Tag Archives: Rory mcilroy

This years U.S. Open in San Francisco

Posted on April 17, 2012 by | Comments Off on This years U.S. Open in San Francisco

This years U.S. Open Golf Championship will be held at the historic Olympic Club, in San Francisco. The  dates for the Championship are June 14-17, 2012.

The U.S. Open has been hosted at this venue four times before. They were in 1955, 1966, 1987 and 1998. This event presents golfers around the world with the chance to watch the world’s best professionals compete on this classic and prestigious stage, and to play some of America’s finest public golf courses including Pasatiempo Golf Club, CordeValle, Pebble Beach, and Spyglass Hill.

It really is a truly beautiful setting in this part of the world, and all the top players love playing down the west coast of America with most of it’s courses having spectacular ocean views.

All the players will be looking to hone there game in time for June the 14th and will all be looking to lift that huge trophy. McIlroy will be defending this time around. I don’t know what to expect from him after his lackluster Masters performance a couple of weeks back. I get the feeling it will be much of the same?

I’m sure all the talk will be on him and Tiger again, let’s just hope they don’t let us down this time and give us something to get excited about!

I will be  covering this tournament in more detail nearer the time.

Until then….. Happy golfing

James

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Louis shows great bouncebackability

Posted on April 16, 2012 by | Comments Off on Louis shows great bouncebackability

Second at  the Masters. Third in Houston, but Louis Oosthuizen finally clinched the victory his recent form richly deserved at the Maybank Malaysian Open.

The South African soon got over the fact of losing in a play-off and being pipped to a second Major Championship by Bubba Watson at Augusta National last Sunday and the tiredness of a 30-hour journey and clocking up over 10,000 miles over the last 3 weeks to win by three shots at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club.

When you factor in travelling across 12 time zones, and with storm disruptions on Friday and Saturday which left the 2010 Open Champion with 26 holes to play on the final day. This was a remarkable performance as Oosthuizen carded a closing 68 for a 17 under par total, with all four of his rounds sub-70.

Louis has always been a favourite of mine, and he has such a simple, beautiful golf swing. I wouldn’t be surprised if he challenge for another major this year and didn’t even win one. The South African players seem to have a grit and determination and greater mental strength that other players don’t.

The loss at the Masters must have been hard to take but like McIlroy showed last term you have to bounce back straight away otherwise it can effect you for years and it becomes harder to learn how to win again.

Well done Louis!

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Donald is ready to win a major, but will he?

Posted on March 29, 2012 by | Comments Off on Donald is ready to win a major, but will he?

Luke Donald back at world number one will be looking to build on his impressive record at the Masters Tournament when he makes his eighth appearance at Augusta National next week.

A year ago Donald finished four shots behind winner Charl Schwartzel in a share of fourth place to take his total of top ten finishes at the first Major of the season to three in seven appearances, with tied third back in 2005 on his debut being his best finish yet.

Donald ran up a double bogey in the final round on the par three 12th hole, where his tee shot found Rae’s Creek adjacent to the green, the early momentum he had gained may have propelled him to his first Major title.

As it was, Donald was unable to stop the fast-finishing Schwartzel from claiming his first Green Jacket in spectacular fashion, but Donald is determined to make amends this time around after going so close last year.

Donald is ready to win, he has the talent to win and he is knocking on the door week in week out, but will he open the door next week?

The Masters starts next Thursday, the main coverage is on Sky now, but I think the BBC are showing highlights or maybe even a little bit of live coverage.

If you get the bug after watching the Masters and want a golf lessons to learn how the pro’s do it, then click here to send me an email and I will be more than happy to help.

James

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Rose holds on after late charge from McIlroy and Watson

Posted on March 12, 2012 by | Comments Off on Rose holds on after late charge from McIlroy and Watson

England’s Justin Rose notched up his fourth on the USPGA Tour at the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral, in Florida.

Rose from Hampshire was three shots back to Bubba Watson at the start of the day and had it all to do seeing how Bubba had been playing over the first three days.

But, with Watson making mistake after mistake, and world number one Rory McIlroy’s late charge just falling short even after a holed out bunker for eagle in the closing four holes and Tiger Woods retiring with an Achilles injury , Rose held his nerve.

A final round two-under 70 was enough to win by a shot from Watson, who missed a 10-foot birdie putt at 18 after probably the shot of the week from the right hand side rough after a wayward drive.

“There’s been a lot of hard work going on in my game,” said Rose. “And days like this make it all worthwhile.

Former world number one Donald had  a respectable week finishing on -12 and showed some of the form which got him to the top spot in the first place.

Roll on the Masters!

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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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McIlroy and Woods will be world No.1 & 2

Posted on March 5, 2012 by | Comments Off on McIlroy and Woods will be world No.1 & 2

If anyone watched The Honda Classic last night then they would have noticed how far Rory McIlroy has come as a player over the last 12 months, and even more impressively after the total collapse on the final day of the masters.

He has gone from strength to strength and maybe should have won more tournaments than he has done but let’s not forget he is only 22!

I think we saw last night what the next couple of years hold for us in the battle for world no.1 and for majors, because Tiger is back on the prowl and he won’t lay down and let the young cub being Rory McIlroy take over easily. Believe me Tiger is back and is hungrier than ever and the thought of him and Rory pairing up on the final of the Masters is a mouth watering prospect for all of us!

McIlroy is an old head on young shoulders and Tiger is a slightly confused head on very experienced shoulders, I for one am really looking forward to the season ahead, could be one of the best for a long time. Let’s not forget about Mickelson too!

Please feel free to leave any comments, I would like to discuss things more about this great game that we all love!

I am a golf teacher in West London where I give lessons to all standards of golfers, to book a lesson please contact me here, thanks.

 

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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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