Europe lead way with four-star show
By reaching the final, Martin Kaymer overtook Lee Westwood as the planet’s top ranked golfer, while Luke Donald jumped from ninth to third by claiming the title with a 3 and 2 win over the German in the decider. Donald’s victory deprived Graeme McDowell of moving from 4th to 3rd, but with Westwood in second, it means Europeans occupy the top four places for the first time in nearly 19 years.
G-Mac is putting daylight between himself and Pádraig Harrington and Rory McIlroy, both of whom were major disappointment in the Arizona desert. Since his disqualification on a formality after the first round in Abu Dhabi, Harrington’s season has gone from bad to worse. All of this comes on the back of a relatively barren 2009 and 2010 during which his only win came in the low key Iskandar Johor Open in Malaysia last September.
He has referenced the swing changes he is undertaking but many of his admirers wish he could have stuck with the game that earned him so much. He was ranked third in the world at the end of 2008 — yesterday he stood at 36th. It doesn’t help that Harrington seems to be in denial about the downward spiral in his fortunes, claiming after his exit in Arizona that “things are good, very good. I just need to let it happen”.
Harrington takes this week off before returning to the US for the Cadillac World Championship over the Blue Monster course at Doral, Miami, beginning on March 10.
McIlroy stays Stateside for the Honda Classic in West Palm Beach, Florida, and must be just as bemused as Harrington about his early season form. He looked superb when running up to Martin Kaymer in Abu Dhabi at the end of January and though he finished poorly in Qatar, still managed a top ten finish. He travelled to Arizona in confident mood and his swing looked in perfect working order as he disposed of Jonathan Byrd in the first round.
It was a shock when he succumbed without much of a fight to Ben Crane by 8 and 7 the next day. Admittedly, Crane struck a rich patch of form and carded six birdies but McIlroy failed to impose any pressure on the American and capitulated easily. Significantly, his drives to the 10th and 11th holes (where the match finished) ended up in the desert, an indication that he may have thrown in the towel. There have been signs of this in the past, notably when the weather turned against him in the second round of last year’s Open Championship when he followed a magnificent opening 63 with an 80. He fought back over the weekend to finish third but the chance of victory had passed.
McDowell has been hugely supportive of McIlroy, but his comment after the latter’s match play humiliation was telling: “Maybe Rory has to learn how to deal with the tough days and just grind it out. He’s one of the guys who makes the game look easy, but needs to develop a dogged side.”
McDowell however, sails along with the wind in his sails. He handles himself superbly on and off the golf course and, no doubt, it helps that it is estimated he has earned around €10 million on the back of his US Open Championship victory in June. He has a nice sense of humour and a quick wit and when asked if getting to number one in the world would earn him yet another bonus on his contract, G-Mac quipped: “I’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. That’s what I have one of the greatest agents on the planet for.”
Words that would have come as sweet music to Conor Ridge, head of McDowell’s management company Horizon Sports. Their relationship has been of mutual benefit over the past couple of years and you have to suspect that more established players on tour will soon be knocking on Ridge’s door. McDowell and McIlroy join the newly crowned WGC Accenture World Match Play champion Luke Donald in the Honda field along with a large number of other Europeans including Lee Westwood.
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