"I'm a firm believer that in the theory that people only do their best at things they truly enjoy. It is difficult to excel at something you don't enjoy."
Jack Nicklaus
Showing posts with label Rory McIlroy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rory McIlroy. Show all posts
Monday, 18 June 2018
Tuesday, 29 May 2018
Caddie Chemistry Not Always a Given
In 2002 Darren Clarke made the final rounds of the Murphy's Irish Open thanks to advice of his stand-in caddie for the day - after his regular caddie Billy Foster had flown back home to Manchester after the birth of his second daughter. Following a call to his friend Paul McGinley, the Dubliner's caddie JP Fitzgerald was the late replacement and his presence proved pivotal at the 18th - according to Clarke.
Speaking at the time Clarke said: "At the last JP said, 'If you lay up and miss the cut by one you'll be as sick as a dog'.
"So. I said right, I'll have a go at it. And I hit a great shot from the top of the hill. I punched in a five-iron. I had 209 to the front. I didn't know what they cut was going to be, par or one under but it was the right decision in the end," explained Clarke
At the start of the following year Clarke embarked on a series of drastic changes with his golf in order to challenge for the Majors again and switched back to Butch Harmon as his coach, parted company with Foster, after six years together, and signed a deal to play with TaylorMade clubs. The complete overhaul came after a Christmas letter from sports psychologist Bob Rotella and as part of his new look team he added J P. Fitzgerald.
Despite much promise the partnership did not last and they subsequently split with Clarke accepting that he is one of the more demanding players on tour to work for, and both parted company following the 2004 Masters - despite winning the 2003 WGC-NEC Invitational at Firestone.
"I know I've been very hard on JP. My demands were too great, I expected him to pick the right club every time, and while I wasn't jumping down his throat non-stop, I was complaining," said Clarke at the time.
Originally from Castleknock, Fitzgerald represented Baltray as an amateur and actually beat Clarke in the semi-final of the Irish Close Championships in 1987. After attending East Tennessee University on scholarship, Fitzgerald was recruited by his close friend Paul McGinley, helping with that infamous putt in the 2002 Ryder Cup at The Belfry.
The short spell with Clarke was followed by two seasons in the US with Greg Owen and returned to the big time when Ernie Els called him in late 2007. It was Els manager at the time, Andrew “Chubby” Chandler, who summed up the fragility of the caddie’s role when he explained why Fitzgerald was the ideal replacement for Ricci Roberts
“JP happens to be in the right place at the right time.”
“Ernie and Ricci are such close friends that the caddying part of it was putting a strain on their relationship.
Roberts started back with Els in May of 2001 - after a split in the latter part of 1998 – with two U.S. Open victories in 1994 and 1996 to their credit. In the period of Roberts absence there were only a couple of PGA wins for the South African and it fell well short of what was achieved on Ricci’s return when Ernie won The Doral, The 2002 Open Championship, and The Sun City post season event. In that time, the pair also added the World Match Play Championship at Wentworth.
Ironically, Ricci Roberts joined Darren Clarke in April 2011 playing their first event at the Trophee Hassan II in Morocco with Clarke’s manager Chandler no doubt playing a role in the decision.
In the same week, almost much ink and paper met on the why’s and wherefores of what went wrong with Rory McIlroy at the tenth tee box on the Sunday of The Masters at Augusta National. The last moment the young McIlroy was to lead the 2011 tournament. After which much of the focus started to move in the Fitzgerald direction.
In the musical chairs environment that exists in the caddy shack, those cannot have been good days for the Dubliner - as no one was short of helpful analysis. In some cases, drawing comparisons with other such golfing collapses by Greg Norman or Jean van de Velde. As well as Sergio Garcia
Makes one recall some of those memorable Masters stories.
Like when Bruce Edwards recalled the walk up the 18th fairway in 1996 at Augusta with Greg Norman's bag, who turned to him and said, 'I guess it's better to be lucky than good.' A remark that left Edwards stunned given Faldo had outplayed the Australian all day. Edwards reply was tough as he turned to Norman and said, 'I just want to caddie for someone who has heart.'
