Posts tagged Rory McIlroy
The First Must-See Weekend of 2012 Raises Appearance Fee Questions
04 weeks ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
Getty Images
We’ve had the Hawaii Swing and a nice little pro-am in California so far in 2012, but all these tournaments have lacked the star power that drives people to their television sets to watch golf in the middle of winter.
All that changes this weekend as there are two tournaments taking place on opposites sides of the globe that are sure to catch the attention of the hibernating golf fan, the HSBC Champions in Abu Dhabi and the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. Both tournaments are boasting pretty strong fields with players that are capable of stealing away some viewers from the misery of watching the NFL Pro Bowl.
The question that arises from the split fields of the two tournaments stems from a purely financial point of view and involves Tiger Woods.
Imagine that.
During his press conference earlier in the week, Woods was asked a number of questions about his health, his swing and the state of his game, but an interesting line of questioning came up when the former world No. 1 was asked if appearance fees have an impact on the scheduling of high-profile players.
Woods was pretty forthcoming when asked if it affects how he schedules tournaments, saying, “You know, I’d have to say yes, it certainly does. That’s one of the reasons why a lot of the guys who play in Europe. I think the only tour that doesn’t pay [appearance fees] is the U.S. Tour.
“But, you know, a lot of the guys play all around the world and they do get appearance fees. Only place we don’t get it is the U.S.”
As I’ve said many times before, the upper echelon of professional golfers are independent contractors, setting their own schedule, rarely taking into consideration what their respective tours would like from them.
This week is the perfect example, especially in Woods’ case.
Growing up in southern California and playing on Torrey Pines all of his life, including some of his most iconic victories, you would think that Eldrick would like to take every opportunity to tee it up at Torrey.
However, as Tiger said in his presser, the PGA Tour will not pay their members or members of any other tour to simply show up, something PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem is adamant about.
“From the standpoint of professional athletic competition, it raises the specter in the fans’ mind that the player is only there because he was paid to be there and not there to really compete,” he said. “If the player doesn’t play well, in light of that perception, then there is a secondary perception that he didn’t even come to compete, he just showed up to get his appearance money. That is not a good thing for your image.
“This is something that’s been part of the PGA Tour since its inception in 1968. We think our image is the most important thing we have, and we’re not going to take the risk.”
First of all, the image of the PGA Tour is certainly not the most important thing they have, it’s the players, but the commish does make a good point.
People are cynical and if someone like a Tiger Woods shows up at an off-brand tournament and collects and appearance fee only to shit the bed, excuse the expression, people are going to go into full cynicism mode.
It will become a common thread around the golf world that Woods only showed up because he was paid to be there, not to try and win a tournament, regardless if that were true or not.
The European Tour combats that with paying enough high-profile players to make it worth their while to not only show up for the money, but to compete because of the world ranking points on the line.
This is all just a long way of saying that both systems work when implemented properly. As they say, there is more than one way to skin a cat.
As it stands now, if players are going to get paid good money to show up and play against good fields, they will continue to pass up the Torrey Pines’ of the world to play in Abu Dhabi for a nice pay day before the tournament even starts.
An Awesome Weekend for Golf
02 months ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
Getty Images
First of all, I want to apologize for the lack of posting over the past two weeks. In the way of excuses, I have had a decent amount going on. This time two weeks ago I had two part-time jobs that gave me a pretty good amount of time to blog on a daily basis. Now, I have one full-time job that I’m still trying to get acquainted with, therefore the posting here has slowed down.
The longer I’m here (here being The Clermont Sun), the more comfortable I will be with my duties and as a result, have a better idea of when I can post. I hope to that daily posting can still be the case, but things could be spotty for the next few weeks as I get settled in as well as move into a new house.
Enough about me, though, how about this past weekend in golf, huh?
Three of the top players in the world were able to pull out victories, Rory McIlroy at the Hong Kong Open, Lee Westwood at the Nedbank Golf Challenge and some guy named Tiger Woods at the Chevron World Challenge.
