McIlroy in new territory

GOLF TOUR NEWS:IN TERMS of the posturing for top position by an Irishman in the official world rankings, this promises to be an interesting week for the two in the top 10: Pádraig Harrington, ranked eighth, will commence his season's work in the Los Angeles Open at the famed Riviera Club and Rory McIlroy, ranked ninth, will resume his schedule in the Dubai Desert Classic at The Emirates club.

The pair will be separated by 12 time zones and a distance of 13,420 kilometres for their respective tournaments which each start on Thursday – but, in terms of their world ranking, which constitutes an important barometer for the two players, just 0.01 of a point divides them and it is conceivable McIlroy could achieve something of a career milestone by overtaking Harrington by next Monday, when the next official list is produced. We’ll see.

McIlroy enters new territory this week in another way, defending a title for the first time on the European Tour. However, his seasonal debut in Abu Dhabi a fortnight ago – where he finished third behind Germany’s Martin Kaymer – confirmed the prodigious 20-year-old has moved seamlessly into the new campaign.

Although unable to play a practice round on the Emirates course yesterday due to feeling “raw” after sustaining sunburn on his chest in some downtime over the weekend, McIlroy is relishing the defence of the Desert Classic title in a field that includes the in-form winners of the other tournaments in the Gulf Swing – Kaymer (Abu Dhabi) and Robert Karlsson (Qatar Masters) – with Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson and Paul Casey from the world’s top 10.

“I’m really looking forward to getting started in the tournament, playing my best and trying to win like I always do,” he said.

McIlroy has been in Dubai for the past week since his first competitive outing of the year in Abu Dhabi. McIlroy played in the official opening of the Gary Player course at Saadiyat Beach – after which he treated himself to bidding and buying a holiday in a charity auction that will see him take in the Maldives, Phuket and the Golden Triangle in Thailand later in the year – and he also took in a round at the Dubai Creek course. His decision not to play a practice round over the Emirates yesterday was precautionary.

McIlroy – whose itinerary after Dubai will see him concentrate mainly on the US Tour up to May – leads an exceptionally strong Irish contingent this week, where he is joined by Shane Lowry, Darren Clarke, Graeme McDowell, Peter Lawrie, Damien McGrane, Michael Hoey and Gareth Maybin.

Stephen Deane is the ninth Irishman in the field after the Co Down native, who is one of the resident teaching pros at the Emirates Golf Club, won the UAE regional qualifying open.

For Lowry, who has moved to 84th in the latest world rankings, this week has added importance as the cut-off point for the WGC-Accenture Matchplay comes this weekend and the 22-year-old Offaly man would need to make break into the world’s top-65 (on the assumption world number one Tiger Woods won’t be back from his “indefinite break” in time for that tournament) if he is to secure a place in the limited-field.

As things stand, Harrington, McIlroy and McDowell are the three Irish players who are guaranteed places in the field for the Accenture Matchplay.

Harrington returns to competitive action in this week’s Los Angeles Open at The Riviera Club in California, the first leg of an initial stint in the US that will also take in next week’s Pebble Beach pro-am and then the following week’s WGC event in Arizona.

The 38-year-old Dubliner will reveal a slightly new putting set-up on his reappearance, something he has worked on over the winter.

“LA is a tough course and I know I am not 100 per cent competitive . . . I will make a few mistakes not being sharp, not being competitive and I’ll probably lose focus (at times). I’ve got to accept that and just get on with it,” said Harrington.

Although three-time major champion Harrington starts out with a plan to get ready for the US Masters at Augusta in over two months’ time, and with his schedule built around challenging in the other majors (US Open at Pebble Beach in June, British Open at St Andrews in July and USPGA at Whistling Straits in August), he does so with a belief he is a better player for the work he has put in on rebuilding his swing over the past year. “I’m very keen to get out there,” admitted Harrington, who will play the bulk of his early-season golf in the US, before returning to Europe for the BMW PGA at Wentworth in May.