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MI Golf Holidays

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07

Mar
Thu

Rory, Tiger have very different days at Doral

By Dave Shedloski MIAMI -- He brought with him a new attitude and a new extended waggle in his pre-shot routine, but Rory McIlroy couldn't shake the same old problems. Tiger Woods just looked like his old self. Six days after walking off the course in frustration at the Honda Classic, McIlroy, the No. 1 player in the world, was back in the spotlight at the WGC-Cadillac Championship playing alongside Woods and Luke Donald, who trail immediately behind him at No. 2 and 3 in the world, respectively. McIlroy didn't fare well outright or by comparison Thursday, spraying the ball off the tee but eking out two late birdies to salvage a 1-over-par 73 on a relatively calm afternoon at the TPC Blue Course at Trump Doral. Related: McIlroy says he's sorry for quitting Woods, meanwhile, buoyed by his putting lesson from Steve Stricker Wednesday afternoon, converted nine birdies in a 6-under 66 that gave him a share of the first-round lead with four others. Donald recovered from two drives in the water to grind out a 2-under 70. "Whatever [Stricker] says I'm going to do," Woods said with a smile after a round in which he needed just 23 putts. "He's one of the best putters that's ever lived. "I think I'm going to have a contract with him," he added playfully. "He's only going to play, what, five tournaments this year? So I'll bring him out in his off weeks." A winner in his first PGA Tour start of the season at the Farmer's Insurance Open, Woods was off his game last week at the Honda Classic, finishing T-37. But he appeared comfortable on the Blue Monster and perhaps left a shot or two on the course. His nine birdies was one shy of his personal record for 18 holes and just two fewer than he converted over 72 holes at PGA National. "I played well. It was certainly a day that could have been a little bit lower," said Woods, tied atop the leaderboard with Bubba Watson, Graeme McDowell, Sergio Garcia and Fredrik Jacobson. Related: A side-to-side look at Rory's and Tiger's swings McIlroy, the reigning PGA Tour player of the Year after winning four times in 2012, probably couldn't get any lower after his struggles at PGA National that prompted a mid-round meltdown and withdrawal for which he has since apologized. In that light, his untidy 73 was a step in the right direction, especially towards the end when he hung in and birdied two of his last three holes. "It was a bit of a struggle, to be honest," said McIlroy, 23, of Northern Ireland. "Hit some good shots, hit some not so good shots. But, yeah, as I've been saying all week, this is a work in progress, and I'm working at it and I'm staying patient." It takes patience when you hit only three fairways and 11 greens. "It was nice to sneak in a couple birdies on the last three holes and make it look somewhat respectable, even though everyone seems to be going pretty low out there today," he said after five birdies against six bogeys. "I don't think he's quite drawing the ball like he used to, that he wants," said Woods, who would not divulge what advice, if any, he has shared with the struggling Ulsterman. "Maybe just a little bit defensive out there. And that happens, and we have all gone through stretches like this. It happens, and it happened to him last year in the middle of the year and he ended up all right at the end of the year. "When you play golf and you play golf for a very long time, you're going to have spells like this. You can't play well every week, even though you try. You're going to have ups and downs and just got to battle through it." Reminded that during his long run as the No. 1 player in the world he seemed to avoid such fallow periods, Woods smiled and shrugged his shoulders. Related: A comparison of Tiger's and Rory's careers "He's working through some stuff in his swing, obviously," said Donald, who is the midst of incorporating with his own incremental swing refinements. "You can see his pre-shot routine is a little different. He's got that little waggle trying to get the club going more on the outside, and he's thinking about it a little bit. That's the toughest time in golf when you can't concentrate on just hitting good shots. You're focusing on you swing. It's tough a tough one to deal with, to leave the range behind you. It's a game of confidence, and once he gets a little bit of that back he'll be fine." Follow @DaveShedloski !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");