McIlroy shot a blistering 5-under par 65 on Sunday to come from three behind of third-round leader Alvaro Quiros and win by three shots. McIlroy had five birdies and no bogies in his final round. Quiros shot a Sunday 73 to drop out of contention, but France’s Gregory Havret closed the gap with his own final-round 65 to finish two shots behind McIlroy.
Hitting his approach into the green-side bunker on the 72nd hole, McIlroy looked to leave the door open for Havret, but the Northern Irishman holed out from the bunker to slam that door shut and win by two strokes.
Westwood built up a seven-shot lead heading into the final round at the Nedbank. Thank goodness for that, because Westwood stumbled to the finish line with a 1-over par 73 to finish at 15-under par for the tournament to win by two strokes over Robert Karlsson, who shot a 4-under par 68 on Sunday in Sun City, South Africa.
Two of the three tournaments mentioned here were limited field contests, but it would appear as if the Nedbank was the best. Westwood outclassed players like Luke Donald (T7), Graeme McDowell (T2), Jason Dufner (T2), Martin Kaymer (8) and Darren Clarke (DFL, 12).
In the last to finish chronologically, Tiger Woods finished birdie-birdie on his last two holes to claim his fifth Chevron World Challenge beating Zach Johnson by one stroke. Woods, who notoriously hasn’t won an event in the last two years, put an end to his losing streak with the win coming 749 days after his last victory at the Australian Masters.
Johnson took a one-stroke lead through 16 holes, but Woods birdied out to best Johnson by a stroke. Woods and Johnson had distanced themselves from the rest of the limited field by Sunday, making it a two-horse race that Woods was able to win by the narrowest of margins.
Among the other notable finishes at the Chevron were Paul Casey (3), Hunter Mahan and Matt Kuchar (T4), Jim Furyk, Rickie Fowler and Bubba Watson (T6) and Jason Day (15).
More on the Tiger victory should be coming later today, so check back. Thanks for coming back!
Kaymer Overcomes 5-Shot Deficit, Wins HSBC Champions in Style
03 months ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
AP
PThe Germinator, Martin Kaymer, proved that he did not lose his machine-like focus after becoming the No. 1-player in the world earlier this year, going on a record-breaking tear on Sunday in Shanghai, China to win the World Golf Championship HSBC Champions.
Kaymer started his final round five strokes back of third-round leader Fredrik Jacobsen, but the 26-year-old major champion couldn’t get anything going early in his round, parring the first six holes when he needed to be making a move if he had any thoughts of making it into contention.
On the 7th hole, Kaymer looked that he could possibly be dropping his first shot of the day when he found himself in the green-side bunker needing to get up-and-down to save par. Instead of grinding out his par, Kaymer did himself one better, holing out from the bunker and spurring an incredible 12-hole stretch in which Kaymer birdied nine holes.
“It started off a little slow,” Kaymer said. “But then I holed a bunker shot on 7 for birdie and pretty much since then, I didn’t miss a lot of golf shots. I didn’t miss a lot of putts.”
The crazy thing in the Germinator’s 12-hole birdie fest is that he left some shots out there. Of course, you always hear about guys who go ridiculously low and then have the audacity to come in and talk to the media and say something like, ‘you know, that’s the worst I could have shot. I left some shots out there.’
For me, I always end up thinking, ‘alright buddy, whatever you say,’ but that’s not the case with this round. Kaymer really left some shots out there. He had a short birdie putt on the 9th hole that he missed and then he parred the par-5 14th hole as well as the short 288-yard par-4 16th that most of the guys were reaching with a 3-wood.
Then again, there’s not a lot you could complain about over that stretch of holes. Also working in Kaymer’s favor was the players around him not doing much to grab the tournament by the throat. Jacobsen was swapping birdies for bogeys, shooting a 1-under 71 and Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood, Louis Oosthuizen and Adam Scott didn’t exactly light-up Sheshan International.
