"Caroline Wozniacki says McIlroy love match will not stop Wimbledon success"

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Neil McLeman talks to the former women's tennis world No. 1 about her relationship with Rory McIlroy and whether it is somehow to blame for her on-court struggles.

This was an interesting comment..

“After some losses for me, I need to get back. You need that blood on your teeth again – that hunger. I don’t think anything ever happens that you can’t take some good from. It’s all part of the learning curve.

“You can’t be No.1 in the world for 20 years – unless you are Tiger Woods! Rory is only 23 years old as well.”

Rory's First Pitch Is A High Strike; Then The Lad Leaves Earlier Than A Dodger Fan

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I Tweeted the spellbinding video so for now this is all you've got to live the first pitch at Tuesday's Giants-Astros game (until it appears on YouTube or Golf Channel, which appeared to have exclusive access based on the number of groupees they had on the field).



Even with front row seats, Rory left in the middle of the second inning and made the unfortunate move of leaving from the exit near where prominent members of the UK press were sitting. And this lowly blogger.

Even Dodger fans stay longer than that. I was gone by the end of six.

As for Rory's game, Pond Scummers Elling and Huggan are back and batted around Rory's play in Memphis heading into his title defense at Olympic.

Elling: To me, the fact that McIlroy put himself in contention, and then some, was a huge step forward. The kid had missed three straight cuts at premier events, twice shooting 79. This time, he just hit a horrible shot at absolutely the worst possible time, wrecking any chance at a victory when he had a hand on the trophy. Is his confidence shaken? It ought to be. But he's in better shape than he was 10 days ago.

Huggan: My bigger question re Rory's chances this week are more to do with the bigger picture. Does he have more than one gear? I have doubts about that. Any time the course is not soft enough for him to go full-bore at every target, his play has been less than stellar. And, after last year, there is no way that the USGA is going to have the course at anything less than brutal. Just as they did in 1974 -- the "massacre at Winged Foot -- in the wake of Johnny Miller's 63 at Oakmont 12 months previously, look for them to exact some revenge this time round.

Sam Weinman highlights the highlights of Rory's Tuesday press conference.

Memorial 36-Hole Round-Up: Rory Is Back! Rory Is Back!

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How about that great play from the lad, such a turnarou...what? Oh, that Rory? Really? The courtesy car ditcher?

Even Doug Ferguson had to note the other Rory taking the Memorial lead in his AP lede:

That other Rory – Rory Sabbatini – played his best golf in the worst weather Friday at the Memorial and made a surprising appearance atop the leaderboard. Right behind him was a Tiger Woods that looked all too familiar.

He also noted this about Tiger, who lurks one back in search of his 73rd PGA Tour victory.

Woods looked strong for the second straight day, though he also had another double bogey that slowed his progress. What pleased him was controlling his ball in the wind for plenty of birdie chances that led to a 69.

''I hit the ball well all day, and it was a day that I needed to,'' Woods said. ''The wind was blowing out there, swirling in those trees, and it was just a tough day.''

Steve Elling noted that Woods did this with horrible allergies Thursday, and now a cold or flu bug that developed in round two.

Tiger Woods politely declined to shake hands with a couple of folks after his round at the Memorial Tournament, and not because he was upset with his round or didn't wanna mingle with the little people.

Somewhere over the course of the week, and it wasn't helped by the rain and 50-degree weather on Friday, he caught a cold of flu bug.

“Dude, this is June, right?” Woods said.

As for McIlroy, Dave Shedloski called it "another inexplicable display of desultory golf."

On the par-5 11th, McIlroy layed up poorly on the edge of a creek right of the fairway and then watched his third kick backwards into the water when he tried to hack his ball into the fairway from a thick lie.

"Probably a bit of bad judgment because I thought I could just chip it back out," said McIlroy, who finished fifth in last year's Memorial. "But if I had have examined the line maybe a little bit closer, I might have just taken a drop straight away."

When he drove into another creek left of the fairway at 14, it marked the fourth time that McIlroy had found a water hazard in two rounds.

Bob Harig noted that Rory's lousy play probably still won't be scrutinized like Tiger's.

And yet, you won't see McIlroy take the same kind of bashing Woods would receive if had missed three straight cuts. There will be no cries for McIlroy to dump his swing coach, Michael Bannon, who came over from Northern Ireland to help his star student this week.

Jim McCabe talked to Luke Donald, who sounded very excited to be chatting about his rival, but did offer a blunt take on Rory's troubles.

Donald shrugged.

“He made a few errors, careless errors. I’m sure when Rory puts a few solid rounds together he’ll be fine.”

Elling looked at Rory's day, with full quotes from the lad, and noted how long it's been since Rory played this poorly:

McIlroy, 23, last missed three straight cuts in August, 2008, on the European Tour.

Ashleigh Ignelzi and I discussed the first two rounds of the Memorial. It's about 5 minutes long:



And the PGA Tour highlights include Tiger's 194-yard 8-iron at 16.

Memorial Photo Caption Fun, Jack And Rory Edition

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Screaming out for a Jack thought bubble...Tweeted by Rory:

 

Rory's Weekend Of Practice Takes Him...To Paris

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After his second round 79, Rory pledged to be banging balls this weekend, with several in the UK writing force suggesting he would be practicing at Wentworth instead of jetting off to be with girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki. And while Rory did hit a bucket or two Saturday, that was the extent of the reigning U.S. Open champion's attempts to regain his form.
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Rory: ''I don't think I hit it any longer, I just don't need to try and hit it."

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Doug Ferguson files many third round Wells Fargo Championship notes including this one on the trim and more athletic looking Rory McIlroy, who has been intensely working the weights and it shows.

McIlroy hit an incredible drive on the par-4 16th, blistering one 377 yards down the right side of the fairway, leaving him with only 102 yards to the hole. But he finished with a bogey after three-putting from 15 feet.

McIlroy attributes his newfound strength to an intense weight program.

''I don't think I hit it any longer, I just don't need to try and hit it,'' McIlroy said. ''So when I hit it, it just goes. I don't have to go after it quite as much.''