Tag Archives: golf club

McIlroy and Woods Struggle In Opening Round

Posted on January 17, 2013 by | Comments Off on McIlroy and Woods Struggle In Opening Round

It was the opening round of the Abu Dhabi Championship today and it’s Justin Rose and Jamie Donaldson who share the lead while Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy struggled.

McIlroy playing in his first competitive round with his new clubs was all over the place. He was hitting his new driver wayward and even hit a shot out of bounds. He managed to scrape it round in 75 shots ( +3 ). Tiger wasn’t much better, on the first hole he topped a drive which only went 70 yards! Maybe the pressure got to McIlroy a little bit knowing that all eyes were on him after the Nike deal.

It will be interesting to see if McIlroy bounces back straight away or whether he continues to struggle. One thing is for sure…he won’t be down for very long.

 

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Montgomerie Backs New European Ryder Cup Captain McGinley

Posted on January 16, 2013 by | Comments Off on Montgomerie Backs New European Ryder Cup Captain McGinley

Colin Montgomerie has told Paul McGinley that he has his backing and will support him  in every way he can after the Dubliner was appointed Ryder Cup captain for the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles. 

The European Tour committee  confirmed McGinley as captain yesterday evening in Abu Dhabi ahead of the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship which starts tomorrow. McGinley had to fight off a few strong contenders to get the position including  Scotland’s Sandy Lyle and Spains Miguel Angel Jimenez.

Montgomerie who has a fantastic record in the Ryder Cup matches and won as captain in 2010 was a late contender for the job after it was announced the Tom Watson would be leading the US team out to battle. But is was McGinley who was successful.

Montgomerie said he is confident that McGinley has the experience after two Ryder Cups as vice-captain.

 

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Monty In Late Running To Get Ryder Cup Job Again

Posted on January 14, 2013 by | Comments Off on Monty In Late Running To Get Ryder Cup Job Again

World number one Rory McIlroy is giving his full support to Paul McGinley on getting the job as 2014 Ryder Cup captain despite reports claiming Colin Montgomerie will be given the task to lead Europe once again.

The European Tour is set to announce the decision on Tuesday. Whoever gets the nod will be up against a very strong captain in Tom Watson and a very strong American team no doubt. There wasn’t any mention of Monty being involved until recent weeks but he is now favourite to take charge at Gleneagles.

Paul McGinley is Motgomerie’s only real contender now Darren Clarke is out of the running, and if Monty is chosen he will have the chance to win back-to-back Ryder Cups which was last achieved by Tony Jacklin when he won in 1985 & 1987.

Without doubt Paul McGinley would make a great captain and has done a great job as vice captain in recent years but I think Monty will get the job after such a spirited comeback last year and of course his tremendous record as a Ryder Cup player to boot.

 

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Retief Back After Five Months Out

Posted on January 9, 2013 by | Comments Off on Retief Back After Five Months Out

The silky smooth swinging South African Retief Goosen is all ready to play his first tournament of the year and his first for five months in South Africa at the Volvo Golf Champions after undergoing major back surgery at the beginning of August.

The two-time major winner, took a long break to fix a “totally disintegrated” disc, but Goosen has recovered faster than doctors thought and is set to make a comeback six weeks ahead of schedule which originally was due to be in mid February.

Goosen said: “I’m very excited about the New Year. Obviously the last three years have been pretty bad. I tried everything last year…injections, loads of physio but in the end I had no choice but to have the operation”.

Hopefully the transition back into golf goes well for Retief, he’s a great player to watch and has been missed by the guys on tour. He has one of the best swings in the world and I hope he makes a full recovery and is back at the top of the leaderboard in no time.

 

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McIlroy ‘Should He Stay Or Should He Go?’

Posted on January 4, 2013 by | Comments Off on McIlroy ‘Should He Stay Or Should He Go?’

Yesterday Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy revealed  that he might not compete at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro to stay clear of any controversy which might occur over which country the 23 year old should represent.

The world No 1 who is from the beautiful County Down in Northern Ireland, could play for either the Republic of Ireland or Great Britain in Brazil when golf is due to be a part of the Games again for the first time since 1904.

“If I could and there was a Northern Irish team I’d play for Northern Ireland. Said McIlroy

When it was announced that golf was returning to the Olympics  back in 2009 McIlroy announced he would “probably play for Great Britain” which he also repeated last year, but he has now had second thoughts.

To be honest, does it really matter who he plays for? As long as golf is back in the Olympics for everyone to see and McIlroy gets to show his talent to a much wider audience it can only be good for the game.

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Happy New Year – Here’s to a great year of golf!

Posted on January 2, 2013 by | Comments Off on Happy New Year – Here’s to a great year of golf!

