Tiger in the hunt to win at Bay Hill
US Open champion Graeme McDowell makes the short trip from his home in Lake Nona to be among them while Tiger Woods attempts to end a 19-tournament run without a victory.
Woods could hardly choose a better tournament or venue to end his drought. He has won at Bay Hill six times, including his most recent appearance (2008-09) and needs two more successes to tie Sam Snead’s record of eight in the same tournament, set between 1938 and 1965.
A closing 66 in the WGC Cadillac Championship demonstrated that Woods is getting back in the groove that made him golf’s unquestionable number one for so long until he was usurped late last year by Lee Westwood and, in the interim, also passed out by Martin Kaymer, Luke Donald and McDowell.
Phil Mickelson, whose sole victory at Bay Hill was in 1997, is also in the mix for a tournament that keeps alive a developing rivalry between a number of Americans, Europeans and South Africans on the US Tour.
American golf fans endured the sight of an Irishman, a South African and a German claiming three of the major championships in 2011 and feared the worst.
However, talented golfers like Bubba Watson and Nick Watney have demonstrated they are developing into major forces just as Australian Aaron Baddeley, South Africa’s Rory Sabbatini and Englishman Luke Donald maintained the pressure with equally impressive successes.
Another Springbok, Ernie Els, defends at Bay Hill having held off Italian Edoardo Molinari and Kevin Na by two shots last year. Graeme McDowell, who ran up to Kenny Perry in this tournament in 2005, heads a powerful international field that also includes Sergio Garcia, Peter Hanson and Justin Rose along with Italians Matteo Manassero and Edoardo Molinari,
America’s television networks will pray for a few more high-profile names at the top of the leaderboard at Bay Hill than were at the head of affairs in the Transition Championship in Tampa Bay over the weekend.
From a European viewpoint, it was disappointing to see Rose, leader after round three by one stroke, fade to a 74 to finish in a share of fifth, five behind the winner.
The story for Pádraig Harrington, however, was worse. Hopes were high he was getting his season together after a top 10 the previous week but he missed the cut in Tampa, leaving him with a 2011 record so far of disqualified; 58th, 63rd, 55th, 33rd, beaten round one Accenture World Match Play; 10th and missed the cut.
AS those in Florida battle it outfor a prize fund of $6m(€4.2m), the European Tour heads from its weather-affected debut in Sicily, where Frenchman Raphael Jaquelin pipped England’s Anthony Wall by one shot, to a hopefully sunnier and more welcoming climate in Malaga for the €1m Andalucia Open.
Louis Oosthuizen’s victory in this event last year was the first hint of what was to follow in the Open Championship at St Andrews. The South African is returning to defend his crown when it must have seemed a lot more attractive to remain in the States and battle for the far bigger purse on offer over there.
Two locals, Miguel-Angel Jimenez and Alvaro Quiros, will be anxious to keep the honours at home as will Ryder Cup captain Jose-Maria Olazabal as he stays true to his ambition of playing as many tournaments as possible so as to keep in touch with all the contenders for places in his team to defend the trophy next year.
With Harrington and Rory McIlroy resting before heading back to the US for next week’s Shell Houston Open in Texas, the Irish involved in Spain are Shane Lowry, Darren Clarke, Peter Lawrie, Gareth Maybin, Michael Hoey and Paul McGinley.
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