GOLF:THE PROOF of the pudding is not so much in the eating, but in the statistics. And while Rory McIlroy's fifth-place finish in the Memorial tournament at Muirfield Village provided evidence his all-round game is in good shape ahead of next week's US Open, perhaps the most satisfying aspect was the confirmation that his putting – often seen as his Achilles heel, so to speak – is in rude good health.
McIlroy – who moved one ahead of Graeme McDowell in the latest world rankings, seventh to eighth – was placed third in putting for greens-in-regulation (averaging 1.58) and tied-seventh per round (averaging 26.8 putts) at the Memorial, where Steve Stricker managed to get the job done in the weather-delayed tournament.
In many ways, the Memorial provided a perfect tune-up for McIlroy as he heads to the season’s second Major at Congressional, outside Washington, next week. “I just made too many mistakes, which really cost me, and we’ll have to try and cut those out before the US Open. There’s definitely positives to take away,” observed McIlroy, who is scheduled to play a number of practice rounds at Congressional later this week. He intends to finalise preparations at Pine Valley over the weekend, before returning to Congressional.
But it was his putting, so often the source of concern, that enabled the 22-year-old Ulsterman to leave for a brief trip to Haiti – as part of his role as a sporting ambassador for Unicef Ireland – with a spring in his step before getting his mind back focused on his major ambition. “I putted the ball really good, and that’s a huge positive to take into the US Open . . . my game is in good shape, I feel really good about it,” he added.
With his plans to visit Congressional tomorrow and Thursday – with the aim of familiarising himself with the course and to work on his strategy so that “if you’re going to miss shots, (to) miss it in the right places” – McIlroy aims to be ahead of the posse who will be descending on the course over the weekend or early next week.
McDowell, who has dropped three places to eighth in the latest world rankings, has returned home to Portrush for a few days before heading out to defend his US Open title. Despite a poor weekend in his defence of the Wales Open at Celtic Manor, McDowell was not inclined to panic. “I’m looking forward to half a week recharging (the batteries),” said McDowell, who flies out to his home in Orlando on Thursday to sharpen up before heading up to Washington DC on Sunday.
The expectation of McDowell – and just about everyone else in the field for the US Open – is of a long course with thick rough at Congressional and Pádraig Harrington, out of the world’s top 50 for the first time since March 2000 when he briefly dropped to 53rd, will start his competitive build-up by competing in this week’s FedEx Classic in Memphis.
Harrington, who hasn’t played since The Players championship last month where he missed the cut, has recovered from the hamstring strain that forced him to miss the BMW PGA Championship. “I’m not panicking about dropping out of the top 50 and it’s not in itself a big issue,” said Harrington, adding: “There’s a big summer ahead and I’m very happy with my game, what I’m doing and where I’m at. I’m doing the right things that will lead to results.”
Of the four Irish players qualified for the US Open – McIlroy, McDowell, Harrington and Shane Lowry – only Harrington is in action this week, in Memphis, where Lee Westwood defends the title. Donald, though, is guaranteed to head into Congressional next week as the world number one despite not competing this week as there are not enough world ranking points available in Memphis for Westwood to take back the top spot.
Newly-crowned Memorial champion Stricker admitted he had to dig deep to claim his 10th career title. The American – who jumped to fourth in the world rankings – finished on 16-under-par to beat Matt Kuchar and Brandt Jobe by a stroke. “It wasn’t pretty!” admitted Stricker after finishing the job on the return from a weather delay. “It was a little bit of a struggle after the rain delay and at that point I was just trying not to make a mistake.”
Overnight leader Stricker had birdied five of the opening eight holes to increase his advantage to four shots while Kuchar and Jobe took advantage of a huge wobble from Jonathan Byrd, who began the day in second place but tumbled out of contention after a bogey on the third and a double-bogey on the eighth.
Elsewhere, there are four Irish players in action in the Italian Open, starting on Thursday – Darren Clarke, Damien McGrane, Paul McGinley and Simon Thornton.
THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT (at Muirfield Village GC, Dublin, Ohio) – Leading final scores (USA unless stated, par 72): 272 – S Stricker 68 67 69 68; 273 – B Jobe 71 68 69 65, M Kuchar 69 71 68 65; 276 – D Johnson 68 73 70 65; 277 – Rory McIlroy (N Ire) 66 72 71 68; 278 – G Woodland 72 69 69 68; 280 – J Senden (Aus) 71 70 71 68, L Donald (Eng) 70 69 73 68, J Byrd 71 67 69 73, M Wilson 70 73 66 71, W Simpson 72 70 70 68, K Streelman 74 68 72 66.
