Irish trio eye Monster improvement

IRELAND’s big three of Pádraig Harrington, Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell will be hoping for a lot better when they move on from Palm Beach Gardens and the Honda Classic to Doral and the famous Blue Monster course for this week’s WGC-CA tournament, the second of the year’s four world championships.

The Honda proved a disappointment for the trio, especially Graeme McDowell whose tendency to start tournaments well and then fade over the weekend again manifested itself at PGA National.

Having begun his final round with a couple of birdies to put himself in sight of a big finish, the 30-year-old Ulster man gradually went off the boil until a quadruple bogey seven at the par three 17th destroyed what for so long had looked such a promising tournament. His chance of picking up a big chunk of world ranking points disappeared after he twice visited the water at the last of the so-called “Bear Trap’s” three holes.