Rory McIlroy made more
history with his win at the WGC, but he's not the only talking point
from Northern California. Here are the five things we learned this
weekend.
McIlroy is World No 1 for a reason McIlroy
doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone but if you wanted further
evidence of his class, here it is: In winning the WGC Cadillac World
Match Play, McIlroy joined Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only
players to win 10 PGA tours before their 26th birthday. Add that one to
the history list. Against Paul Casey in the quarter-final, he was
one down with two to play. He prevailed at the 22nd hole. Next up in
the semi-final against World No 5 Jim Furyk he was again one down on the
penultimate tee. What followed was perfect golf; a birdie two on the
par three 17th and then a long iron from the rough to the 18th green to
set up a 45-footer for eagle. He drained it. Furyk accepted the defeat with grace and resignation. He’d
played the last three holes in one-under but you can’t beat that kind of
golf and that’s why McIlroy is presently the best in the game.
Casey heading back to his best
In 2013
Paul Casey had dropped from the world’s top three to 167 in the space of
four years. On-and-off the course life wasn’t as bright as it had once
been for a man that had played in three Ryder Cups and notched up 12
professional wins. The 13th win came at the 2013 Irish Open but it
was still his only his second title in more than four years. Starting
the 2015 season ranked 75th in the world, Casey’s decision to drop his
European Tour commitments to limit the volume of travel is paying
dividends. He’s back to 34th in the world and over the course of the
week beat former World Number 1 Adam Scott, 10th in the 2014 FedEx Cup
Chris Kirk and Francesco Molinari before dispatching 2011 Masters
champion Charl Schwartzel in the quarter-final. It took McIlroy 22
holes to finally beat him and even that came after darkness took the
match into a second day and illness meant Casey resumed without the
benefit of a full night’s sleep and his full powers. On current form
Casey can realistically look forward to breaking back into the elite.
Where there’s a Willett, there’s a way
“A
meaningless match that should be axed.” Louis van Gaal, then
Netherlands manager, on the third place play-off at the 2014 World Cup.
Rarely the most popular match at a tournament, beaten semi-finalists
could be forgiven for not taking this one seriously but not so this
weekend for England’s Danny Willett in California. Beaten 3 and 2
by Gary Woodland in the semi-final, perhaps having something extra to
play for made the difference for Willett in his own 3 and 2 win over
veteran American Jim Furyk. Victory meant he earned £430,000 instead of
£345,000 but more importantly secured his US PGA Tour card. He is now
inside the world’s top 40 and the future looks bright on both sides of
the pond for the Yorkshireman.
By Jimenez!
He
is 51-years-old, has 21 European Tour wins spanning three decades and
is a senior statesman of European golf. But there is fire in the belly
of Miguel Angel Jimenez yet! Playing in a dead rubber against
Keegan Bradley, Jimenez took exception to a ruling given to Bradley
after he’d fired his drive close to the TV compound on the 18th. When
Bradley’s caddie, Steve “Pepsi” Hale, tried to intervene, Jimenez
dismissed him with a short, sharp “shut up”. Hale refused to shake
hands after the round with Jimenez, who said he was “trying to be
helpful”. Perhaps the Manny-Money build-up had filtered onto the golf
course but it shows that despite being eligible for the Seniors’ Tour,
Jimenez has lost none of his desire to win against the elite.
By the way, Jimenez won the hole and the match by two holes.
Ryder Cup watch
The
United States might have found a future Ryder Cupper in beaten finalist
Gary Woodland but the signs from San Francisco are that Europe still
has the edge in match play. Four of the players to reach the last
eight are eligible to play for Europe, while only two were from the US,
and only five Americans made it to the last 16 from a field of 29
starters, compared to five from 22 Europeans. However the
Americans edged the head-to-head with a 20-19 scoreline in US v Europe
matches. The biggest win of the week though went to Finland’s Mikko
Illonen with his third round 8 and 6 whipping of American Matt Every.
Rory
McIlroy speaks to Tim Barter after his victory at the WGC-Cadillac
Match Play beating Gary Woodland in the final to clinch the title.
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