For McIlroy, it was a touch of the same when Schwartzel chipped in at the first and then eagled a blind shot so dramatically at the 3rd. It was clear from those early moments that destiny was marking the South African's card and in all the post analysis the role of fortune and luck got no mention. The reality is no major has been won without it.
Nor any other sporting event for that matter.
At Sandwich for the 2011 Open it was the turn of John Mulrooney to be in the right place at the right time and Clarke was generous in the praise of his caddie when collecting the Claret Jug on the eighteenth green. One hoped that it was the start of a longer terms thing. But it was not to be that enduring.
One of more enduring partnerships is Phil Mickelson and Jim “Bones” McKay. Which undoubtedly has been tested to its limit with all challenges in Phil's private life, given his wife, Amy’s, battle with cancer. Compounded by a similar fate befalling his Mother, along with Phil’s own health worries of sporadic arthritis.
Those events notwithstanding Mickelson won his third green jacket in 2010 with a tournament winning shot on the 15th which commentators suggested his caddie should have advised him against. These days it makes for uplifting footage that confirms that destiny was with Lefty that day and the gap between those pine trees was never an issue.
In the most high-profile team of Tiger Woods and Steve Williams the toughest of personal challenges beset the player. With indiscreet remarks by the New Zealander also problematic at times for his employer. Although others were fired for less Williams offered some key components on the course to the former world number 1 and was richly rewarded for his efforts. So much so the Kiwi commuted almost weekly across the Pacific Ocean as he tried to maintain his own personal life intact as well as caddying.
Having been fired by Norman in 1989 Williams admitted he had got too close personally to Norman, although both remain good friends to this day. To the point that Norman later admitted he had made a mistake during the Kiwi and tried to rehire him. The fall out last year between the Woods and Williams team showed that nothing lasts forever.
On the other hand, the stories of swift caddie changes that have led to dramatic results also abound.
The addition of Phil “Wobbly” Morbey to the side of Ross Fisher shortly before the 2011 3 Irish Open as a replacement for Andrew Morrow proved immediately successful. Fisher won the €500,000 cheque in Killarney with the caddied that had done the same with Ian Woosnam and Thomas Bjorn previously.
“I think Wobbly has given me that extra bit of added confidence, some self-belief, and like I say, he's great on the bag. He tells me exact little how it is. Doesn't beat about the bush. Tells me exactly where I need to go, what club it is and it's just real positive. So far, the relationship is good and fingers crossed, we can go a very long way,” explained Fisher in July 2010.
JP Fitzgerald has been part of the more enduring partnerships in golf history. Becoming one of the most successful with four major titles to his name.
Good thing Rory ignored all those experts back in 2011
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Monday, 9 May 2016
James Hahn Holds Up Wells Fargo
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| Getty Images |
James Hahn emerged from a slump to win the Wells Fargo Championship in a play-off against his fellow American Roberto Castro in North Carolina.
The South Korean-born Hahn made par on the first extra hole, the par-four 18th, sinking a four-foot putt to edge Castro at Quail Hollow in Charlotte. Castro made Hahn’s task considerably easier by pulling his drive into the creek left of the fairway.
Hahn, 34, who had missed eight consecutive cuts, recorded a closing 70 for a nine-under-par 279. He missed a six-foot putt at the 72nd hole that would have won it in regulation but made amends in the play-off to claim his second PGA Tour victory.
Hahn and Castro (71) finished one shot in front of Justin Rose while the Americans Phil Mickelson and Andrew Loupe, the third-round leader Rick Fowler and the defending champion, Rory McIlroy, were two strokes back.
McIlroy, who shot a final-round 66, has dominated the Quail Hollow tournament since 2010, with two wins and three other top-10 finishes.