Good morning and a Happy New Year!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas break and New Year celebrations and are looking forward to 2013. I’m sure you’re all itching to get out onto the golf course after the poor weather that we’ve had recently, I know I am!

I will continue writing posts this year keeping you all up-to-date on the latest news in the world of golf and giving my views on tournaments and major championships. 

Last year saw some amazing scenes and I’m sure this year will be no different. For whatever reason the quality of golf that we see seems to get better and better every year and I don’t see why this year should be any different.

Here’s to a great year of golf and getting those handicaps down!

James

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Rory McIlroy Finishes Top Of The Pops For 2012

Posted on December 17, 2012 by | Comments Off on Rory McIlroy Finishes Top Of The Pops For 2012

Well  the golfing year has ended and it’s Rory McIlroy who tops the Official World Golf Ranking, with Ryder Cup team-mate Luke Donald finishing second.

McIlroy has ended up finishing 251 points clear of Donald with a grand total of  596.99 points. It’s ended up being a decent season for Luke Donald especially after such a great 2011 season. It was a tough start to the season this time round but he finished strongly and should be very satisfied with what he’s done.

McIlroy, who finished third last year, has enjoyed a superb 2012 by winning the USPGA Championship and the Ryder Cup in a season full of drama and a lot of great golf.  McIlroy did have a slight lull in the middle of the season and questions were asked of him but he came back stronger than ever to claim numerous titles.

Tiger Woods managed to finish third behind McIlroy and Donald which was a great improvement on his 23rd place finish last year.

I really can’t wait to see how next season pans out with so many great players in good form and to see if McIlroy can keep doing what he’s been doing or weather Tiger will be back to his absolute best. I think Tiger has played some terrific golf this season but just hasn’t managed to get the putter going. If he can, then 2013 could be a whole different story.

 

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Best Ever – Nicklaus? Woods? McIlroy?

Posted on December 12, 2012 by | Comments Off on Best Ever – Nicklaus? Woods? McIlroy?

Two time major winner and former world number one Greg Norman thinks that Rory McIlroy has what it takes to break Jack Nicklaus’ major championship record, and even more chance than Tiger Woods.

McIlroy who is currently the best in the world has two majors under his belt at the moment and is a long way off getting anywhere near Tiger’s record let alone Jack’s. Woods hasn’t won a major in four years but in my opinion still has a lot of golf left to play, and he more than anybody will be determined to surpass Nicklaus’ record.

McIlroy has had a great couple of years but I think people are getting carried away, sometimes talent isn’t enough to sustain a long career, you need sheer determination, has McIlroy got that? I don’t know but I think the next couple of years are crucial if he is to have any chance in becoming the greatest player to ever play the game.

 

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A Great Year Of Golf

Posted on December 11, 2012 by | Comments Off on A Great Year Of Golf

Well it’s been a gripping season and we’ve seen some amazing moments. The majors have been fantastic, at The Masters we saw Bubba Watson play a miraculous shot from the trees in a play-off against Louis Oosthuizen to win his first major title. Webb Simpson held off Graeme McDowell to win the US Open. The Big Easy clinched victory at Royal Lytham after Adam Scott crumbled under pressure and of course the young unstoppable Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy won the The US PGA by an amazing eight shots!

The Ryder Cup was the highlight of the year for me, it was just an incredible performance in hostile conditions in Chicago. The team all pulled together and produced the greatest comeback in sporting history after an amazing performance from Ian Poulter in the fourballs on the Saturday evening.

Also we’ve had the whole debacle over the long putter which looks like it is going to be outlawed in 2016 and is going to change the game massively in my opinion seeing that a lot of top players in the world use them. Will they carry on using it up until 2016? Or will they try and make the change early to prepare for the change? I’m sure it will all become clear next year!

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Senden Leads By Two Over Rose In Australia

Posted on December 6, 2012 by | Comments Off on Senden Leads By Two Over Rose In Australia

The Australian Open got under way today and it was the home favourite John Senden who is flying high at the top of the leaderboard after he shot a superb opening 66 to finish two shots clear of the chasing pack.

Senden from Queensland was out early and made the most of easy conditions and the six under target proved to be unassailable as nobody could catch him in the afternoon.

It wasn’t all plain sailing for Senden though, he started with a birdie but then  had back-to-back bogeys at the second and third holes, but he recovered in fine style carding seven birdies in eleven holes from the 7th to the 17th which left him sitting on top of the pack.

Justin Rose is flying the British flag shooting a 68 finishing two back of Senden. He is level with Gareth Paddison, Richard Green, Kim Felton and Australian Brendan Jones.

Come on Justin finish the season in style!

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