When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
That's Deadspin's headline. And in return, they have created their own less flattering name for the power couple.
"Wozzilroy," which is what they have decided we will call them. We, obviously, have decided to go with McIliacki, because it sounds gross.
Stuart McKinley reports on what I thought was nothing more than harmless Twitter banter between juveniles in the Chubby stable. It all started when Rory sided with the European team in the Seve Trophy. Just the kind of thing that starts wars over there.Brian Wacker, with many quotes from agent Chubby Chandler on Rory McIlroy's decision to play through the pain because he can't do anymore damage to his wrist.
“Guy’s like Rory and Tiger, they play on their limit, don’t they?” Chandler said. “He’s taking a shot 90 percent of the field wouldn’t take.”
And while the result of that shot proved damaging, there was little indication that McIlroy wouldn’t try to play on Friday.
“He said something there, that the next major is not until April,” Chandler said. “That’s how he thinks. That’s how he’s thought for 18 months. You don’t get too many people who think like that, not really think like that.
“He’s a different person at a major than any other week. There’s a 24 tournament schedule and there’s 20 that don’t matter. I don’t mean to say they don’t matter, but they’re a means to an end. There’s a spark when he comes to a major. There’s a different look in his face.”
****Steve Elling with this and more from Chandler:
Even J.P. Fitzgerald came under fire for not calling McIlroy off the shot, a criticism that drew laughter from Chandler. He called the caddie criticism, "bullsh*t."
"He doesn’t listen to anybody," Chandler said.
Frank Nobilo visits the scene of the crime for Golf Channel.
I spent more time than I'd like to think about looking at stories on Rory McIlroy's decision to play a shot from near a tree root during round one of the PGA and the coverage is shocking on a number of levels.The young lad has another leg up on a certain cheapskate golfer, or so it seems. John Mulgrew with the vital details (thanks reader David):
They didn't take his comments about the weather very seriously and now the shock is evident as some of the UK's finest golf scribes grapple with the shocking turn of events in Rory McIlroy's world.
And as Dave Shedloski notes, it's not just our hot muggy weather, but our wonderful, bowling alley, soft, inland golf courses. (If he's looking at Lake Nona then let's face it, the allure of the Tavistock Cup was the deal sealer.)
You have to love the loyalty, job security and blurbs J.P. Fitzgerald is accumulating as Rory McIlroy continued to defend his man against the commentary of Jay Townsend following round 2 at the Irish Open.
Jason Sobel takes the opportunity presented by the McIlroy-Townsend Showdown At Kilarney to point out that this is part of the growth process...for Twitter users.
After a one-under opening round in the Irish Open, Rory McIlroy and BBC radio commentator Jay Townsend exchanged some thoughts on the day. From a BBC report, courtesy of reader Lloyd:
Most of the Euro Tour beat writers remain reluctant to question the long term future of Rory McIlroy in the Open Championship after he wrote it off Sunday, but as Karl MacGinty Brian Creighton reports several old geezers saw Rory McIlroy's comments about the Open and believe he needs to change his attitude. Nick Price was the toughest:
“He had better get out there and start liking those courses and figuring out a way to play them. And if he's a good enough player, he will do that.
“He may not like it as much but he will learn. I guarantee you, he will learn to play and enjoy it on links courses.”
Ian Woosnam was the most erudite. And I bet you never thought you'd see his name and that word in the same sentence!
“He's only a young kid. He's going to say the wrong thing again and again. He's probably thinking ‘What the hell have I said?'“ Woosnam commented on the US Open champion.
“But if he wants to win the Open he's going to have to adapt. Tiger has adapted, Nicklaus adapted. Palmer, they all adapted.
“He needs to adapt to it. It's not changing your game. It's changing the way you think. All you have to do is move the ball back a couple of inches in your stance and take a club or even two clubs more to play. It's called control.”
Brian Keogh reports on Rory McIlroy's agent Chubby Chandler coming to the defense of his client after Rory's surprising post-round comments suggesting that Open golf was not his thing.
Chubby agrees with McIlroy's belief he should not change his game for one week a year, even though it's the most important tournament of the year. Also note the line about wind.
“I think he’s right,” Chandler said. “Why would you change what he’s got? What will happen is that he will gradually learn to play the shots that Darren learned 15 years ago. But at 22 he has not got the experience. And it won’t be a case of changing his game. He won’t need to do that because he can win a lot of golf tournaments with that game.
“He will get a couple of times when the wind is not up in the Open and it will be a lot easier. But he will learn. He will learn to play because I tell you what, he has learnt an awful lot in a year. Last year he had no idea. This year he was much better.”
Chubby also suggested the timing of the questions did not help. After all, the lad had a better place to be in London.
As Chandler noted: “You guys get them when they’re disappointed when they have just finished. So what comes out of their mouth, Bubba Watson style isn’t always what they are thinking. So you have always got to temper that. He is not going to go away and think I have got to practice this way and that way to win the Open. But he will get better at it.”
Though based on Brian Keogh's report, the lad hasn't done too poorly on the rebound with Caroline Wozniacki, which still makes me wonder: if an American had said what Rory said about the Open, would he get cut so much slack by the UK press?Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