McIlroy shot a solid round of 69 that included a birdie on the 18th hole that allowed him to finish in a tie for fourth place, that would move him up to second in the world rankings. Oosthuizen shot an even-par round of 72, Scott shot 73 and Westwood shot 74.
With Kaymer’s group playing in front of the 54-hole leader’s, Jacobsen was forced to leaderboard watch to see where he stood. With Kaymer’s four straight birdies on holes 10-13, he pulled ahead of Jacobsen, but the Swede answered with two birdies of his own on the 12th and 14th holes to keep himself in even.
Kaymer continued his stellar play with birdies on the 15th and 17th holes, putting too much pressure on Jacobsen who couldn’t answer, compounding his poor drive on 17 with a poor second shot that resulted in a bogey and two-shot deficit.
“I felt I was very much in it,” Jacobsen said, who finished in solo second place. “Obviously, 17 was a bit of a swing after I hit my tee shot. I knew if I was going to have a shot at it, I probably had to get up-and-down to have a realistic chance.”
Now with a two-shot cushion coming up the 72nd hole, Kaymer left nothing to chance, calmly (like everything else he does) rolling in a birdie putt to give him a final-round 63 and his second victory of the year, his other win coming at the HSBC Champions in Abu Dhabi in January.
Kaymer set two records for WGC events, one for the lowest final round score and the other for the largest deficit overcome to win (five shots).
Graeme McDowell, who similarly to Kaymer has had a let-down year in 2011, shot a final-round 67 to finish in solo third.
The win was a big one for Kaymer, who after having a magical 2010 that saw him clinch his first major championship at Whistling Straits, went on to become the top player in the world, joining Bernhard Langer as the only other German-born player to reach the prestigious plateau.
Along with the No. 1 label came the pressure and publicity associated with being the world’s best golfer. Now under more scrutiny and more desired to make appearances, Kaymer’s game lacked and he missed half of the cuts at the majors in 2011.
“Let’s say, for me, it was a tough stretch of months, because it’s not normal that at my age you become No. 1 in the world,” Kaymer said. “All of a sudden, you have more attention. Doesn’t matter really where you go. In my own country, I became the German golf face. In America, a lot of people recognized me because obviously golf is a little bit bigger in America than in Germany.
“But it has been a little awkward situation sometimes, because I was just not used to be that much in the spotlight. And it took some time to get used to it, and hopefully it will happen again, because I know what’s going to happen, I know how to approach that thing.”
Kaymer cashed $1.2 million for the win, par for the course for a WGC event, as well as moving up the official world rankings back to No. 4.
Kaymer will have two weeks off before the World Cup in China at Mission Hills. He will also play in the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa and the Dubai World Championships during back-to-back weeks in early December.
McIlroy Leaves Chubby, ISM for Horizon Sports Management
04 months ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
In a strange turn of events, Rory McIlroy announced on Friday that he would be leaving International Sports Management and super-agent Chubby Chandler to join the Dublin-based Horizon Sports Management, home of fellow countryman and friend, Graeme McDowell.
It is interesting in terms of the timing of the split as McIlroy was travelling with Chandler for the past few weeks in China and most recently with fellow ISM clients Darren Clarke and Charl Schwartzel to the PGA Grand Slam of Golf in Bermuda.
If there was anything that could be seen as a sign that the 22-year-old US Open Champion was planning on leaving the agency, it came in August when McIlroy expressed some concerns about how ISM was presenting him.
“We sat down [six weeks ago] and he said he was not happy with his brand, sponsors, website or his public relations image. I thought we were sorting things out to his liking,” Chandler said.
“Even though we had that talk I was shocked. I had no inkling, really. Of course it batters away at your self-confidence when you lose someone like Rory because he is as big as they come.”
