Captain Love Contending at PGA

U.S. RYDER CUP CAPTAIN DAVIS LOVE III is playing good golf this summer. On Thursday Love fired a 2-under 68 in the opening round of the PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club, a round that included five birdies. Love won the 1997 PGA Championship at Winged Foot, his only major.

Love, who is currently 1 under on his second round, is grouped with Tiger Woods and Padraig Harrington. Both Woods (77) and Harrington (73) are struggling to regain the form that won them multiple major championships.

Meanwhile, Love is a motivated 47-year-old veteran. Yes, he is the Ryder Cup captain. But he also wants to be a Ryder Cup player.

“I made 12 (Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup) teams in a row,” Love said, “and I’ve been frustrated ever since. I want to make another Ryder Cup team.”

Love made his first Ryder Cup appearance in 1993 at The Belfry. That was the last win for the Americans until 1999. He played on that ‘99 squad, as well as the U.S. teams in 1995, 1997, 2002 and 2004. Last year Love was an assistant to U.S. Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin at Celtic Manor.

Except for the Masters, it has been a solid year in the majors for the new American Ryder Cup skipper. Love finished in a tie for 11th at the U.S. Open and recorded a ninth-place finish at The Open Championship. He has made 10 cuts in 16 starts and is 86th in the FedEx Cup standings.

While Love is sharpening his game in the hopes of making his team, he will also be keeping a close eye on the other talent. He will have four captain’s picks to make next summer.

“What I’m going to be looking for are guys that are hot and that are putting good,” he said.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Brought to you by YourGolfTravel.com, the online destination for UK golf and golf Europe.)

(Photo credit: Keith Allison, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

Move Over, Rory; Here Comes Yani

RORY MCILROY IS THE record-smashing U.S. Open champion and perhaps the next Tiger Woods. Three-time major winner Padraig Harrington tagged his fellow Irishman as the player to challenge the majors record of Jack Nicklaus. Rory mania pretty much sucked all of the oxygen out of the golf world last week.

But it’s a new week, so here’s a new fact: McIlroy is only the second-best 22-year-old golfer in the world. Yani Tseng is the best. It ain’t even close.

Tseng collected her fourth major title at the Wegmans LPGA Championship on Sunday, a crushing 10-stroke victory that must be disturbing to the women who compete against her. The women’s top-ranked player, Tseng has racked up four majors faster than anyone in golf history, male or female. The Taiwanese superstar now has won three of the last six majors and a total of eight LPGA events since joining the tour in 2008.

In a wire-to-wire win, Tseng kept her foot on the accelerator, firing 67 and 66 on the weekend and missing the tournament record by a shot. Hitting 57 of 72 greens in regulation, she carded 27 birdies against six bogeys and one double. She averages 270 yards off the tee and can putt the eyes out of a chipmunk.

Oh my gosh. How in the world will the women slow this talent down?

“We knew she was going to be good,” said Cristie Kerr, last year’s LPGA Championship winner. “I didn’t know she would be this good. She is pretty dang good.”

I’ll say.

“Now I’m thinking about a grand slam,” Tseng mentioned.

Uh-oh.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Photo credit: Keith Allison, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

Champions Predict Greatness for Rory McIlroy

Editor’s note: Brian Keogh is a golf correspondent for The Irish Sun and a contributor to The Irish Times, Golf Digest Ireland and other golf publications. The following piece from Brian’s Irish Golf Desk is used with permission.

By Brian Keogh
Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF

“CELTIC TIGER” RORY MCILROY roared to an incredible eight-shot US Open victory last night to give American golf the hero it badly needs. The 22-year old Holywood idol brushed aside all doubts about his ability to close when he fired a two under 69 to decimate the field with an amazing 16 under par total and smash the US Open scoring record of 272 held by the likes of Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus.

It was a cool, calculated performance by the greatest talent to emerge in the game since Woods, and McIlroy, who broke multiple scoring records in Bethesda and jumped from eighth to world No 4, immediately set his sights on becoming a multiple major champion.

“Just to sit here, knowing that I’ve just won that trophy and following in the footsteps of one of my best friends, Graeme McDowell, last year at Pebble, you know, it’s a great feeling,” McIlroy said. “And I got my first Major Championship out of the way quite early on in my career, especially after what’s happened the last couple of months.

