Tag Archives: Lee Westwood

McIlroy Says Missing Last Years Players Championship Was A Mistake

Posted on May 9, 2012 by | Comments Off on McIlroy Says Missing Last Years Players Championship Was A Mistake

Rory McIlroy (who is at number one again) is keen to improve on  a poor record at the £5.8m Players Championship, which starts at Sawgrass in Florida tomorrow.

The Northern Irishman has yet to brake par and has  missed the cut on two previous visits on the 7,215-yard par-72 course.

McIlroy and Westwood chose to miss the event off their calender last year but both have returned to the so-called fifth major.

“It wasn’t one of my brightest moments,” McIlroy admitted. “I’m glad to be back, it’s a very big tournament and one that I’d love to win one day.”

McIlroy lost in a play-off at last week’s Wells Fargo Championship in North Carolina, as American Rickie Fowler won his first PGA Tour title. So he is keen to put that behind him and come out all gun’s blazing on Thursday. Another interesting week ahead!

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Donald looking forward to Wentworth Return

Posted on April 19, 2012 by | Comments Off on Donald looking forward to Wentworth Return

The BMW PGA Championship is at Wentworth next month and Luke Donald ranks it as the biggest tournament outside the Major Championships and cannot wait to defend his title.

Donald beat Lee Westwood in a play-off last year to claim the No.1 spot. It was a great spectacle as either player could have taken the crown. Donald held the position for 40 weeks as he enjoyed the most successful season of his career.

This season the World Number One title has swung between Donald and McIlroy, but Donald knows that if he can play like he did at Wentworth last year he will return to the top of the golfing world. But something tells me that McIlroy will want it back pretty quickly.

 

 

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Woods Believes McIlroy Could Follow In His Footsteps

Posted on March 8, 2012 by | Comments Off on Woods Believes McIlroy Could Follow In His Footsteps

Tiger Woods has added his voices to all of the praise which has been heaped on Rory McIlroy since his rise to the top of the Official World Golf Ranking.

Woods became the youngest World Number One in history on June 15, 1997, with McIlroy becoming the second youngest aged 22 when he clinched the top spot last Sunday following his victory at the Honda Classic.

Woods spent a total of 623 weeks at the game’s summit before being knocked off by Lee Westwood; and whilst McIlroy’s reign could be ended as soon as Sunday night if either Luke Donald or Westwood were to prevail, Woods believes the Ulsterman has the potential to achieve as much as he did.

He said: “Rory has fantastic talent. He made a few makes on Sunday, but he recovered every time.  You’re not going to play perfectly all the time – some people don’t realize that. You’re going to make mistakes, which he did, and that’s fine. He recovered, and if you look at it, he missed on the correct side each time. He did all of the things that you need to do to get the job done.

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Westwood and McIlroy have years of rivalry ahead

Posted on March 1, 2012 by | Comments Off on Westwood and McIlroy have years of rivalry ahead

Lee Westwood is relishing the current rivalry with Rory McIlroy as he prepares to partner Tiger Woods at this weeks Honda Classic.

Westwood who lost to McIlroy in the thrilling and quite brilliant WGC Match Play semi-final on Sunday as they both chased Luke Donald’s world number one spot.

“If I’m going to have a rivalry, I would like it to be with Rory,” said world number three Westwood.

“He’s arguably the hottest player on the planet right now.”

McIlroy, lost to American Hunter Mahan in the Match Play final to remain at number two in the world, but with Donald not playing this week, McIlroy can lead the way as No.1 if he wins at Palm Beach Gardens on Sunday and if he gets there he’s going to be hard to budge.

Owing to the number of world ranking points on offer, Westwood will have to wait until next week’s WGC-Cadillac Championship in Miami for his next opportunity to regain the top spot he relinquished to Donald at the PGA Championship at Wentworth last May.

If you want to improve your game and enjoy some great battles on the golf course yourself this year then why not contact me and I can advise you on how to do that!

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Mahan Denies McIlroy No.1 Spot

Posted on February 27, 2012 by | Comments Off on Mahan Denies McIlroy No.1 Spot

Hunter Mahan denied Rory McIlroy the chance to become World Number One by beating him in the final of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play.

After a thrilling semi-final win over Lee Westwood from three down before lunch, McIlroy’s bid to take the world No.1 spot from Luke Donald fell flat when he lost the final 2 and 1 to Mahan.

McIlroy will be playing again this week in Florida – Donald is not playing – but he will be back to facing nearly 140 players there compared to just one.

McIlroy lost his way early on against Mahan after playing some sublime golf against Westwood and just left himself too much to do against such a solid player.

If you remember Mahan was in the crucial game against McDowell in the 2010 Ryder Cup and lost out after duffing a chip shot, so he didn’t have fond memories of playing match play golf against a European, but did well to hang on.

McIlroy said: “I played a great back nine, which was nice, but just left myself too much to do.

“When I didn’t eagle the 15th I knew it was going to be tough because he is very solid from tee to green.

“It wasn’t to be. I didn’t have my best game with me this week, but I’m happy with how I’m playing and hopefully it won’t be long before I’m winning again.

“I’ve got two more tournaments before the Masters and that’s what I’m building up to.”

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Tiger responds to Castano’s threat

Posted on February 22, 2012 by | Comments Off on Tiger responds to Castano’s threat

Tiger Woods made a confident response when told of Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano comment about believing he could beat Woods in the first round at the WGC Match Play in Arizona.

