

Oosthuizen took the third-round lead with a Sunday 63 that included a front nine 29 and seven consecutive birdies beginning at the third hole. He could only manage an even-par 71 on Monday and finished at 19-under par.

Although Tiger Woods never threatened the lead, he was in the conversation all weekend, with a 5-under 66 on Monday to finish third at 18-under 266. Phil Mickelson, with a new clawlike putting grip, matched Woods on Monday with 66 and tied for fourth with Dustin Johnson, who birdied the final hole for a 70 and 14-under 270.

Brandt Snedeker, who along with Johnson was playing for a captain’s pick for the U.S. Ryder Cup team, shot 67 in the final round and was fifth at 271. Captain Davis Love III made his four picks this morning in New York.

The Deutsche Bank Championship was the second leg in the PGA Tour playoffs and the field of 125 was cut to 70 for this week’s BMW Championship, which begins Thursday at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind. From there, the field will be cut to the top 30, which will advance to the finale at the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. There will be a week off in the schedule between the BMW and The Tour Championship.

Dicky Pride came from seemingly nowhere to finish in the top 70 in points. Pride birdied his last two holes to shoot 68 on Monday and finish right on No. 70, edging out Jonas Blixt, who bounced back and forth on Monday, in and out of the top 70, before finishing one place outside the number.

Chris Kirk, Matt Every, Troy Matteson, D.A. Points, Jeff Overton, Charley Hoffman and Bryce Molder all played their way into the top 70. Molder made the biggest jump, 45 spots from 93rd to 47th by finishing ninth. Hoffman needed a nervous 10-footer for par on the last to edge Blixt.

Charl Schwartzel, a Masters champion, slipped inside the top 70 despite a four-putt from three feet on the 18th hole on Sunday. Schwartzel came back with birdies on his final two holes on Monday to improve three spots and finish 68th.

Josh Teater, Scott Stallings, Harris English and Jonathan Byrd all started the week inside the top 70 and all played their way out with poor finishes.

John Rollins, Ken Duke, Charles Howell III and Brian Davis all fell out of the top 70 by missing the cut. Davis was on the bubble entering the tournament, in the 70th position. Spencer Levin did not play the Deutsche Bank and fell from 66th to outside the top 70.

Photo: Getty Images

Ryder Cup 2012 Team Europe Golf Players

WGTwildcat — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 22:10:00 GMT

The 2012 Ryder Cup features the world's best PGA and European Tour players in a head-to-head battle at Medinah Country Club in September.

The following professional golfers from Europe should qualify on 8/26/12 to represent Team EUROPE in the 2012 Ryder Cup...

POS	PLAYER	POINTS
1	Rory McIlroy	4,050,288.10
2	Justin Rose	2,602,910.21
3	Graeme McDowell	2,375,790.52
4	Paul Lawrie	2,088,718.02
5	Francesco Molinari	2,062,525.67
6	Peter Hanson	2,022,431.76
7	Luke Donald	1,885,170.56
8	Martin Kaymer	1,871,797.49
9	Nicolas Colsaerts	1,735,223.95
10	Lee Westwood	1,692,029.78

European golfers on the bubble who could be selected as the two potential coach's picks by Jose Maria Olazbal include...

POS	PLAYER	POINTS
11	Gonzalo Fdez-Castano	1,613,602.38
12	David Lynn	1,547,127.76
13	Sergio Garcia	1,502,772.60
14	Rafa Cabrera-Bello	1,462,896.55
15	Alvaro Quiros	1,377,894.58
16	Marcel Siem	1,355,364.99
17	Ian Poulter	1,290,985.55
18	Thomas Bjorn	1,178,359.61
19	Joost Luiten	1,103,691.44
20	Jamie Donaldson	1,096,895.04

Other past Team Europe Ryder Cup players include: Miguel Jimenez, Padraig Harrington, Peter Lawrie, Ross Fisher, Edoardo Molinari, Martin Laird and Darren Clarke.

See more at official Team Europe Ryder Cup website

Team USA

Rory By The Shore

WGTwildcat — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 16:24:00 GMT

Contributed by Brian Hewitt for GlobalGolfPost

Rory McIlroy now has commandeered two major championships in the past two years by a combined total of 16 shots.