07

Mar
Thu

Inside Golf World Podcast: Following the equipment vans on the PGA Tour

By Ryan Herrington They spend upwards of 40 weeks out of the year on the road, logging as many as 35,000 miles traveling from one PGA Tour stop to the next. Life as a tech, or one of the drivers, for one of the 10 or so equipment vans on the PGA Tour isn't easy. But those couple dozen folks who hold these jobs genuinely enjoy the lifestyle. Golf World equipment editor E. Michael Johnson wrote about these modern-day gypsies in the March 11 issue of Golf World, our annual equipment issue, and offered more insight into their lives during this week's Inside Golf World Podcast. Unknown and unheralded to most golf fans, the techs play a critical role in helping tour pros feel comfortable with what's in their bags, letting them to, hopefully, rise up the leader board. Says Johnson: "These guys may be the most important conduit out there for the player to their success along with say their caddie, and when it leads to success they take pride in that." Listen to the podcast Subscribe to the Inside Golf World series in iTunes Follow @GWCampusInsider !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); (Photo by Stephen Szurlej)

07

Mar
Thu

Five questions with Holly Sonders

A member of the Big Ten champion Michigan State golf team in 2007, Holly Sonders has been part of the Golf Channel's "Morning Drive" team since January 2011. Here she handles five questions from...

06

Mar
Wed

Woods feeling confident after putting session with Stricker

By Dave Shedloski MIAMI -- Tiger Woods worked intensively on his putting with good friend Steve Stricker for more than an hour Wednesday on the practice green at Trump Doral Resort on the eve of the WGC-Cadillac Championship. "He just got me back to where I was in San Diego," said Woods, who won his PGA Tour season opener at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in January, marking his 75th tour victory. "It was a little bit of everything, really." Stricker, one of the best putters in the game, and Woods have been friends for several years and have played a number of team matches together since the 2009 Presidents Cup. It was not the first time that Woods has sought advice from Stricker on putting mechanics. Related: A look at Tiger's "bromances" through the years "I help him and he helps me. It's what we do," said Stricker, who mainly changed the shaft angle on Woods' putter, moving it forward to align with his ball position at address. "The ball was forward and his hands were back, and he was missing it both ways and having trouble with distance control." Woods ranks 43rd on the tour in strokes gained putting, and last week at the Honda Classic left numerous birdie chances on the table. The refresher from Stricker had him encouraged. "Yeah, I feel a lot better about it than I did an hour ago," Woods said. The No. 2 player in the world, Woods joins No. 1 Rory McIlroy and No. 3 Luke Donald at 11:53 a.m. EDT Thursday for the first round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship on the No. 10 tee. Related: McIlroy apologizes for Honda withdrawal Woods has won 16 WGC titles in his career. He won three times consecutively at Doral's Blue Course from 2005-07. Follow @DaveShedloski !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");

06

Mar
Wed

Tips For Her: Grip it in your fingers

Most golfers tend to place their golf grip in the palm of their hands. As a result, it's difficult to create leverage during the swing. Here's a quick tip that will get your grip more...

06

Mar
Wed

High-altitude adjustments

By E. Michael JohnsonFlying high: Fowler added a full degree of loft to his driver. Photo by: Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images Adjustable drivers aren't just for correcting swing flaws. The WGC-Accenture Match Play was a...

06

Mar
Wed

A contrite McIlroy admits, "I should have stayed out there"

