Mahan Motivated By Desire To Quiet Johnny And Sir Nick!
Doug Ferguson on Hunter Mahan's impressive win over Rory McIlroy in the Accenture WGC Match Play.
With a little extra motivation he didn't need, Mahan won three straight holes on the front nine to seize control and answered McIlroy's charge with birdies of his own for a 2-and-1 victory.
"Deep down, you wanted to postpone that crowning of the No. 1 player in the world for Rory," Mahan said.
"He'll get there. I mean, he's phenomenal. He's really talented. He'll be No. 1 eventually. But yeah, when you're a player, and I listen to Johnny Miller and Nick Faldo and all those guys, they had him picked to win. And that's what everybody was talking about.
"There was absolute motivation in that."
John Strege on McIlroy admitting a post-Westwood match letdown.
Comparisons to Woods are generally unfair, but one is warranted here. If Tiger were to have dispatched a rival in a semifinal, it would have piqued his desire to bury his opponent in the final. McIlroy won his grudge match with Lee Westwood on Sunday morning, then seemed to let down.
"Yeah, probably," he said when confronted with that possibility. "I knew that was going to be the toughest thing for me. I was getting myself up for that semifinal match. It probably took me a few holes to get going. But that's really not an excuse. I just didn't play well enough when I needed to."
I was a little surprised that no one asked McIlroy after the round about his decision to hit driver on the short par-4 4th after Mahan had laid up. NBC was all over it and that seemed liked the first turning point in Mahan's favor.
Steve Elling noted Mahan's putter change to a PING something, which reader Larry noted made for a huge weekend for the Arizona company which also had winners Huh and Stanford.
Mahan's post round interview transcript.
Sunday, February 26, 2012 at 11:07 PM
Reader Comments (38)
Perhaps a few Ryder Cup highlights are in order? Oh yeah, it was the rain suits fault.
Everyone raves about his US Open win with was amazing.
However it probably was a "perfect storm" where he could do no wrong. That happens to most golfers a some point but it is an infrequent occurrence.
Who knows, he could even miss the cut this year.
Robert, this is the first post of yours I've read here, perhaps it's the first post you have made here.
Want to know a couple of guys who have won majors in recent history: Todd Hamilton?, Ben Curtis?, Shaun Micheel? - Craig Perks won the Players Championship and was running a driving range within a few years.... I can go on. Westwood's career completely overshadows many major winner's careers, and on top of that he's done what almost none of them have done - rebuilt his game to come back from the depths of the rankings back to the top of the heap.
You are 0 for 1. nuff said.
rory sliced it into the desert and wanted to take an unplayable and a penaly drop
keeping the pin between himself and the spot where his ball was, he went backwards until he found a safe spot to drop
he dropped two times, both times the ball rolled > 2 club lengths from the spot of the drop
he now could place the ball and did so
next, he proceeded to pick the ball up and place it again
johnny commented that he had been penalized for doing the same thing
why was rory not penalized? was it because the ball had not been ruled to be in play by the official standing there?
Nice way to welcome the newcomer.
As for Mahan, good for him. It's nice to see a guy speak honestly about being motivated by the ravings of that gasbag bloviator Johnny Miller. He and Hicks did everything but break out the pom poms and start up cheers on air for McIlroy. Mahan is a very good player and he obviously earned this very tough tournament title.
Hunter btw is a very good putter (and has been). He was 13th last year on tour in strokes gained putting.
Rory is not a good putter, so far in his career. Unofficially he was 130th last year in strokes gained putting. And if you noticed in his match with Hunter he missed a lot of putts.
As a point of comparison by the age of 23 Sergio had 7 victories between Euro/PGA tour. A few months shy of his 23rd bday Rory has 4. Of course, Rory won the US Open in a demolition, and I don't think Rory will implode a la Sergio. But it's an interesting comparison.
Not enough time has past to determine if Rory and Tiger are the same animals. Tiger turned out to be the ultimate closer in majors during his era, but there was also a 2-year gap between his first two majors. And major winning animals are rare. It's a talent, heart and stomach challenge that we'll have to wait on for the results.
@duck: According to that scenario Rory placed the ball after the second drop according to the rules. I find it hard to believe that Johnny would make an error of any kind ;-) One common mistake people make in similar situations is that they believe the ball must be re-dropped if it rolls closer to the hole. But that is true only if it ends up closer that it was when it was marked and lifted. I think.