Also interesting was the manner in which McIlroy chose to break the news to Chandler and the world, seemingly keeping it a secret from everyone except Horizon. Travelling back from Bermuda and before heading to Istanbul to watch some tennis, McIlroy sat down with Chandler in the JFK Airport lounge to break the news to Chandler.
“He said I’ve decided to move on,” Chandler said. “Disappointed and a bit shocked. I thought we had a better relationship than that, but he had his reasons. He said he wanted to freshen things up a bit. It’s one of those things; he’s a 22-year-old with a very strong head who wants to make his own decisions, and one of his decisions was he didn’t want us to manage him any longer.”
For McIlroy’s part, good on him for doing this professionally and face-to-face. With the move coming as a surprise, McIlroy wasn’t available for comment despite some nagging efforts. He did, however, let out this press release:
“I would like to sincerely thank Andrew ‘Chubby’ Chandler and his team for their guidance, representation, and management over the past four years, since turning pro.
“Chubby and his team have played a very important role in my success to date. I have made great progress under their management and for that I will always be grateful.
“I am now keen to move onto the next stage of my career and I feel this will be facilitated by a fresh view and a new structure around me. Therefore I am delighted to be joining Horizon and I look forward to working with my new team.”
While players switching agencies can be as fluid as switching caddies, when players like Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy make moves, it turns heads. Interestingly enough, Ernie Els doesn’t quite hold that clout as he left ISM last month without so much as a blip on the radar.
Finishing the season with two major champions, Chandler’s ISM stable is far from in trouble, but with Els, McIlroy and now rumors that Schwartzel may be leaving as well, something may be going awry within ISM.
It is very possible that McDowell had a big part in McIlroy’s move. Easily McIlroy’s best friend on Tour, McDowell left ISM in 2009 because Chandler wasn’t giving him enough attention. Of course, McDowell went on to win the 2010 US Open and Chandler vowed to never let anyone the caliber of McDowell slip through their fingers again, although it appears they have done just that.
As for the other members of ISM, Lee Westwood tweeted at McIlroy saying simply, “bizarre decision!” Chandler added that he believe Clarke, who has known Rory from a young age, “is going to feel a little let down” by McIlroy’s decision.
McIlroy’s person website is down, whether it is due to high volume or changes in appearance is unknown.
Chandler is letting the news roll of his back, but he admits there is some pain in the decision for his company.
“Life goes on and, while there’s hurt, I certainly don’t bear any bitterness towards Rory,” Chandler said. “We all know how good he is for our sport and I’d rather reflect on the four good years we had together.”
Keegan Bradley “Wins” the Grand Slam of Golf, Does It Help POY Case?
04 months ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
Getty Images
The official start to the Silly Season annually begins in Bermuda (previously Hawaii, among other locales) while some more pressing and pressurizing situations are taking place at the last PGA-sanctioned tournament of the year at Disney World.
While a group of 50 or so guys are playing for their professional lives in Orlando, trying to secure their Tour card for another year, the four major champions are sipping mai tais in the tropics for a couple hundred thousand dollars.
Beings that all four of the major champions this year were first-time major winners, they were psyched to head to Bermuda for a little exhibition match that had them mic’d up talking about their travels, their long putters and the pretty blue water.
In between all that chatter, the foursome was playing a bit of golf on Port Royal Golf Club, a public course down in Bermuda. After the first day, it seemed like the event would be a two-man race between Bradley and Rory McIlroy who sat at 4-under par, but windy conditions played a major role in Wednesday’s second and final round.
That wouldn’t be the case with Charl Schwartzel doing his best Masters impression rattling off five birdies in a row to close out his front nine, tying him for a lead at 2-under with Bradley. McIlroy bogeyed his last three holes on the front to leave him at 1-under and one shot back.
McIlroy would prove to be a non-factor on the back, shooting 1-over and finishing with a 4-over 75 to leave him at even for the event.
