Different Strokes: Rory McIlroy avoids ‘Courtroom Nightmares’ but Patrick Reed may not be so lucky

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  • Fighting talk: Rory McIlroy (l) and Patrick Reed (r) are both on the offensive like a certain Scot.

    Different Strokes brings you a light-hearted look at the world of golf; this week, Rory McIlroy’s on course success and off-field distractions, plus courtroom drama may also await Patrick Reed. 

    MCILROY A MASTER IN THE MAKING

    After striding out to victory at the Dubai Desert Classic last weekend, most sane people were already ready to hand the 2015 Masters title to Rory McIlroy.

    Augusta National may still be more than eight weeks away for the world’s best players, but McIlroy’s latest dominant victory — this time by three shots, over another high class field — had some writing like the first major of the year was already a foregone conclusion.

    “Am I at the peak of my powers?  I’d like to think that I could still get better,” the Northern Irishman said on Sunday, after one question to that effect. “I’d like to think that I can still improve in certain areas.” 

    Indeed, in some ways the victory, and its relative ease, perhaps led the media to overlook some of the minor blemishes McIlroy displayed at the Emirates course. Despite his clear pleasure at the win, this was not McIlroy at his scintillating best (which is a bit like criticising a Gordon Ramsay spaghetti Bolognese; it’s still going to be better than what 99.99% of people could ever manage).

    McIlroy’s driving—high, long, straight, majestic—was the backbone of his latest win, but at times the rest of his game look less than razor-sharp, with his iron play occasionally a fraction out of sync as he seemed to be fighting things, particularly earlier in the tournament, very slightly.

    His ability to shape shots on command seemed to elude him on occasions, while late in the tournament he admitted he was unable to accelerate towards the target (24-under-par) he had set for himself. Fortunately he didn’t need to.


    That is to be expected in some ways, though; we are still early in the season, at a point where all players are getting back into the swing of things (pun unashamedly intended), re-adjusting to the extensive demands of tournament golf and all the corporate engagements that surround it. The results indicate that, even if he still has room to improve, McIlroy has done a better job of re-adjusting than most.

    It is that, along with the fact he has won the last two majors, that have led many to put him down as a nailed-on favourite for Augusta. McIlroy just has to turn up and he will win—it’ll be a bit like any episode of Kitchen Nightmares ever; Ramsay arrives, others put up a fight for a while, but at the end everyone agrees he’s a genius.

    That sounds great for McIlroy, but the biggest boost to his Augusta hopes may have just occurred off the course. While his rivals continued to ramp up their play over the next couple of weeks, McIlroy had been due to be in a court in Dublin – sorting out a case with his former agents that looked highly likely to get messy.

    The case was originally scheduled to go on for eight weeks, which would have taken a significant chunk out of McIlroy’s playing and practicing time. But an out-of-court settlement, which would have saved everyone’s time and, equally importantly, avoid any dirty laundry being left billowing in the wind, had proven elusive right up until Tuesday, when the case was due to start.

    With potentially embarrassing details about McIlroy, his old agents and even other golfers (Graeme McDowell, who also used to be represented by the same management, looked set to be dragged into matters) on the verge of being made public, negotiations between the two parties on a settlement were evidently not going well.

    “It’s not something you want hanging over your head and it’s not something I’d want anyone to go through, it’s not a nice process,” McIlroy acknowledged last week. “It’s a shame it’s gone this far and that two sides see things completely differently. The only way to sort it out is to get a judge to come in and tell us what to do.”

    That seemed to remain the case after a day of slow negotiations on Tuesday but, when all parties returned to court the next day, a settlement had mercifully been reached. We may never know the terms of the deal, but at least the deal means McIlroy can refocus on golf, and continuing the advantage he seems to have over his rivals while further honing his golf game into the A+ shape needed to win a major.

    “I think it is just a matter of keep ticking it over,” McIlroy said on Sunday, before the settlement. “I’ve done a lot of good work the last few weeks here in the Middle East and I’ve got three weeks off now to… well, I won’t have three weeks of hitting balls I guess, but I’ll have at least a good week of preparation going into the Honda [Classic]. But yeah, I’ll keep it ticking over.”

    Leading the way as we set out on the road to Augusta, what looked set to be the biggest obstacle to McIlroy’s potential victory has now been overcome in a relatively painless manner; if not financially, then in time and energy.

    “I don’t mind that the Masters is still a couple of months away,” McIlroy insisted. “I feel like I can keep this run of form going, and there’s no reason why I shouldn’t. I’m comfortable with my game.

    “It seems like this little Middle East run that I start my season off with works pretty well for me.” 

    REED ALL ABOUT IT

    McIlroy is not the only golfer heading for the courtroom this week, as one of Different Strokes’ top five players in the world, Patrick Reed, is apparently considering beginning legal action against the author of an upcoming book.

    Fighting back: Patrick Reed (l) is hitting has hit out at American journalist Shane Ryan.

    American journalist Shane Ryan — who, for our money, wrote the most astute and accurate reflection on last year’s Ryder Cup — has a book coming out about the up-and-coming players on the PGA Tour, and to build anticipation last week a section of the book was published online. That piece focused on Reed, and in particularly the somewhat confusing claims and counter-claims that surround his playing career before the divisive American turned pro.

    Among some of the details turned up include suggestions that Reed at one point in the early stages of his college career might-have-been-close-to-almost-possibly cheating, along with persistent inferences that he is not exactly the most popular among his PGA Tour peers (something most observers might have already guessed).

    “The accusations that were made against me are serious and were intended to damage my reputation and character,” Reed said in a statement. “They will not be taken lightly. My team and my representatives are looking into all aspects of this matter, and we look forward to setting the record straight.” 

    Such comments are bullish, but it will be interesting to see if Reed actually does take matters further. Ryan’s piece seems typically well researched and corroborated, even if few sources agreed to talk on the record. Beyond the headline claims it is not even a hatchet job of Reed, indeed in many ways it engenders a certain sympathy for the 24-year-old.

    Defamation laws in the United States are far less strict than in other parts of the world, making them far harder to win for the claimant. To do so would require opening up Reed to further embarrassment (much of Ryan’s reporting could end up being substantiated more fully) and may achieve the opposite of the desired effect.

    Only time will tell, but the suspicion is that Reed is using the threat of defamation as a ploy to convince the public he has been wronged, without any actual intention to follow through on it—because it could only end up being costly to his bank balance and detrimental to his reputation. We shall see.

    ACE IN THE HOLE

    All credit to Different Strokes. Last week in this section we hoped for a repeat of Tiger Woods’ famous 1997 hole-in-one at the Phoenix Open – and that is exactly what we got.

    Okay, so it was not from Woods himself (the great man had long since departed Arizona, having not so much missed the cut as failed to get in the same galaxy as it), but Francesco Molinari nevertheless got the crowd on its feet with a lovely ace on Saturday.

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