“It feels great. And just looking forward to putting myself in the picture for hopefully many more.”

Nicklaus Love

The hype surrounding McIlroy will increase to unprecedented levels over the coming months as the game looks to him to fill the void left by Woods over the past 18 months. And instead of Woods, Padraig Harrington reckons McIlroy has the talent and enough time to go on and beat Nicklaus’ record of 18 major wins.

The Golden Bear himself confessed last night that he is a huge fan of McIlroy’s, explaining: “I love his golf swing and I love his moxie and the way he walks like he is a little cocksure about himself. I think this kid is going to have a great career. I don’t think there is any question about it.

“He’s got all the components and a lot of people rooting for him. He’s a nice kid, he’s humble when he needs to be humble and he’s confident when he needs to be confident.”

Told that McIlroy was four months younger than he was when he won his first major, Nicklaus laughed and said: “Well, he’s ahead of my major pace.”

McIlroy’s win gave Northern Ireland back to back US Open wins, with the defending champion Graeme McDowell confessing: “The probability of two players from Northern Ireland winning back to back US Opens is lottery numbers or bigger than that. It’s just incredible.

“He’s an awesome player. He’s the best player I have ever seen. I didn’t have a chance to play with Tiger in his pomp but he’s the best I’ve ever seen, simple as that.”

It was a triumphal march from the moment he shook off his first tee jitters with a perfect three-wood down the middle, beamed a huge smile at manager Chubby Chandler and took his first steps towards a place in the history books with an opening birdie that ended the championship as a contest.

After flicking a wedge to just seven feet, the Irish prodigy stroked home the putt to go nine shots clear and set up Ireland’s fifth major win from the last 16 big ones. He got a massive roar from US fans as the putt dropped and is clearly what world and American golf has been crying out for since Woods, out injured, fell from grace and lost his game.

What Golf Needs

Even McIlroy’s new putting coach, two time major winner Dave Stockton, believes that the Ulsterman is now an all-American hero.

Stockton said: “He is what golf totally needs. He will be the sixth non-US winner in the last eight years and I’ve got to tell you that the American people love him so much that they are not going to care.”

McIlroy is also only the seventh wire-to-wire US Open winner in history and the first since Woods did it for the second time at Bethpage in New York in 2002. And with Woods out injured with knee and Achilles’ problems, McIlroy looks set to fill the power vacuum and hoover up the majors.

Harrington certainly believes that McIlroy could turn out to be the man who eventually breaks the Golden Bear’s major records.

Harrington said: “If you are going to talk about someone challenging Jack’s record, there’s your man.”

McDowell hit a 69 to finish on two under par and conclude a stout title defence and hand the title to his best pal.

Before his final round, McDowell said: “He’s potentially the next Tiger Woods. He’s that good. It’s great to see him out there fulfilling his potential.

“Will he achieve what Tiger was doing around 2000, 15 major championships to date or whatever he’s got? Can he be that good? Yeah, potentially. He’s got that potential. He’s got the full package as far as his golf game is concerned—if his putter behaves itself.

“Tiger was something very special. He had it all, the mental capacity, the short game, the putter. If Rory can add a couple of weapons to his arsenal, yeah, he can be as good.”

Brian Keogh covers golf for The Irish Sun and contributes to a variety of golf publications. Pay him a visit at Irish Golf Desk.

(Photo: Courtesy of Titleist.com)

The Rules Geek: Decision 33-7/4.5 Overhauled for Video Age

Editor’s note: The Rules Geek is an occasional and potentially annoying feature at ARMCHAIR GOLF.

THE DAYS WERE NUMBERED for Decision 33-7/4-5. Armchair rules officials glued to their high-def TV screens have for some time been emailing and tweeting rules violations, banishing tour pros such as Camilo Villegas and Padraig Harrington to DQ Land for turning in scores they thought were correct, only to later learn they made a boo-boo.

It had all gotten rather silly. The way things were going, half the tournament fields might have been sent home by year’s end for rules infractions. Thankfully, The R&A and USGA stepped in to rework the decision about disqualification. This from their statement:

This revision to Decision 33-7/4.5 addresses the situation where a player is not aware he has breached a Rule because of facts that he did not know and could not reasonably have discovered prior to returning his score card. Under this revised decision and at the discretion of the Committee, the player still receives the penalty associated with the breach of the underlying Rule, but is not disqualified.