Bradley birdied the 10th hole to regain a one-shot lead. His lead grew to two-strokes after Schwartzel bogeyed the par-3 13th. But the South African was able to get his dropped shot back with a birdie on the 15th, putting him to 2-under with Bradley sitting on 3-under.
Both swapped biridies on the short par-5 17th to keep Bradley’s lead at one stroke. Unable to birdie the 18th, Schwartzel was forced to settle for second place while Bradley claimed his third win of the year, if you want to call it that.
The question about Bradley’s win has only reinforced some people’s opinion that he should have been picked for the Presidents Cup, but as it is, the picks are over and done with. Hindsight is 20/20, so there’s no need to go down that road again.
A more relevant question was whether or not this win will help his case for Player of the Year.
Obviously, the win can only help.
Although the four major winners have not looked the part in their recent starts, they still were able to win majors within the last six months. The PGA Player of the Year seems to be a two and a half man race. The two to choose from are Bradley and Webb Simpson.
Bradley has the PGA Championship as well as his win at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, but he doesn’t have much else going for him by way of consistency. He has just two other top-10 finishes this year and he has missed 10 cuts.
Simpson, on the other hand, also has two wins (Wyndham and Deutsche Bank), albeit neither of them majors. However, from a consistency standpoint, he is far and away had a better year. Simpson has only missed three cuts. He’s finished second twice, third three times and in the top-10 six other times. And as it stands right now, Simpson holds the money list lead.
Even though all that looks good for Simpson from a purely statistical standpoint, it stands to reason that winning a major championship trumps top-10s.
So, the question at hand is how will Bradley’s win in Bermuda enhance his resume? Simply put, a win is a win and if his triumph in the Silly Season can sway even one vote, then winning was a big help.
Perhaps Bradley’s best shot of winning the POY this year would be to root really hard for Luke Donald to win at Disney, take over the money list title and maybe steal a couple of Simpson’s votes.
But if Simpson wins, this could be a very close Player of the Year vote.
The Toughest Exemption in Golf is Going On in Bermuda
04 months ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
Getty Images
Only four guys a year are invited to play in the PGA Grand Slam of Golf at Port Royal Golf Course in Southampton, Bermuda.
Known as the toughest exemption in golf, you’re only invited to play in the Grand Slam if you have won a major championship. Of course, the major champions don’t always show, in which case the top finishers from the majors not to have won, would be ask.
I’m looking at you, Tiger and Phil.
However, this year all four major champions are there – Charl Schwartzel, Rory McIlroy, Darren Clarke and Keegan Bradley. Making the trip all the more simple, three of the four (Schwartzel, McIlroy and Clarke) are represented by the same agency, making for a fun and relaxed business trip.
Plus, the two rounds of golf and a guaranteed $200K isn’t a bad incentive either.
With the Grand Slam of Golf comes the official start of the Silly Season. Sure, there’s still the Disney this week, but after that there is nothing worthwhile going on on American soil, except for maybe Tiger’s Chevron World Challenge in December.
Anyway, the event got underway today and Bradley and McIlroy are clearly in a class above Schwartzel and Clarke this week. The youngsters – both under the age of 26 – shot 4-under par 67s to start the event.
Bradley lit up the front nine, sinking putts from everywhere, including two eagles on the par-5 second and seventh holes and shooting 6-under 30. His long-putter cooled on the back nine, shooting 2-over 37, as McIlroy kicked it into high gear.
McIlroy was having some trouble reading the grainy sea-side greens, but after birdies on three of the last five holes, McIlroy was all square with Bradley.
“I gave myself so many chances on the front nine and didn’t really make anything. Started to hole a of putts on the back nine but played very, very well,” he said.
“The greens that I have been putting on the last couple of weeks have been a little different to the greens here,” McIlroy explained. “I had not really been factoring in the grain as much but it plays a huge part on these greens. I finished really, really well … so, to draw level with him (Bradley) after the first day was nice.”