By Dave Shedloski MIAMI -- The dichotomy was striking. A contrite and self-deprecating Rory McIlroy exuded maturity and humility Wednesday morning at Trump Doral Resort while explaining why those seemingly innate qualities were absent last week when he quit in the middle of his second round at the Honda Classic. Related: McIlroy has company with odd withdrawal "I gave myself a red card last week," McIlroy, 23, said jokingly to a standing room only crowd of reporters, appropriating a soccer term. (A red card signifies that a player has been ejected from the game.) "No matter how bad I was playing," McIlroy continued, "I should have stayed out there. I should have tried to shoot the best score possible even though it probably wasn't going to be good enough to make the cut. At that point in time, I was just all over the place, and you know, I saw red. . . . It was a mistake and everyone makes mistakes, and I'm learning from them." Photo by Getty ImagesMcIlroy, who is back in action this week in the WGC-Cadillac Championship, stood seven over par after eight holes last Friday at PGA National Resort and had just hit his approach to the 18th green into the water when he shook hands with playing partners Ernie Els and Mark Wilson and hastily walked off the Champion Course, where a year earlier he had won by two strokes and ascended to No. 1 in the world rankings for the first time. As he departed PGA National, McIlroy admitted he "was not in a great place mentally." About an hour later he issued a statement blaming a sore wisdom tooth for affecting his concentration. McIlroy said both lower wisdom teeth are troubling him, and he had braces put on to alleviate the pressure. He intends to have them pulled when he returns home to Northern Ireland after the U.S. Open in June. Being the No. 1 golfer in the world, living under a microscope, and playing poorly to begin the year after a total overhaul of his equipment have compounded the pressure on him and affected his amiable disposition. "[It was both.] I wasn't in a good place with my golf game . . . my head was all over the place," he said. "But at the same time, I have been struggling with my lower right wisdom tooth for over a year. So, yeah, look, my tooth was bothering me, but it wasn't bothering me enough to probably, you know, quit, but that's just the way it is. Related: Why there is no Rory-Tiger rivalry just yet "I think it was a buildup of everything," he added. "I've been putting a lot of pressure on myself to perform and I've been working so hard and not really getting much out of it. That's just been the frustrating thing, and that's what happened. It was a buildup of high expectations from myself coming off, you know, the back of such a great year last year, and wanting to continue that form into this year and not being able to do it. I just sort of let it all get to me." McIlroy felt well enough over the weekend to practice extensively at The Bear's Club near his U.S.-based home in Jupiter, Fla., and he senses progress to correct a flaw that has crept into his backswing where he picks the club up and outside the line. He clarified that he is not trying to change his swing so much as "trying to change it back to where it was. "I've worked my ass off over the last four or five days to really try and get this right," he said. "Still, it's a workâ¿¿inâ¿¿progress. There's no quick fixes in golf, but I'm going to go out there this week and all I care about is my swing, and I know if I can get my swing back on track, that the results will follow." Having not played a tournament round on the weekend this year, McIlroy is looking forward to four rounds in this week's WGC-Cadillac Championship. There is no cut in the $8.5 million event that features 65 of the top players in the world. Related: How will Rory & Tiger fare on Trump's turf? McIlroy is paired with No. 2 Tiger Woods and No. 3 Luke Donald for the first two rounds at the TPC Blue Monster at Trump Doral, with their opening tee time at 11:53 a.m. off No. 10. That marquee group already figured to be the most watched, but the critics will undoubtedly pick apart whatever McIlroy does after his premature exit from PGA National. He was OK with that and doesn't believe his actions will affect his popularity. "Yeah, I actually think in the long run, Friday will be a blessing in disguise," he said. "It was like it just sort of released a valve and all that sort of pressure that I've been putting on myself just went away. And I was like, [let's] just go out and have fun. It's not life or death out there. It's only a game. I had sort of forgotten that this year." Follow @DaveShedloski !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");

06

Mar
Wed

A $320 golf polo? Yes, from Treccani Milano

By John Strege Have you ever wondered what a $320 golf polo shirt looks like? Neither have I. Nonetheless, there it is, shown above. It seems to resemble an $80 polo or a $60...

06

Mar
Wed

Finchem, Nike's Davis among 50 most powerful in sports

By John Strege PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem and Nike Golf President Cindy Davis were the only two golf representatives on Sports Illustrated's list of the "50 Most Powerful People in Sports." Finchem was ranked 25th and Davis 46th on a list headed, not surprisingly, by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Those on the list with peripheral ties to golf include NBC Sports Chairman Mark Lazarus (the Golf Channel is part of the NBC Sports Group) and CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus. Lazarus is ranked seventh, McManus 13th. Given golf's niche status in the world of sports, it perhaps is not surprising the list included only two from golf. BusinessWeek once had Tiger Woods listed No. 1, ahead of Goodell and NBA Commissioner David Stern, in its list of the "100 Most Powerful People in Sports." There were no active athletes on Sports Illustrated's list (Michael Jordan, now the owner of the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats, came in 50th). Follow @JohnStrege!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");

05

Mar
Tue

Gear On Tour: WGC-Cadillac Championship

A glimpse of what players are using this week at TPC Blue Monster in Miami, FL