As for ignorance of the Rules, The R&A and USGA will still have none of it, a stance that makes the Rules Geek a proud card-carrying member of those august bodies:

In revising the decision, The R&A and the USGA confirm that the disqualification penalty still applies for score card breaches that arise from ignorance of the Rules of Golf. As such, this decision reinforces that it is still the responsibility of the player to know the Rules, while recognizing that there may be some rare situations where it is reasonable that a player is unaware of the factual circumstances of a breach.

You can read the new language for Decision 33-7/4-5 here. I think we can all rest better now.

The Rules Geek sez rules were made to be followed. Got a rules-related tip or story? Send it to The Rules Geek at armchairgolfer@gmail.com.

More Rules Geek:
Camilo Villegas and the Divot DQ
Bad Behavior Down Under?
Juli Inkster and the Donut DQ
Phil Mickelson and the Proper Drop
Abnormal Ground Conditions Aid Amateur
Hunter Mahan’s Driver Replacement

(Photo credit: westy48, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

2011 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am TV Schedule and Tournament Notes

THE 2011 AT&T PEBBLE BEACH NATIONAL PRO-AM gets underway on Thursday on three gorgeous golf courses on the Monterey Peninsula: Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass Hill Golf Course and Monterey Peninsula Country Club. Defending champion Dustin Johnson headlines a strong field that includes major winners Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington, Jim Furyk, Geoff Ogilvy and Vijay Singh.

Purse: $6.3 million
Winner’s share: $1.16 million
Defending champion: Dustin Johnson


Inside the field
Inside the courses
Tee times
Tournament overview
Tournament news
Interviews
AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am website



2011 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am Leaderboard


TV SCHEDULE

TV coverage of the 2011 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am is on Golf Channel and CBS.

Thu, 2/10:
GOLF 3p - 6p ET

Fri, 2/11:
GOLF 3p - 6p ET

Sat, 2/12:
CBS 3p - 6p ET

Sun, 2/13:
CBS 3p - 6:30p ET

SIRIUS-XM broadcast times

−The Armchair Golfer

Was Harrington DQ a Result of Online Job Scam?

ACCORDING TO AN ANONYMOUS source, ARMCHAIR GOLF has learned that an online job scam may be contributing to the rash of rules violations reported by television viewers. A few weeks ago, Camilo Villegas was disqualified at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Hawaii. Padraig Harrington is the latest victim. The Irishman was disqualified on Friday at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship.

Some observers have thought these frequent rules incidents were coincidental. But ARMCHAIR GOLF has learned that something more sinister may be afoot, an online job scam that has armchair rules officials glued to their television sets. Work-at-home scams are nothing new. Yet, with unemployment rates at a 30-year high, people are much more susceptible to questionable money-making ploys.

The source tipped off ARMCHAIR GOLF to one of the latest scams that is apparently landing in email in boxes around the globe:

GET PAID HUNDREDS TO WATCH TV!
Join one of the fastest-growing work-from-home opportunities. Become an independent golf rules official and make hundreds of dollars per month watching golf on television. You will be recognized as an expert on the Rules of Golf and uphold the honor of the game by reporting rules violations to tour officials and other governing golf bodies. No experience necessary. Get started today! (URL withheld.)

“I’ve seen these work-from-home deals before and knew it was probably too good to be true,” the source said after not receiving a payout for reporting a violation.

“But when you’ve run out of work options like I had, you’ll try just about anything. Now I feel guilty about what I did. I’ve stopped watching golf completely.”

Apparently, tour players aren’t the only victims in these rules-obsessed times. So are innocent golf fans with too much time on their hands.

−The Armchair Golfer

(This is an ARMCHAIR GOLF spoof.)

(Photo credit: cmiked, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

The Golf Art of Steven Anthony Salerno

“ART CELEBRATING THE GREATEST game ever played.” That’s the message in small print as the site of Steven Anthony Salerno loads. Steven granted me permission to “hang” a few samples of his limited edition golf prints at ARMCHAIR GOLF, a fitting way to end the week. He offers signed limited edition prints in a handful of categories: Bethpage series, Pebble, greatest golfers, golfscapes and more. All are printed on 100 percent cotton rag archival fine art paper with brilliant permanent pigment inks.