As for the other two, Schwartzel shot a 3-over par 74 to sit seven shots back, perhaps in part to his 30 hour flight from South Africa. Clarke, on the other hand, couldn’t get anything going en route to a 6-over par 77.
As per usual, Clarke was engaging all day and honest about his play.
“It was crap. It was absolute crap. And I didn’t come all the way here to play that bad. So obviously disappointed,” Clarke said.
“Obviously I’m disappointed,” he said. “I’m struggling with my swing and I’m struggling with my ball-striking. So, if you mix that with putting equally bad, that usually doesn’t add up to a good score.”
The second round of the Grand Slam will be broadcast on TNT on Wednesday from 4-8 p.m. If you’re off work, take in the event. Even if it just is a made-for-TV money-grab, the players are mic’d and with Darren Clarke, you’re sure to have a few laughs.
Tom Lewis Establishes Himself As Newest Young Gun with Win in Portugal
04 months ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
Reuters
We’ve seen a shift in the golfing world that goes beyond the new marketing schemes of the PGA Tour. While everyone is hopefully optimistic that Tiger Woods will return to his previous form, no one knows for certain what the future holds for Eldrick.
And while a Woods comeback story would practically write itself, both the Tour and the media are trying to cover their backs by introducing golf fans to the new faces in the game. We’ve been force-fed Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, Matteo Manassero and the like, but perhaps Tom Lewis is the one of the leaders of this new generation.
The 20-year-old, who is the namesake of Tom Watson, won the Portugal Masters last week by two shots over Rafael Cabrera-Bello. Also in the top-10 were Martin Kaymer, Gregory Havret and Thomas Bjorn, so it was no cake-walk.
Perhaps the most appealing thing about Tom Lewis is the fact that he is still that bright-eyed kid who is blown away by the things he is able to do. He said it was his intention “to do a Rory.”
Who says that? Think about it: McIlroy is only two years older than him. Doing a Rory sounds like something a little kid would say when he is role playing on a putting green.
Lewis jumped onto the global radar at the British Open when he opened with a 65 at Royal St. George’s, besting the amateur record previously held by Tiger Woods. Lewis, playing with Watson, talked about it being one of the highlights of his life. Not only did Lewis rise to the occasion, he went on to finish as low am at the Open (T30).
Lewis then helped Great Britain and Ireland defeat a stacked United States side at the Walker Cup and then turned pro.
That was a month ago.
Fast forward to last week and Lewis was playing in his third event as a professional. Now, for a little context, it took McIlroy 38 starts on the European Tour. It took Woods just five starts before he won. Lewis won in his third start.
There is no guarantee that this will be the start of a Hall of Fame career, but it can’t hurt. Plus, it’s hard to root against a kid who is taking his winners check, which is just over half a million dollars, and giving it straight to his parents to reimburse them for taking him around the world to play amateur golf.
“My Mum and Dad built up a debt in helping fund my amateur career so I will sort them out first,” Lewis said.
Not only does Lewis no longer have to worry about paying back his parents, he also is out of going to qualifying school because of the two-year exemption that comes with the victory.
“I would not have expected this at all. I was really dreading going to the qualifying school at the end of the year, but it looks like I have skipped that,” Lewis said.
Even with the win that puts him only two wins behind McIlroy, Lewis still knows he has some work to do to reach McIlroy’s level of fame and success.
“I’m a long way behind Rory and have a long way to go. To have two years on the European Tour, I would not have dreamt that at the beginning of the week, so I’m really pleased.”
Lewis will play in the Castillo Masters this week in Valencia, Spain where he will be paired with Sergio Garcia and Matteo Manassero. Not a bad three-ball to follow around.
Congrats to Lewis on his first win. Hopefully he can keep playing good golf and lead the next generation along with McIlroy and Fowler.
Finally Fowler! Rickie Wins in Korea Outlasting McIlroy, Yang
14 months ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
AP
While there is no doubt that the balance of power in professional golf has shifted towards the younger generation, American golf’s poster boy for Generation Y, Rickie Fowler, seemed to be falling behind contemporaries Rory McIlroy and Ryo Ishikawa in terms of lack of victories.
