Category: News Features

Rory McIlroy loses his mind, launches golf club into water at Doral

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The first thing you notice about the iron Rory McIlroy cast into the water after dunking his approach shot at Doral’s eighth hole Friday was that he throws right-handed. Also, that he turns nicely on the follow-through, with his belt buckle pointing at the target, just like in his regular swing. Critics say he may have pulled his throw a little, and the club sailed left of his intended line, but this is quibbling. It was a rare enough occurrence on the PGA Tour that it deserves close to full marks, if only because it was the world’s No. 1 … Continue reading

Padraig Harrington, a self-described ‘basket case,’ has won again but that won’t end his debilitating self-reproach

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The Irish reputation for loquacity is well-founded. Even when Padraig Harrington produced one of his less tortured rounds, a 63 in Phoenix two years back, his answer to a prosaic inquiry about his swing was 1,850 words long. It was almost baroque in its prolixity, encompassing everything from the interviews of Arnold Palmer to his visions of how good a golfer he might be at age 70. To listen to this sweetly tormented soul is to understand how James Joyce, Harrington’s fellow Dubliner, sat down one day to compose Ulysses and wound up stretching a day in the life of … Continue reading

Donald Trump has scuba diver retrieve 3-iron Rory McIlroy threw into the water, returns it to him

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Mike Ehrmann/Getty ImagesDonald Trump drives a golf cart during the third round of the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship at Trump National Doral Blue Monster Course. DORAL, Fla. — Donald Trump made sure Rory McIlroy had 14 clubs in the bag for the final round of the Cadillac Championship. Trump had a scuba diver retrieve the 3-iron that McIlroy heaved into the water left of the par-5 eighth hole during the second round Friday. McIlroy played with only 13 clubs in the third round, saying he really didn’t need a 3-iron. A replacement club was shipped to the world’s No. 1 … Continue reading

Dustin Johnson, in fifth start since his leave, smashes way to victory at the Cadillac Championship

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DORAL, Fla. — A month after he returned from his curious leave of absence, Dustin Johnson was posing with another big trophy. In a power show Sunday on the Blue Monster, Johnson was flawless on the back nine and blasted two big drives to finish off a 3-under 69 and win the Cadillac Championship for his second World Golf Championship title. Johnson took advantage of a collapse by J.B. Holmes, who lost a five-shot lead and closed with a 75 to finish one shot behind. Masters champion Bubba Watson opened with four birdies in seven holes to lead by two … Continue reading

PGA’s silence on Dustin Johnson’s curious leave only serves to fuel speculation, innuendo and rumours

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DORAL, Fla. — Whether by choice or coercion, Dustin Johnson sat out for six months. That much should not be forgotten as Johnson, fresh off another World Golf Championship title that renewed his credentials as an elite player, tries to move forward even as there are lingering questions about his past. And those questions linger in part because the PGA Tour doesn’t release all information about suspensions. “We don’t think the fans really want to know about most of the stuff we would be talking about,” Commissioner Tim Finchem said Sunday. “We don’t think there’s a large volume of it, … Continue reading

Rory McIlroy has plenty of competition but awaits a true rival on PGA Tour

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ORLANDO, Fla. — The PGA Tour hasn’t seen this kind of parity in two decades. Jordan Spieth won the Valspar Championship last week at Innisbrook to become the 18th winner in 18 tournaments this season. The last time the PGA Tour went this deep before it had a multiple winner was in 1994 with Nick Price, whose second win came at Colonial in the 21st event of the season. Price went on to win six times that year, including consecutive majors at the British Open and PGA Championship, and finally got to a No. 1 ranking. Rory McIlroy already is … Continue reading