Last year it was the U.S. Open at Congressional by eight. Sunday it was the PGA Championship by eight again.

Remind you of anybody?

“We all know the talent he has,” said Tiger Woods, who finished a distant T11.

The previous biggest margin of victory at the season’s final major was seven. By a guy named Nicklaus in 1980.

“That’s a nice record to have,” said McIlroy who closed with a 6-under 66 at the Ocean Course.

His final round complemented two earlier 67s and more than offset a Friday 75 when the wind blew dogs off their leashes. McIlroy finished at 13-under 275.

“It was all good,” added McIlroy, who led by three after 54 holes and set a goal of 12 under before beginning his last round.

At the 2011 Masters he began Sunday with a four-shot lead and melted down with an 80.

“I didn’t have a target score in mind at Augusta,” he said late Sunday. “It’s one of the things I should have done.”

Little-known Englishman David Lynn carded a pair of weekend 68s for solo second at 5 under, one shot better than Justin Rose, Carl Pettersson, Ian Poulter and defending champion Keegan Bradley.

Meanwhile, eight players are now assured of U.S. Ryder Cup berths next month near Chicago. Woods is one of them. American captain Davis Love III will name the other four in early September. The European side will become finalized later this month.

Woods owned a share of the lead here after 36 holes, but skied to a front-nine 40 in the third round and never really threatened again. Where once he was “dominant,” now he continues to be merely “dangerous.”

Speaking of danger, after a relatively calm first round, the full fury of the Ocean Course and the evil genius of its architect, Pete Dye, got unleashed Friday. Winds gusted up to 38 mph, the 36-hole cut ballooned to 6-over par and the second round scoring average for the field soared to 78.1.

That latter number set an all-time one-day high for this championship and included a whopping 93 from club pro Doug Wade.

Former PGA champion Padraig Harrington had his own theory on how Kiawah bared its teeth.

“It’s not that the wind is that strong,” he said. “It’s that this is a really, really difficult golf course. When you have elevated greens ... and you are chipping downwind, it can be awkward. ... Most of my bogeys came on the downwind holes.”

And to be fair to the overmatched Wade, he wasn’t alone. Former PGA champion Love bogeyed his last five holes Friday to miss the cut by a single shot. So did Japan’s Hiroyuki Fujita.

Can’t imagine their dinners tasted very good. Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger, a winner earlier this year on the Euro Tour, bogeyed his last six holes to miss the weekend by a shot.

“Nobody is used to winds like this,” said 36-hole co-leader Vijay Singh. Singh led the field in scrambling at the halfway mark, but couldn’t scramble an egg Sunday, posting a final-round 77.

Pace of play in Friday’s gale slowed to a near standstill, at times upstaged in its turgidity only by the controversially glacial pace of the shuttle buses used to move fans, officials and media on and off this traffic-choked island all week.

The championship began gaining momentum on the golf course Saturday only to have a vicious afternoon storm attack the area. Play was suspended with the leaders still on the front nine, with McIlroy charging and Woods fading. It didn’t resume until early Sunday morning.

The only drama in the final round was the early charge mounted by Englishman Ian Poulter, who birdied the first five holes and briefly pulled to within one shot of McIlroy.

McIlroy responded with birdies on the second, third and seventh and never really looked back. A 10-foot curler on the 12th stretched his lead to six. The rest was a good walk unspoiled.

“He’s lapped the field twice now,” Harrington said of McIlroy’s two major wins.

Meanwhile, it didn’t go unnoticed that McIlroy wore a red shirt Sunday. Previously that was a Woods’ tradition and a staked claim.

McIlroy said he wouldn’t have worn red if he had been playing in the same group as Woods. But, he added without a trace of arrogance, “I might have to do it from now on. No wonder he won so much.”

“You know,” said Poulter, “when he (McIlroy) plays golf like this, he’s very impressive to watch. Everybody should take note. The guy’s pretty good.”

To be sure.

And to be continued.

Photo: Associated Press

Glory’s Toughest Test - PGA Championship Review

WGTwildcat — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 17:19:00 GMT

by DAVE SHEDLOSKI of GolfDigestCanada

This week’s PGA Championship at Kiawah’s Ocean Course combines a very demanding layout with several name players out to make a major statement.