The highlight of the Northern Irishman’s victory last year was a course-record 61 in the final round and he again impressed on Sunday with eight birdies. However, bogeys at the first and last undid his good work.
Bogeys at the 12th and 16th proving Rose’s undoing after three birdies. The Englishman tweeted: “Tough final day at the office, but many positives to take from this week.”
Wednesday, 13 April 2016
Captain Clarke Launches Ryder Cup
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| Darren Clarke, Royal Portrush - Getty Images |
Darren Clarke launched the Ryder Cup trophy tour from Royal Portrush Golf Club in his native Northern Ireland on Tuesday, and the European captain had a spring in his step.
No wonder, considering the performance of the continent’s players at the Masters last week. Danny Willett won at Augusta National for his first major championship title and there were six other Europeans in the top 10.
“Hope they are all in the same form in September in Hazeltine,” Clarke said, looking forward to the Ryder Cup against the United States from 30 September until 2 October 2016.
“Any time you see seven Europeans in the top 10 at a major, that’s got to be a hugely positive step. Especially in the year of the Ryder Cup.”
Wearing the Green Jacket, Willett arrived back in Britain on Tuesday following his Masters victory. Speaking at Manchester airport, he said his immediate plan was to “get home, put the kettle on, and change some nappies” after the birth of his first child last month.
Among the many benefits of winning his first major is that it virtually assures his place in Europe’s Ryder Cup team for the first time. Willett, ranked No9, is currently top of the world points and European points list.
“He was almost guaranteed to be in the team before he won at Augusta but it was wonderful to see him come through and win in the fashion he did,” Clarke said. “It’s another step in the right direction. He’s a confident, dedicated man.
“You take a look at the top of the world rankings at the moment, you have Rory [McIlroy], Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, and there’s Rickie Fowler pushing hard. But Danny has all the ability to go to the top.”
The Europeans are looking to win the Ryder Cup for a fourth straight time after their victory at Gleneagles, Scotland, in 2014.
The Ryder Cup trophy heads to Belfast next, before it goes to France and Italy – the next two European countries to host the contest in 2018 and 2022, respectively.
Tuesday, 5 April 2016
Monday, 4 April 2016
Couples Out of First Masters Since 94
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| Fred Couples |
Fred Couples is to miss his first Masters since 1994 after pulling out of this year's tournament because of acute back pain.
The 56-year-old, who won the green jacket in 1992, remains a threat at Augusta National, sharing the 36-hole lead in 2012 and was one shot behind going into the weekend in 2013.
His career has been slowed by back problems in the last 20 years, with Couples admitting the recent pain has been too much for him to prepare or to compete.
Couples has played only three times this year, once on the PGA Tour. He missed the cut at Riviera while visibly struggling with his back.
Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk and Jose Maria Olazabal are all also ruled out due to injury and with Korea's Sang-moon Bae performing military service.
The field in Atlanta this year is 89 players, the fewest since 2002.
The Masters - Preview
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| Rory McIlroy |
Golf's first major of the year is almost upon us, with the world's finest players preparing to make their annual pilgrimage to one of sport's most iconic venues.
The first tee shot will be hit on Thursday, 7 April, with a field of fewer than 100 men aiming to sink the winning putt on Sunday, 10 April.
World number one Jason Day, Jordan Spieth - bidding to become the first man to defend the title since Tiger Woods in 2002 - and four-time major winner Rory McIlroy head the field in the year's first major.
Few people, including the bookmakers, are looking past the world's top three players - Day, Spieth and McIlroy - to set the agenda at Augusta.
Day and world number two Spieth won three of last year's four majors, while 26-year-old McIlroy is looking to complete the career Grand Slam.
Spieth, 22, has failed to find his best form in recent weeks, missing a cut for only the eighth time since the start of the 2014 season, before narrowly avoiding another early exit two weeks later.
The American defended his form after being called "garbage" by an internet 'troll', while McIlroy backed his rival by insisting Spieth's form was "not slumping".
