Tag: Rory

List of young challengers to Rory McIlroy keeps growing

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PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Five weeks into the new year, all five winners on the PGA Tour were among the top 50 in the world. Jason Day didn’t need numbers to illustrate what is becoming increasingly clear. “The game is kind of changing,” Day said after winning a four-man playoff at Torrey Pines. “It’s evolving into very young, tall, big, strong-looking guys out here that hit it a mile and have fantastic touch. It’s getting tougher. It’s really tough to win out here.” That’s easy for him to say with only three PGA Tour wins in eight years. For all … Continue reading

Rory McIlroy’s road to Masters includes missed cut, missing club and ice cream

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ORLANDO, Fla. — Rory McIlroy’s road to the Masters was memorable for reasons not many would have imagined. He missed the cut at the Honda Classic. He was missing a club at the Cadillac Championship when he flung his 3-iron into a lake. And his highlight at the Arnold Palmer Invitational was eating a banana split after dinner with the King. “He went into it like it was the last supper,” Palmer said. It wasn’t pretty, but there was no reason for McIlroy to panic. He finished off the Florida swing with two birdies on the last three holes for … Continue reading

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

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

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