Good eye sir. I commented on Hunters cap on Saturday night (while he was being interviewed). I said to Ms. Champagne that whoever the broadcaster is (any given week) should request that caps be removed for interviews ... there's no character to an interview when you can't even see the person being talked to!
But perhaps it is self-consciousness that keeps them hatted for TV interviews. It is not a universal thing, but the amount of early-pattern baldness among golfers who wear those full baseball caps everywhere except, presumably, the shower and bed (and possibly the Wednesday night Bibile meeting), is very high. Some stunningly high foreheads when they are forever denied the healthful exposure to air and sunlight.
Oddly enough, it is more prevalent on the PGA Tour than the European. That could be to do with climate, or perhaps the Euros actually remove their caps once in a while, it being part of normal upbringing while indoors, in the presence of ladies, older people, etc. I can't think Americans are more genetically disposed to baldness.
D,
Not sure I agree with the major statement of what you need to win one. In lots of cases yes, it takes a certain championship fortitude, but some majors(especially those set up by the USGA) have been won because of other factors, like rock hard purple colored greens and ridiculously overgrown rough. Look at some of the names on PA's post, these are not your typical top players. We can add Steve Jones, Paul Lawrie and Mark Brooks to the list. Sometimes the right place at the right time is enough.
Fashion comes and goes in caps and everything else, so I don't have a beef with his choice of chapeau (although it's not my style).
I was reared under the no-caps-indoors-for-gentlemen rule. However, no sponsor is paying me big bucks to sport a logo on camera, removing any dilemma about uncovering my head after winning a major championship.
And who the heck would want to be the next Tiger? Geez the guy can't make a five foot putt anymore. And his Alimony bill must be enormous.
I wasn't making a comment on whether or not I dig the style (which is really neither here nor there to me) ... and I used to LOVE kangols, and still wear a variety of that style cap when I play.
My beef was with the interview after the event ... or even DURING the playing of the event. Hunter's brim is so deep, it casts a shadow on his face all the way down to the top of his bottom lip. If he cannot remove the cap due to a sponsorship agreement - perhaps a different agreement can be made where he can wear a cap, but the viewer can see his face as well?
Otherwise, wouldn't the sponsor be better served by not even having the faceless player there? Can't we just show/talk to the hat?
"So ... hat. What do you think about Tiger Woods?"
Mahan looks like a pretty fair-skinned fellow. Gotta watch the skin cancer, especially on the nose. Living at the beach I know about these things. The guys should take their hats off for interviews.
You're right about the skin cancer deal. I wear a boonie hat on the course. And I take it off indoors.
Kevin - At the moment I don't remeber who said this, but he is famous: "Anybody can win a major by accident, winning two is no accident." Don't you think Rory has a lot to prove before the mantle of greatness is bestowed as the press seems to have already done? No doubt he has potential, but so did a lot others at this stage. He needs to show us more about his ability to close the deal. Up to this point he's been in position a lot and hasn't pushed through enough to convince me he's special, not to mention the silly rules violation issues. I need to see better focus under pressure, even if he does have a preoccupation with "Danish Pastry"
I like the quote but what about Andy North? I think he won one other event on Tour other than his two US Opens. But mostly true, whole different level when you win two. I think he actually kind of outlasted the field in one of them.
Andy North could be the exception that proves the rule. Along with Long John. But I'm inclined to go with North as the exception because he seems to be the one who introduced the phrase \\\"that was a good play\\\" to televised golf. Exchanging him IIRC for Judy Rankin pegged the stupid meter, turned it right past 11 and stripped the set screw.
but he used a really cool putter
I really have to disagree with that comment...both players are headed towards the Ryder Cup so a win in match play was, I think, very important.
There is such a thing as \"PGA Tour disease,\" which basically goes something like \"I'm making millions, if I win, great, if I don't there's always next week.\"
So, did you ever think that Miller was trying to motivate Hunter Mahan with his comments? A bit far-fetched perhaps, but would you put it past him?
Mr Mahan was the all-round best player and thoroughly deserved his win, although from the drama point of view, it's a pity Mr McIlroy didn't recover more quickly from the adrenaline let down after his first match. He is a player of remarkable brilliance but to join the greats he does need to work on his putting.
Incidentally, if you caught it you'll at least share my awe, but I thought his 3-wood tee shot on the 17th on Saturday was the most perfectly struck golf shot I've ever seen.
Sounds great to me, a group of golfing lunatics are my kind of people. If I'm heading anywhere near Sarasota, I'll give you a heads up.