RORY AT HOME IN THE DESERT
Rory McIlroy
A WEEK on from his second place finish in Abu Dhabi, Rory McIlroy claims he’s ‘pretty close to playing some really good golf.’
The US Open champion is hoping to draw on some positive memories at this week’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic, the scene of his maiden European Tour title in 2009.
“I’ve spent a good bit of time here in the past, and after playing Abu Dhabi I spent the week here practising, working on my game and looking forward to this week,” said Rory.
“I’ve obviously got good memories from here, winning in 2009 and being in contention the last couple of years, and feel like it’s a golf course that I play well on, and hopefully I can play well on it again.”
McIlroy kicked off his season with a runner-up finish behind Robert Rock in Abu Dhabi, but the Holywood golfer feels there is more to come.
“I didn’t feel like I played all that well in Abu Dhabi,” he added.
“I scored very well and was able to get myself into contention, which was great.
“I felt like I needed to work on a couple of things last week, which I did, and I feel like they’re getting better.
“It’s always nice to start off the season like that. I feel like I had a chance to win and did quite good, but hopefully it would be great to get a win under my belt pretty early this season, try and win here, a place that I’ve won at before, and of course, I really enjoy.
“It’s definitely one of my favourite ones to come back to. Just the whole atmosphere.
“Knowing the golf course so well, the memories obviously. It’s definitely up there - outside of the Majors, it would definitely be in the top three or four.
“The golf course is in fantastic condition. I think every year we come back here it’s in superb shape. I think that’s why a lot of guys love coming back here is the course is great. The facilities are fantastic and we get treated really well.
“I love coming back here, and 12 months from this time last year to now it’s been pretty good.”
The 22-year-old admitted he had been putting in some long hours on the range ahead of the start of today’s tournament but believes a more ‘mature’ on-course approach is also starting to pay dividends.
“I feel like I can play more controlled golf when I need to,” he added.
“Especially when you’re not playing as well, you need to know your limitations and know that, okay, maybe when you’re 100 percent, you can take on shots but whenever your aim is slightly off, you need to just reel it back in a little bit and play the percentages a bit more.
“You have to learn how to score well when you’re not playing your best. Hopefully I don’t have to get used to it where I don’t play well and have to score.
“But sometimes when you don’t hit it as well as you’d like, that’s the most important weeks or the most important days where you need to manage yourself around the golf course and get the most out of your game.”
Michael Hoey, Gareth Maybin, Shane Lowry, Peter Lawrie and Damien McGrane are in the Dubai field.
Meanwhile, Padraig Harrington admits his Ryder Cup place is in serious jeopardy.
“There’s no doubt I’m behind the 8‑ball at this stage,” said Harrington, who is making his PGA TOUR season debut at today’s AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
“I’m going to have to play great to get onto the team.”
In order to do that, Harrington parted ways with his longtime coach Bob Torrance and began working with Pete Cowen last August. The results have yet to come, however. Harrington has two top-10s since switching coaches, and he needs a lot more than that.
Making it even tougher for Harrington is that he’s ranked 93rd in the world and not in the field for any of the World Golf Championships events, among others, which are guaranteed points.
”Some of those events you can turn up and finish last and you get more points than say finishing 15th at a major,” Harrington said. “I’m going to have to gather points very quickly. It won’t be a question of picking up five and six points and eight points; it’ll be a question of winning some of those big points, which means winning.”
The last time Harrington won anywhere in the world was at the Iskandar Johor Open in 2010. Before that, however, his last victory was at the 2008 PGA Championship, which was when he decided to rip up his swing. He’s been trying to find his form ever since.
It wasn’t the first time Harrington made major changes to his swing, but they came when the spotlight was on him the most.
For example, when Harrington first turned pro he hit what he describes as a “choppy cut over the top.” Then he spent his next two years hitting “a huge draw” off the tee.
When Harrington won the 2007 British Open at Carnoustie, he did so playing a draw. A year later at Birkdale, he won hitting a fade.
”But after 2008 I talked about it,” Harrington said. “The difference is there were more people listening.”
Now Harrington hopes all that’s behind him, and he says the courses and conditions at Pebble Beach set up well for his game.
As for the changes under Cowen, Harrington says he’s trying to keep his shoulders more connected — trying to keep them down throughout his swing and not letting them rise up. That’s the simplest way of putting it, and for Harrington keeping it simple is what he hopes will get him playing the kind of golf he did four years ago and in turn help him make the Ryder Cup team.
“I have a quantum leap to get into the team,” Harrington said. “Whether I win in the U.S. or win in Europe, it will come down to just winning.”
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Weather for Belfast
Tuesday 29 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 13 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 11 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South west