Pete Dye has been visiting the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, S.C., every two weeks, on average, he says for the last two years to help prepare it for this week’s PGA Championship.

“I don’t know if there’s a foot of ground that we haven’t looked at,” the alacritous octogenarian said with a knowing chuckle. “I think it’s as good as we can make it.”

By “good” Dye means difficult. When he first designed the Ocean Course in preparation for the 1991 Ryder Cup, Dye said he put a great deal of thought into “figuring out ways to challenge the greatest players in the world.”

He has never stopped trying, and when the 156 players in the 94th PGA converge on the barrier island 15 miles south of Charleston for the first major championship in South Carolina, they’ll discover a layout that will give them as much comfort as sand in their pants. And don’t be surprised if a few of them get exactly that as they tack along the coast on a par-72 course measuring 7,676 yards, the longest in tournament history, and replete with ever-present threats of sand and water. The Ocean Course was ready but rough in 1991. Now it’s refined and maybe not quite as rough as a shot making test—though that’s only if the wind doesn’t blow. If, however, breezes begin to strafe the landscape, there won’t be anything except the good graces of Kerry Haigh, the PGA’s setup man, to save them from dune and gloom.

“The golf course is unbelievable. I think it’s going to be very difficult, especially if the wind picks up,” said defending champion Keegan Bradley, who joined Francis Ouimet and Ben Curtis as winners in their first major start. “I’m interested to see how the PGA sets up the golf course because they can set it up a million different ways.”

“It was interesting … it’s two different nine holes. The front nine is a really nice, playable golf course, and then the back nine is not. It’s very severe,” said Adam Scott, who will be looking to bounce back from his disappointing finish in the British Open, where he bogeyed the final four holes at Royal Lytham & St. Annes and allowed Ernie Els to sneak by him. “There are good scores out there in good weather, but if the wind blows, it’s just going to be very difficult, even if they move tees forward and stuff like that. It’s an extreme penalty for a miss. It’s certainly going to need some ball striking.”

More to the point, drivers could be more integral to success at Kiawah than in the year’s three previous major championships.

“I don’t think there’s any question that you’re going to have to drive it great,” Dustin Johnson said. “Length is going to be a huge advantage—if you can keep it in play.”

“It’s going to be long,” said Tiger Woods, a four-time PGA winner. “It’s going to be close to 7,700 yards, and that’s a big ballpark. It’s going to take a little bit of getting used to. Being seaside, the wind can change. The wind comes out of different directions. There’s so much room out there, but as soon as the wind starts blowing 20,30 miles an hour, there’s not much room.”

Beating the course is only half the battle. Beating the field is another matter.

The roster includes the top 108 on the World Ranking. All four reigning major champions will be in attendance, the first time since the Masters. Thirteen past PGA champions and 32 major winners are entered. This means very little nowadays, however, given that the last 16 majors have produced a different winner. Twelve have been first-timers, including the last three in the PGA: Bradley, Martin Kaymerand Y.E. Yang.

Glory’s Last Shot represents the last chance for Woods and Rory Mcllroy to engage in a head-to-head ‘ major battle this season. A rivalry was anticipated— and given commensurate media hype—after each captured a victory in Florida, Mcllroy at the Honda Classic and Woods at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

What has happened? Woods, 36, had his chances at the U.S. Open and British Open, though he fizzled down the stretch in each. Mcllroy, 23, billed as Tiger’s success or, wasted less time being in consequential, his T-40 at the Masters being his best finish. He missed the cut in his U.S. Open title defense. At the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, Woods, who has risen to No. 2 in the world, might have found a solution to his sketchy putting after the second round. “Found some alignment, some posture things and got my feel back,” Woods said after a third-round 68 at Firestone CC. “My blade was releasing properly again, and it felt really comfortable.”

Mcllroy also looked more comfortable at Firestone, getting in the mix after bogeying three of the first four holes of the tournament. “It’s getting there, it definitely is. I’ve worked hard to get it back,” the Ulsterman said. “Obviously, my expectations every time I tee it up are pretty high and not to live up to my own expectations is not nice, but I feel like I’m definitely moving in the right direction.”

Of course, they are not alone in seeking to salvage the season and apply salve to some scar tissue.