Salerno’s golf art has been featured on PGATour.com in the Player Spotlight feature section, including portrait images of tour players such as Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker, Mike Weir, Padraig Harrington and Camilo Villegas.

Steven can play the game, too. As a teen, he won the Vermont Junior Amateur Championship. As a young man, he worked as an assistant golf professional at The Yale Golf Club and Racebrook Country Club in Connecticut. Salerno is a graduate of Parsons School of Design in New York City.

Visit his online gallery at SASgolf.com.


















−The Armchair Golfer

(Images used with permission of Steven Anthony Salerno.)

Tiger’s Bad Luck With the Irish

MUCH WAS MADE OF Tiger Woods’ final-round stumble in the Chevron World Challenge. Graeme McDowell made up four shots on Tiger and went on to beat the tournament host on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff. Surrendering leads has rarely happened during Tiger’s long golf reign. As media reported, it was the first time the former World No. 1 lost a tournament after leading by three strokes or more heading into the final round.

(Photo: The man in the middle caught Tiger and won in a playoff four years ago.)

That sounded right to me. Then I got an email from a reader. Tom thought he remembered Tiger losing a three-shot lead in the final round of a November event in Asia a few years back. Yesterday he confirmed it.

The tournament was the 2006 Dunlop Phoenix on the Japan Golf Tour. Tied for the 54-hole lead, Tiger had a three-stroke lead with six holes to play. Tiger shot a 34 on the incoming nine, but was caught by his playing partner, who carded a 31. The opponent birdied three of those final six holes and two of the last three, including the 18th. Then he beat Tiger in the playoff.

The man who caught and beat Tiger? Padraig Harrington.

So, it’s true, no one has chased down Tiger from three or more shots back with 18 to play. But another feisty competitor did make up a three-shot deficit on Tiger in a six-hole stretch—and he also happens to be Irish.

Hmmm.

“The moral of the story: Tiger better be careful playing Irishmen in offbeat tournaments,” Tom wrote.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Image: proforged/Flickr)

Graeme McDowell in Four-Way Dubai Dogfight

Editor’s note: Brian Keogh is a golf correspondent for The Irish Sun and a regular contributor to The Irish Times, Golf Digest Ireland and other golf publications. The following piece is excerpted from his blog, Irish Golf Desk. 

By Brian Keogh
Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF

GRAEME MCDOWELL RECKONS THE Race to Dubai has become a four-way dogfight following Francesco Molinari’s wire-to-wire win in Shanghai. The Ulsterman goes into this week’s megabucks Barclays Singapore Open €531,806 adrift of German ace Martin Kaymer in the battle to become Europe’s No. 1.

But with Molinari seeing off Lee Westwood in the WGC-HSBC Champions to go fourth behind in the world No. 1 in the money list, McDowell knows he’s got a battle on his hands. Disappointed to finish in the pack in the WGC event in China, he’s hoping for better against Kaymer and the in-form Italian in this week’s $6m (€4.3m) battle at Serapong Golf Club.

A poor 34th last week, McDowell groaned: “World Golf Championships are massive events and unfortunately I didn’t take advantage of that with a good week in Shanghai. I hoped to catch Martin a bit more but it wasn’t to be. And with the excellent performances from Francesco and Lee we have a real race on our hands.”

The top four in the Race to Dubai are separated by just €1m with an incredible €11.5m in prize money up for grabs at the last three events in Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai. The winner of the season-ending Dubai World Championship will take home more than €800,000. But with the runner up set to pocket over €550,000, McDowell knows he will have to cut Kaymer’s half a million euro lead in half over the next two weeks.

GMac said: “There is still a lot of money to play for so anything can happen. All I can do is try and play my best and if that means I still have a shot at winning the Order of Merit, great. I want to get to the Dubai World Championship knowing that if I were to win that tournament I can also win the Race—that’s the chance I want to give myself.”

While Westwood is resting this week, McDowell will be keeping a close eye on playing partner and world No. 14 Molinari. But there are other big fish looking to gobble up the €713,165 top prize with Masters winner Phil Mickelson and defending champion Ian Poulter also teeing it up.

Ireland has 10 men in action with Padraig Harrington gunning for his second win in the space of a month after ending his two-year drought in Malaysia just three weeks ago.

Harrington said: “The form is good. I’m looking to win. If I hole the putts, I’ll be competing on Sunday.”