Fowler squashed those criticisms with an impressive six-shot victory at the Kolon Korea Masters over a solid field of international stars that included major champions McIlroy and YE Yang.
With his first professional win under his belt, Fowler no longer has to face the questions about when his time will come and how he will face those Sunday afternoon demons.
“Big monkey off my back,” Fowler said. “It was a lot of fun. I played well early on in the final round and then I was comfortable over the last few holes. Overall, I enjoyed the whole week.
“It feels great to have the first win. I played well all week, although I did have to hang in on Friday and post a score. But on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, I had good control of my ball, I drove well and I made some putts.”
Fowler went wire-to-wire, holding at least a share of the lead every day. Opening with a 4-under par 67, Fowler found himself atop the leaderboard, tied with Yang. Fowler had his struggles during the second round, muscling out a 1-under par 70, but still held a share of the lead with Yang, McIlroy among others.
Saturday was a different story. The best way for Fowler to exercise those Sunday demons is to make sure he has enough cushion that even those demons can’t throw him off his game. That’s exactly what the PUMA spokesman did, firing an 8-under par 63 to take a comfortable postion atop the leaderboard.
As Fowler increased his lead in the third round, McIlroy went the opposite direction shooting a 2-over par 73.
“Looking back on this week, I will rue my third round, which could have been a lot better,” McIlroy said. “If I had played a little better and shot a few under I might have had a chance, but Rickie has played fantastic this week and he deserves the win.”
McIlroy gained back those two strokes and then some on Sunday firing a 7-under par 64 to put some pressure on Fowler, but being 10 strokes ahead of Rory allowed him some room for error.
Fowler closed out the final round with a solid 68 to close the door. McIlroy’s strong Sunday garnered him a second-place finish while Yang’s 4-over 75 on Sunday dropped him out of contention early and left him with a solo fourth place finish.
Although Fowler is half-way around the world in Korea, he is en route back to the States to play in the McGladrey Classic next week, and if Paul Casey is any indication, Fowler could use his win as a springboard for a solid week in Sea Island.
The obvious next step for Fowler is to win on the PGA Tour and he is well aware of that. Perhaps like Phil Mickelson winning his first major at the Masters in 2004, it could start an avalanche of wins.
“I am looking forward to some time off and then I can look at everything and set some goals for next year,” Fowler said. “I will play mainly on the PGA Tour next year and I would like to get my first win there, and this win will definitely help me achieve that.
“I also haven’t made the Tour Championship in the last two years, so that is another goal for next year. But the biggest goal is to make sure I make the Ryder Cup team.”
Let’s hope for Fowler’s and American golf’s sake that he can translate his winning ways to multiple victories in the States and who knows, maybe even a major championship.
Rory McIlroy and Caroline Wozniacki Are Too Cute
04 months ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
There’s no doubt about the fact that Rory McIlroy and Caroline Wozniacki are the perhaps the biggest power couple in golf since Tiger Woods and any number of bachelorettes.
McIlroy’s love life has been scrutinized very publicly since his US Open win and subsequent split from longtime girlfriend Holly Sweeney.
But just like McIlroy bounced back strong after the disappointment at Augusta, he similarly got back on the proverbial horse in the dating game as well, linking up with the world’s No. 1 tennis player, Caroline Wozniacki.
McIlroy and Caro seem smitten with one another if their public Twitter flirting is any indication.
On Tuesday, McIlroy took their relationship to the next level in the form of an odd gift: a custom Vokey 60° wedge with the name “WozzIlroy.”
Not really sure what Rory was thinking with this whole thing? Is this his attempt at a “Brangelina” nickname? If it is, isn’t that against the rules?
I was under the impression that couple nicknames are kind of like street ball nicknames. Hot Sauce doesn’t call himself Hot Sauce. The Professor and Escalade and Skip to my Lou don’t christen themselves with those nicknames.