Fernandez-Castano said he “doesn’t think Woods is at his best” and “if I play well I can beat him” in a pre-tournament news conference .

When Tiger  (3 time winner of this event ) was told of these comments he replied: “I feel exactly the same way as he does. I feel he’s beatable, too.”

In his last two tournaments Woods has failed to capitalise on potentially winning positions.

He was beaten comfortably by England’s Robert Rock in Abu Dhabi and at Pebble Beach shot a final round 75 in the company of Phil Mickelson, who surged to victory with a final round 64.

“The past Sunday was awful,” admitted Woods, who knows this week’s 18-hole knockout tournament can generate a surfeit of shock results.

“Any guy can win any match. We’ve seen that over the years,” Woods said. “That’s what makes it interesting for us players – and I’m sure for the fans as well.

“You can see guys go out and play well and go home. You don’t always have the marquee names on the final, but that’s the nature of the format.”

In the event of a McIlroy victory, Donald would need to reach the third round to remain number one.

A Westwood win would take him back to the top of the rankings if Donald does not reach Saturday’s quarter-finals.

 

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Top players fight it out in Arizona

Posted on February 20, 2012 by | Comments Off on Top players fight it out in Arizona

Luke Donald the world’s number one starts his defence of the Accenture Match Play Championship with a tough but exciting first round tie against three-time Major Champion Ernie Els, as European Tour Members aim to continue their fine recent record in the first World Golf Championship event of the season.

The last two finals in Dove Mountain, Arizona, have both been all-European Tour affairs, with Donald defeating Martin Kaymer 3&2 last year, 12 months after Ian Poulter defeated Paul Casey 4&2 in the all English Affair.

With nearly half the field teeing it up this week being European Tour Members –there is another formidable looking challenge crossing the Atlantic looking to add to that sequence, with the European Tour providing the top four seeds in each bracket.

Some of the ties I’ve noted to keep an eye on are  Rory McIlroy V George Coetzee and the ever consistent Lee Westwood V Nicolas Colsaerts the man who seems to be challenging every week at this year.

I’m going for a Donald win this week, he is a tough man to beat in this format because he never gives anything away and is a great clutch putter.

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A quick summary of the desert swing

Posted on February 14, 2012 by | Comments Off on A quick summary of the desert swing

Well the desert swing is over and I think you’ll agree that we saw some great golf!

We saw Robert Rock fight off the challenge of Tiger Woods on the final day and establish himself as a Ryder Cup contender and who knows maybe a major contender?

We saw Paul Lawrie win the Qatar Masters for the second time which saw him back in the world’s top 50 again after a long absence and we’ll also see him fighting for a Ryder Cup spot I believe.

And then we see the young impressive Spaniard Cabrera-Bello win the Dubai Desert Classic beating off Westwood, Kaymer and McIlroy on the final day after shooting a 63 on day one!

Golf in the deserts looks to be a wonderful thing, you can see a lot of the players enjoy playing out there and the condition of the golf courses is always immaculate and the greens look pure. Hopefully one day I will get to play out there.

The hospitality and the hotels look superb as well!

It’s a mild day today so I hope you will be practising at some point, and remember…the good weather and The Masters are just around the corner now. 🙂

 

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McIlroy and Bjorn top leaderboard at halfway stage

Posted on February 10, 2012 by | Comments Off on McIlroy and Bjorn top leaderboard at halfway stage

Thomas Björn gave McIlroy a timely reminder of what happened five months ago after joining Rory in the halfway lead at the Dubai Desert Classic.

US Open Champion McIlroy justified his position after entering the tournament as favourite by adding a 65 to his first round 66 to reach 13 under par.

Bjorn has matched him shot-for-shot so far and now finds himself in a battle with not only the World Number Two, but also with Westwood and Kaymer who are lurking right behind him and ready to pounce.

Kaymer had the first hole-in-one of his life, (yes life) on the 186 yard seventh  as he reached 11 under with a 67, while Lee Westwood‘s 65 for ten under included birdies on the last three holes.

All is set for a another great weekend in Dubai which always seems to have an exciting finish!

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My Tips For The Four Majors This Year

Posted on February 8, 2012 by | Comments Off on My Tips For The Four Majors This Year

Well golfers, this year is flying already and it’s great to see so many of you braving the cold weather and getting down to the range to hone your skills for the coming season.

It’s not the same for the tour players of course, as they are out in the desert sunning themselves up and only having to play 54 holes to win a tournament and a shed load of money! lol. Not that I’m bitter.

The players will have it in the back of their mind that the first major of the year is fast approaching and will be preparing harder than ever to qualify for The Masters if they haven’t done so already.

I’m sure some of you will be having a bet on one, if not all four major’s? So if your struggling to pick someone who you think has a chance of winning then have a look at my picks and see the top 4 players I think can win in all four majors. Good luck and enjoy watching them!

The Masters –  Tiger Woods                                                                                                                                            Steve Stricker                                                                                                                                          Luke Donald                                                                                                                                            Rory McIlroy

The US Open –  Jason Day                                                                                                                                                 Webb Simpson                                                                                                                                       Steve Stricker                                                                                                                                          Sergio Garcia

The Open –   Sergio Gacria                                                                                                                                          M. Mannasero                                                                                                                                        Rory McIlroy                                                                                                                                          Lee Westwood

The US PGA – Sergio Garcia                                                                                                                                           Luke Donald                                                                                                                                             Bubba Watson                                                                                                                                         Ricky Fowler

 

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