The Race to Dubai - Top 4

1. Martin Kaymer €3,207,229

2. Graeme McDowell €2,675,423

3. Lee Westwood €2,362,143

4. Francesco Molinari €2,201,614

Brian Keogh covers golf for The Irish Sun and contributes to a variety of golf publications. Pay him a visit at Irish Golf Desk.

Ian Poulter Debuts White Driver

COLORFUL ENGLISHMAN IAN POULTER has put a white driver in his golf bag. The novel stick is a Cobra Limited Edition ZL Driver. There will only be 500 ZL Drivers, each white in color and marked with a production serial number.

The driver has an adjustable hosel, and when Cobra (now owned by PUMA) says white, they mean 100 percent white. The club features an all-white Fujikura’s Motore Speeder shaft and an all-white Golf Pride Tour Wrap 2G grip. It retails for $625.

Poulter tweeted this to his 1,047,970 followers: “Played lovely today game is in great shape for the weekend. I hope you all like my New Cobra Limited Edition White ZL driver. It’s awesome”

Ian is playing in the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, where he’s carded a pair of 70s. He’s tied for ninth at the halfway point along with Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington, Robert Allenby, Nick Watney and a few others.

2010 WGC-HSBC Champions TV schedule

−The Armchair Golfer

Graeme McDowell Etches Name in Ryder Cup History

Editor’s note: Brian Keogh is a golf correspondent for The Irish Sun and a regular contributor to The Irish Times, Golf Digest Ireland and other golf publications. The following piece is excerpted from his blog, Irish Golf Desk. 

By Brian Keogh
Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF

GRAEME MCDOWELL BECAME THE fifth Irish player to clinch the winning Ryder Cup point for Europe with a sensational 3 and 1 victory over Hunter Mahan in the final singles match.

The Ulsterman provoked a mass invasion of the 17th green he described as “bananas” as the American crumbled under the pressure in the decisive game of a classic Ryder Cup.

(Photo: Captain Montgomerie / Welsh Assembly Government, Flickr)

Two down and needing to win the last two holes to help the USA retain the trophy, the Bridgestone Invitational winner came up 20 yards short of the green with his tee shot, fluffed his chip in front of him and then failed to convert a 30 footer for par after McDowell had putted up to five feet from the fringe right of the green. But like Christy O’Connor Jnr and Philip Walton, he didn’t have to hole out for victory as Mahan conceded defeat.

Despite not being comfortable with his game all week, the 31-year old from Portrush showed just why he is arguably the gutsiest golfer on the planet as he withstood incredible pressure coming down the stretch when it became clear that Europe’s Ryder Cup hopes rested on his shoulders. Three up with seven holes to play, he lost the 12th to a par and the 15th to Mahan’s sole birdie of the day before producing the goods with an incredible birdie from 18 feet at the 16th.

Rickie Fowler birdied the last four holes to come back from three down to halve his match with fellow rookie Edoardo Molinari and force McDowell to win his match to win back the Ryder Cup. And he did it in incredible style with a brilliant six iron to 18 feet at the 16th setting up a birdie that left Mahan needing to win the last two holes to give the USA a 14-14 tie that would have been good enough to see them retain the trophy.

His left to right putt tracked perfectly, falling into the hole on the last roll to crush Mahan’s will.

“That was absolutely amazing. That was bananas,” McDowell said. “The putt on the 16th was stuff I have dreamed about all my life.

“The US Open felt like a back nine with my dad at Royal Portrush compared to this. I was really nervous - there was so much pressure.

“The putt on 16 was massive, and these spectators are massive. I had to get the putt going on 16, and it was the biggest one I have hit in my life.”

Mahan was crushed by the defeat and barely capable of speech at the US team’s media conference.

“I’ve played with Graeme before. I don’t even know what day it was. But he didn’t miss a shot. I think it was alternate shot, and he played he played great today. Didn’t miss a shot. Hit a bunch of key putts, probably the last four or five holes, and you know, he … that birdie on 16, after I got it to one down, was huge. He played …. he just beat me today.”

Padraig Harrington, who lost 3 and 2 to Zach Johnson, could have found himself in McDowell’s position as he played at No 11. But he was delighted to finish on a winning team for the fourth time in six appearances.