They are earned or at least given to them by someone else.
Wozniacki tweeted the picture of the Vokey wedge with the dubious nickname and McIlroy wanted to know where his present was. It really was an adorable back and forth, full of spelling corrections, emoticons and blonde jokes. Apparently, Caro is sending Wee Mac some tennis racquets for his trouble.
There’s not much else to say about this except for it would appear that McIlroy has already exhausted one of his options for Christmas. A personalized wedge made by the premier wedge maker in the world would seem to be a decent gift idea for the No. 1 tennis player in the world, assuming it’s something she cannot readily get.
I guess he’ll have to do something else for her present. Maybe a return trip to Cincinnati with Wozniacki could be in order?
I hear the Queen City is beautiful around the Holidays.
McIlroy Takes the Wrong Root to Opening Round 70
06 months ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
Getty Images
Jeeze, I’m sorry. I’ve heard “wrist-reward,” “Rory’s Last Shot” and all the other puns on the wrist thing, but in writing the post this just came to me. I’m not proud, but it is what it is. And at least it’s original. I think.
On just the third hole of his PGA Championship, Rory McIlroy was faced with a dilemma after his drive came to rest in front of a tree root. In search of his second major championship in two months, McIlroy was the betting favorite entering Glory’s Last Shot, but he nearly took the smart money off with one dumb decision.
Rather than chip out, take his medicine, make a bogey and use the last 69 holes of the championship to try and pick up that one stroke, McIlroy chose to punch a 7-iron and try to release the club right after contact.
“I thought if I could make contact with the ball and just let the club go, I might get away with it,” McIlroy said.
He didn’t.
Immediately after letting the club fly following impact, McIlroy flexed his right wrist in obvious pain. He had only advanced the ball further up the left rough and put himself in danger of having to withdraw from the tournament.
Some are commending him on making the call to go after it, calling it bold and placing McIlroy in his already christened place atop the world of golf, but in actuality, it was a truly bullish move that could have cost him not only the championship, but a chunk of his career.
The list of players hampered by wrist injuries is not short. Scott Verplank, Aaron Oberholser and Luke Donald have all struggled with wrist injuries recently and know it’s nothing to mess with.
Others are blaming the decision on his age, but in the next breath they’ll tell you how mature he is for his age.
McIlroy received treatment from two different physical therapists during his round and after getting some professional opinions on the injury, McIlroy decided that he could tough out the pain and finish his round.
What ensued was truly amazing. One-handed swings to tough pins that turned the best player of his generation into a bumbling everyman. McIlroy made it around in even-par 70 with a taped up right arm that brought the thought of a boxer to nearly everyone on television or with a Twitter account.
Following his round, McIlroy answered a few questions and went to get an MRI. His management firm, ISM released a statement detailing McIlroy’s plans for Friday’s round.
“The initial diagnosis shows Rory has a strained tendon in his right wrist. He will obviously rest it tonight and he will see how it feels in the morning on the range.”
The range could be tricky. If it’s the same as today, McIlroy said he would play, but if it is indeed in the same shape as today, how many balls should he really hit that aren’t being counted?
While it’s admirable to see a player want to compete for another major even when dealing with an injury, there won’t be any calls of BS if McIlroy were to hang up the sticks for a few months.
If Wee Mac is able to play through the pain and get into contention, it could be a story that would be compared to Tiger Woods’ 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines. As if they aren’t compared enough already.
Sadly, I don’t see McIlroy having what it takes to win if come Sunday he’s in the hunt. The focus would need to be wholly on his game and with an injured wrist, it seems he would be distracted at some point in the round.
While it surely puts a wrench in the bid for the Chubby Slam and his second major championship, McIlroy is resilient and will probably play through the weekend before shutting it down to heal.
The only down side is that the whole situation could have been avoided with only one stroke as the cost.