US PGA champion Day, 28, has continued his fine start to the season by winning back-to-back tournaments, showing little rustiness from a three-month break at the end of last year after becoming a father for the second time.
The Australian suffered an injury scare in his opening pool match at last month's WGC-Dell Match Play, but recovered to win the tournament for the second time in three years.
McIlroy steps on to Augusta's first tee on Thursday aiming to become only the sixth man to claim the clean sweep.
Rory is seeking a first Masters title following victories at the US Open, the Open Championship and the US PGA.
Winning the Green Jacket would propel him into exalted company alongside Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Gene Sarazen, Gary Player and Ben Hogan.
And that is the world number three's main priority. "It's all about Augusta," he said last month.
McIlroy will miss Augusta's annual Par 3 Contest, which takes place the day before Thursday's first round, in order to concentrate on winning the year's first major.
"Maybe the decision not to play it this year can work in my favour," he said, perhaps bearing in mind the 'Par 3 curse' - no player has won both in the same year.
McIlroy might well offer the best hope of providing a first European winner since Jose Maria Olazabal in 1999, but he is just one of 16 British and Irish players aiming to emulate the Spaniard.
Former US Open champion Justin Rose, currently ranked eighth in the world, continues his search for a second major, while fellow Englishman Danny Willett is expected to make his second Augusta appearance following the birth of his first child.
The Yorkshireman has risen from outside the top 100 to the fringe of the top 10 in less than two years.
Familiar names such as Lee Westwood - who sneaked into the world's top 50 in mid-December to qualify - Paul Casey, Darren Clarke, Graeme McDowell and Ian Poulter all return to Augusta.
England's Andy Sullivan and Scotland's Russell Knox, who both broke into the top 50 last year, will step into the locker room for the first time.
At the other end of the scale, veterans Sandy Lyle and Ian Woosnam, both 58, will play after accepting their annual invites as past champions.
Europe's contingent have not won at Augusta since two-time winner Olazabal's last success 17 years ago, allowing American players to regain dominance of the Masters in recent years.
The famed Georgia course has produced eight home winners in the past 12 years - and, as well as Spieth, there are several others with strong ambitions of becoming the third consecutive American champion.
Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson, the world number four, is one of the favourites alongside Spieth, McIlroy and Day.
The 37-year-old left-hander heads to Augusta having claimed two wins as well as a second-place finish in his eight tournaments this year.
Phil Mickelson - a three-time winner and veteran of 12 other top-10 finishes at Augusta - is expected to mount another challenge, while Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed - who are all ranked inside the world's top 10 - will head down Magnolia Lane hopeful of winning their first major.
Recent Masters winners
2015: Jordan Spieth (US) 2010: Phil Mickelson (US)
2014: Bubba Watson (US) 2009: Angel Cabrera (Arg)
2013: Adam Scott (Aus) 2008: Trevor Immelman (SA)
2012: Bubba Watson (US) 2007: Mach Johnson (US)
2011: Charl Schwartzel (SA) 2006: Phil Mickelson (US)
Away from the Americans, look no further than 2016's form man - 2013 champion Adam Scott.
The 35-year-old Australian leads the PGA Tour standings - just ahead of Day - after claiming back-to-back titles last month.
Scott claimed the Honda Classic at Palm Beach and then beat Watson by one shot at the WGC Championship at Doral.
"I think Bubba is the favourite," said Scott after pipping Watson with a closing 69 at Trump National in Miami.
"Even if I won every tournament I play before the Masters, if Bubba keeps finishing second, I'd still think he's favoured. It just sets up so good there for him."
Monday, 21 March 2016
Jason Saves Day at Bay Hill
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| Getty Images |
Jason Day survived a rollercoaster final round to complete a wire-to-wire victory in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and move above Rory McIlroy to second in the world rankings.
Day carded five birdies and three bogeys in a closing 70 at Bay Hill to finish 17 under par, a shot ahead of American Kevin Chappell.
Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, who has now finished third, second, fifth and eighth in his last four appearances in the event, was two shots further back alongside Troy Merritt, who surged into a share of the lead with five birdies in a row from the 10th, only to double-bogey the 18th.
Day took a two-shot lead into the final round and edged further ahead by chipping in for birdie on the second after a poor tee shot came up well short of the green, only to bogey the next two holes and fall into a tie with Chappell, who had birdied the third.
A birdie on the fifth took Day back in front but Chappell, who was playing in the penultimate group, two-putted the par-five sixth for birdie and then saw Day bogey the same hole after pulling his approach into the water.
Chappell, who is yet to win on the PGA Tour, briefly moved two clear with a birdie on the eighth, but promptly bogeyed the ninth before Day’s superb approach to the same hole left him a tap-in birdie.
Stenson made it a three-way tie for the lead with a birdie on the 10th but would go on to bogey the 14th and 16th, while Chappell moved back into the lead thanks to birdies on the 13th and 16th.
However, Chappell dropped a shot on the 18th to open the door for the chasing pack and Day birdied the 17th from 12 feet before saving par from a greenside bunker on the last to claim his eighth PGA Tour title and a sixth in just over 13 months.
Friday, 11 March 2016
Spieth Paints Bleak Picture at Valspar
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| Getty Images |
Jordan Spieth is in danger of missing his second cut this year after carding an opening-round five-over-par 76 at the Valspar Championship in Florida.
The American, 22, is nine shots behind American joint leaders Keegan Bradley, Ken Duke and Charles Howell III.
Spieth, who will defend his Masters title in April, also missed the cut at the Northern Trust Open in February.
The defending champion never recovered from making five bogeys and a birdie in the first seven holes.
Typically, my history (on my off days), I'm able to hold that around even par and I'm just shooting too high a number," Spieth said. "(I) didn't quite squeak out even today, even though it was an even kind of round, and hopefully less wind tomorrow and I can work hard to play on the weekend."
"I just didn't hit enough greens," Spieth said. "I had the opportunities on a few holes today and actually there was a lot of holes where I thought if I hit great shots posing and it's 10, 15 yards off on the distance based on the gust of the wind.
"It was a very tough day."
"I got off to a poor start and I was behind the eight-ball with gusty wind on a tough golf course," said Spieth, who found himself getting tentative after repeatedly flying greens.
"It's so tough on some of these putts down the hill to hit them as hard as we have to hit them," Spieth explained. "... You don't see it. It's an adjustment. It's something you got to trust. It's one thing to practice on the greens and get used to it, it's another to actually do it.
"What good is kicking the door other than hurting my foot and (having to) withdraw?," Spieth said good-naturedly. "I'm kidding. No, I'll be fine."
Monday, 7 March 2016
Rory McIlroy Slips Out of Cadillac Chase
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| Getty Images |
Adam Scott recorded back-to-back victories on the PGA Tour as Rory McIlory's challenge unravelled at the World Golf Championship at Doral.
The 35-year-old, who won the Honda Classic last week, began three shots adrift of McIlroy but closed with a three-under 69 to win on 12 under.
He holed a six-foot putt on the last to beat Bubba Watson (68) by one shot.
Northern Ireland's McIlroy had a two-over 74 to join England's Danny Willett (69) in a tie for third on 10 under.
Scott began his round with a birdie, but double bogeys on the third and fifth looked to have derailed his challenge as he fell six shots adrift of McIlroy, who opened with six pars.
However, six birdies in his next nine holes, as McIlroy dropped three shots, gave Scott a lead he did not relinquish.
"You have to push yourself so hard to beat the class of players that is out here right now," said Scott.
"So I can't believe I won back-to-back weeks. To win a world championship event is huge. I'm going to push hard the next few weeks."
Australia's Steven Bowditch, 32, recorded the worst ever score in a WGC event after a 12-over-par final round left him 37 over for the tournament.
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