“Every Ryder Cup’s the same,” Harrington said. “It’s phenomenal. There’s nothing like it in golf. That’s incredible.”

Montgomerie paid tribute to McDowell, saying: “Graeme McDowell was put there for a very good reason. He’s full of confidence and that showed. That birdie on 16 was quite unbelievable.

“I’m very proud. It’s a very proud moment for us all here in Europe. They all played to a man magnificently, they all gave 110 per cent and that’s all you can ask.”

McDowell added his name to the list of Irish Ryder Cup immortals at Celtic Manor.

1987 Muirfield Village, Ohio - Eamonn Darcy
1989 The Belfry - Christy O’Connor Jnr
1995 Oak Hill, New York - Philip Walton
2002 The Belfry - Paul McGinley
2010 Celtic Manor - Graeme McDowell

Brian Keogh covers golf for The Irish Sun and contributes to a variety of golf publications. Pay him a visit at Irish Golf Desk.

Will Padraig Produce the Goods?

Editor’s note: Brian Keogh is a golf correspondent for The Irish Sun and a regular contributor to The Irish Times, Golf Digest Ireland and other golf publications. The following piece is excerpted from his blog, Irish Golf Desk. 

By Brian Keogh
Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF

DESPITE HIS ERRATIC FORM over the past two years and his less than stellar recent record, it was no great surprise to see Pádraig Harrington named as one of Colin Montgomerie’s three Ryder Cup wildcards. The Scot is impressed by many things but major winners come top of the list for a man who never managed to get over the line in a grand slam event in an otherwise impressive career.

“No American wants to play Padraig Harrington. I can assure you,” Montgomerie said at Gleneagles on Sunday.

Edoardo Molinari’s brilliant victory in the final qualifying event, the Johnnie Walker Championship, made him an automatic choice for the captain, who also named foursomes specialist Luke Donald as one of his picks to the detriment of Paul Casey and Justin Rose.

(Photo: Padraig in step with Bradley Dredge / Ciarán Bohane, Flickr)

Experience is key in the Ryder Cup. So is putting. And Harrington fits the bill on both counts as far as Montgomerie is concerned. The skipper warned us in May that he might need to add experience to the nine automatic qualifiers:

“It will be very interesting to see who actually comes through and makes the team on merit and that allows me, as Corey said, for the makeup of my team to see who can fit in with that; whether I have a very experienced team and I can go with some rookies, or I have a very inexperienced team and have to some experience. All depends how the qualifying system works.”

The ball is now in Harrington’s court following his jaded performances at The K Club and Valhalla, where he managed just two halved matches from nine starts. Like Ian Poulter, who was a controversial wildcard in 2008, he will be under pressure to produce the goods.

His back is against the wall, but as Montgomerie said on Friday last: “Pádraig, when his back’s to the wall, has done awfully well in the past.”

Brian Keogh covers golf for The Irish Sun and contributes to a variety of golf publications. Pay him a visit at Irish Golf Desk.

Rory McIlroy Wants Tiger Joust at Ryder Cup

Editor’s note: Brian Keogh is a golf correspondent for The Irish Sun and a regular contributor to The Irish Times, Golf Digest Ireland and other golf publications. The following piece is excerpted from his blog, Irish Golf Desk. 

By Brian Keogh
Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF

RORY MCILROY WOULD LOVE a singles showdown with Tiger Woods in October’s Ryder Cup. Recovered from his US PGA disappointment, McIlroy said: “I’m sure we’ll probably see him in Wales. I would love to face him. Unless his game rapidly improves … I think anyone in the European team would fancy their chances against him.

“There are a lot of American players playing better than him at the minute but it’s always an advantage to have Tiger Woods in your team.”

US skipper Corey Pavin hinted Monday that he would be handing Woods one of his four wildcards on September 7.

McIlroy said: “I think he’ll [Pavin] pick him. I don’t think it would go down too well in the States if he wasn’t picked.”

When asked about the pros and cons of picking Woods, Pavin said: “Well, he’s the No. 1 player in the world. Obviously I’m considering him highly, no doubt about it. He’s playing better. I think we have all seen that and he wants to play, he wants to be a part of the team. But it’s going to be my judgment whether I pick him or not. I don’t think there’s any cons.”

Padraig Harrington will need a Ryder Cup wildcard and Pavin knows that Colin Montgomerie also faces some tough wildcard choices.