Graeme McDowell played in Sunday’s final pairing in the last two majors and came up empty. Jim Furyk had a second U.S. Open title in his hands until a late stumble at Olympic Club, his disappointment every bit as deep as Scott’s. The only difference is the freshness of the wounds.

Unfortunately for them, Dye’s salty Ocean Course awaits.

Photo: Golf Digest/Steven Szurlej

U.S. Open Featured Pairings Struggle in Round 1

WGTpete — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 15:17:00 GMT

The USGA paired some of the world's best players together in the opening rounds of the 2012 U.S. Open, but Round 1 went to the challenging Olympic Club golf course.

The top American group was led by Tiger Woods, who was the only one under par...

Tiger Woods, 69, -1
Phil Mickelson, 76, +6
Bubba Watson, 78, +8

The top European players, and also the top 3 ranked players in the world, struggled even more...

Lee Westwood, 73, +3
Rory McIlroy, 77, +7
Luke Donald, 79, +9

Here are the tee times (Pacific) for Round 2 on Friday...

Westwood/McIlroy/Donald - 7:44am at Hole #9, watch on www.usopen.com live streaming and Golf Channel
Woods/Mickelson/Watson - 1:18pm at Hole #1, watch on NBC and Golf Channel

For the cut, only the Top 60 players (plus ties) after Round 2 on Friday will advance, which is currently +5 to advance, so Woods and Westwood have the best chance to play this weekend, but the others will need to improve.

Meanwhile, here are the leaders of the U.S. Open after Round 1, with their Round 2 starting times (Pacific)...

Michael Thompson, 66, -4, 12:52p at #9
Graeme McDowell, 69, -1, 7:55am at #9
Nick Watney, 69, -1, 7:59am at #1
Justin Rose, 69, -1, 8:10am at #1
David Toms, 69, -1, 1:40 at #1

...and top players at even par include Jim Furyk, Ian Poulter, Matt Kuchar.

Photo: AP

2012 U.S. Open Pairings Announced

WGTwildcat — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 16:49:00 GMT

The USGA has announced the first and second round pairings for the 2012 U.S. Open at The Olympic Club on June 14-15, 2012.

The headliners are Tiger, Phil and Bubba, golf's biggest stars paired together, along with a lot of fans.

The USGA continues to have some fun with the pairings, notably the C's of Carl, Charl and Charles, as well as KJ, YE and KT from Korea.

Everyone will be rooting for the Qualifiers, featuring Casey Martin, Dennis Miller and Stanford golf team local, Cameron Wilson. Martin's last U.S. Open was in 1998 and has since been cleared by the Supreme Court to use a golf cart to ride between holes due to a medical condition. Miller was trying for the 12th year to qualify for the U.S. Open, and on the 4th playoff hole appeared to leave his putt on the lip of the hole, but it amazingly dropped in...and he's in the national championship.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Note, due to course configuration, players will be in threesomes and teeing off on Holes #1 and #9, instead of the typical #10. All times US Pacific Standard. TV coverage in the United States on the Golf Channel on Thu/Fri and NBC Sat/Sun.

See Full 2012 U.S. Open Pairings

Highlighted U.S. Open Pairings

Headliners - Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Bubba Watson

Thu 7:33a, Hole #9
Fri 1:18p, Hole #1

The C's - Carl Pettersson, Charl Schwartzel, Charles Howell III

Thu 8:06a, Hole #9
Fri 1:51p, Hole #1

Team Korea - K. J. Choi, Y. E. Yang, K. T. Kim

Thu 8:28a, Hole #9
Fri 2:13p, Hole #1

The Qualifiers - Casey Martin, Dennis Miller, A-Cameron Wilson

Thu 12:45p, Hole #1
Fri 7:00a, Hole #9

Under The Radar - Martin Kaymer, Hunter Mahan, Justin Rose

Thu 1:25p, Hole #9
Fri 8:10a, Hole #1

UK Stars - Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood

Thu 1:29p, Hole #1
Fri 7:44a, Hole #9

The Contenders - Jason Day, Louis Oosthuizen, Jason Dufner

Thu 1:47p, Hole #9
Fri 8:32a, Hole #1

The Bro's - Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson, Ryo Ishikawa

Thu 1:58p, Hole #9
Fri 8:43a, Hole #1

Photo Courtesy of Golf Channel