Referring to his dilemma over Woods when asked about Harrington, Pavin said: “I guess you can flip that question around to someone on our side, too. Golf is a funny game. The game goes away, comes back; it waffles.

“I think Pádraig is a great player. The guy’s won three major championships. He would be a very good pick, but I don’t pick for that side. So it’s a tough choice for him.”

Brian Keogh covers golf for The Irish Sun and contributes to a variety of golf publications. Pay him a visit at Irish Golf Desk.

(Image: Chase McAlpine/Flickr)

Whistling or Dire Straits for Harrington’s Ryder Cup Hopes

Editor’s note: Brian Keogh, a golf correspondent for The Irish Sun and a regular contributor to The Irish Times and Golf Digest Ireland, writes about the dilemma of five-time Ryder Cupper Padraig Harrington.

By Brian Keogh
Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF

PADRAIG HARRINGTON ADMITS THAT this week’s US PGA is his last chance to avoid the need for a Ryder Cup pick. The Dubliner plans to skip the final qualifying event at Gleneagles to play in the clashing FedExCup play-off tournament in New Jersey in two weeks’ time. And that means he must grab a top-four finish at Whistling Straits to ensure that he is not relying on one of skipper Colin Montgomerie’s three wild cards on August 29.

Confessing he could be in dire straits instead of Whistling Straits on Sunday night, Harrington said: “It’s very precarious. No one who doesn’t qualify automatically deserves to be in the team. If you don’t make it on merit, you are asking for a little bit of a favour.”

Ian Poulter sparked a massive controversy two years ago when he decided not to travel to Gleneagles despite the fact that he could still qualify for the team. It was alleged that Poulter had been given “the nod” by skipper Nick Faldo, who later handed him a captain’s pick.

But Harrington will have safety in numbers this time as Paul Casey and Justin Rose, who are also outside the qualifying places, also intend to skip the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles in favour of The Barclays.

Harrington said: “It is a very awkward situation, there’s no doubt about it. I saw the last time round that one of the players [Poulter] didn’t come to play the last event and I thought he should have. Now I am in the same situation because I have a Special Olympics clinic at The Barclays and I don’t want to let them down.

“I have talked to some of the other guys who will be looking for a pick and they are all saying they will be playing The Barclays. So at the moment I am committing to the Special Olympics and I’m going to try and qualify this week and have nothing to worry about.”

Seventh in the race for four places from the World Points List and just over €13,245 behind Miguel Angel Jimenez in the battle for the other five places from the European Points List, Harrington knows he needs a massive week in Wisconsin.

“The goal is to get in on the world ranking points because that ends in a week’s time. Even if I pass Jimenez in the money, he can jump by me in the last event in Gleneagles so the goal is to play well this week and sort it out.”

Brian Keogh covers golf for The Irish Sun and contributes to a variety of golf publications. Pay him a visit at Irish Golf Desk.

(Image: Mike Davis/Flickr)

America the Birdieful: Rory McIlroy Romps at Quail Hollow

Editor’s note: Brian Keogh is a golf correspondent for The Irish Sun and a regular contributor to The Irish Times, Golf Digest Ireland and other golf publications. The following piece is excerpted from his blog, Irish Golf Desk. 

By Brian Keogh
Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF

RORY MCILROY ANSWERED HIS CRITICS in emphatic fashion when he closed with an incredible run of six successive threes to win the Quail Hollow Championship by four shots from Phil Mickelson—smashing the course record by two with a scintillating, bogey-free 10 under par 62 to secure his maiden PGA Tour victory in grandstand fashion on 15 under par.

The Holywood star, who does not turn 21 until Wednesday, became the youngest winner on the PGA Tour since world No. 1 Tiger Woods claimed the Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic at age 20 years, nine months and 20 days in 1996.

Flabbergasted that he had played the last 36 holes in 16 under par, McIlroy said: “I just got in a zone and didn’t realise that I was going eight, nine, 10 under. I just knew that I got my nose in front and I was just trying to stay there.”

Asked if he’d dreamt of such a day as a youngster, he said: “I did. Ever since I was 10 or 11 years old I wanted to be a professional golfer. It’s been a crazy run to up this point and I am just delighted to get here and get my first win in the US on a course like this is really special.”

As for his closing 62, which featured 12 threes, he said: “It’s ridiculous. I shot 61 around Portrush when I was 16 in the North of Ireland and it felt pretty similar today. I was just seeing my shots and hitting it and seeing the line of putts really well and everything was going in. It was one of those days where everything went right.”

Congratulated by Padraig Harrington, Lee Westwood and Jim Furyk at the finish, McIlroy beamed: “I just said to Westwood: ‘That’s how you finish off a golf tournament! Padraig said, ‘That was some bit of stuff.’ I appreciate the guys that stayed around to see me in. It means a lot.”

Tied with the lead with Angel Cabrera heading down the stretch, McIlroy was six under for the day when he birdied the 14th to go two clear of a chasing pack that included the Argentinian and Masters champion Phil Mickelson. But the best was yet to come as he spectacularly eagled the par-five 15th to go three clear, birdied the 16th from four feet, lipped out with a 54-foot birdie try at the dangerous par three 17th and then capped a remarkable performance by draining a long bomb from 42 feet for a roof-raising birdie at the 18th.

Weekend Turnaround

Just three weeks after threatening to take time out to sort out his head after missing the cut at the Masters, McIlroy stormed home in 30 blows to underline just why players like Woods, Ernie Els and Geoff Ogilvy have hailed him as a world No. 1 in waiting.

After missing the cut in his last two starts, his season changed utterly on Friday when he eagled the par five seventh, his 16th, to make the cut on the one over par mark. After that he was off and running and no one could live with him.

He fired a six under par 66 on Saturday to scorch up the leaderboard and go into the final round just four strokes behind overnight leader Billy Mayfair on five under par. But in the final round he was simply unbeatable as he tore Quail Hollow to shreds with one of the greatest final round performances ever seen on the PGA Tour.

He birdied the fourth from 10 feet and then moved into top gear with a hat-trick of birdies from the seventh, surging to the top of the leaderboard alongside two-time major winner Angel Cabrera on nine under par. He failed to birdied the par-five 10th and Cabrera, who was playing in the group behind, took advantage there to edge a stroke clear. But McIlroy had the bit between his teeth and after a 142-yard wedge to three feet gave him a birdie at the 11th and a share of lead with the Argentinian, he found an even higher gear. After a par four at the 12th, he finished with an incredible run of six successive threes to complete a victory for the ages.

Cabrera missed a four foot birdie chance on the 11th and then fluffed a delicate chip at the 12th and bogeyed to leave McIlroy alone at the top. McIlroy then drove into the greenside bunker at the 284-yard, par four 14th, splashed out to ten feet and rolled in the putt with a clenched fist salute to go two clear of Cabrera, Brendan de Jonge, Bo Van Pelt and Mickelson on 11 under. His lead was reduced to just one shot moments later when Cabrera birdied the driveable 14th but McIlroy responded with one of the shots of the season at the par-five 15th. After a 325 yard drive, he rifled a 207-yard five iron at the pin and watched as the ball took the slope and rolled up to just three and a half feet, setting up a facile eagle three which put him three clear on 13 under. But there was more to come. At the 16th he drove into a fairway bunker but clipped a perfect 167-yard seven iron to four feet and rolled the putt home.

For a while it looked as though Harrington would set a formidable clubhouse target when he birdied the sixth, eagled the par-five seventh and then racked up three birdies on the trot at the 13th, 14th and 15th to get to eight under par. But the Dubliner, who was seven strokes behind Mayfair starting the day, failed to get up and down for par at the treacherous 16th and 17th, carding a 68 that eventually left him tied for seventh on six under par.

Harrington: ‘It’s a Big Deal’

Harrington was one fo the first to slap McIlroy on the back as he walked off the 18th. But as he waited to see if McIlroy could close the deal, Harrington said: “I think it means a lot for him. We can talk about European golf afterwards, but it’s a big deal for him to come over here and start winning over here.

“He wasn’t contending, wasn’t winning, and if he can get across the line it makes it a lot easier for him going forward, and I think it could make a big difference to his career.

“It’s a lot of pressure on him, a lot of focus on the home, and it’s putting him under enormous pressure to deliver, and obviously every week that he doesn’t deliver, it’s getting on him. But you know, if he can win here, it eases it all off.”

Brian Keogh covers golf for The Irish Sun and contributes to a variety of golf publications. Pay him a visit at Irish Golf Desk.

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