Joy of Golf: Imperious McIlroy shows the value of great driving

Joy Chakravarty 04:37 21/05/2015
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  • Show of Power: McIlroy.

    This is an ode to what was easily the finest round of driving I have seen in a golf tournament in recent times.

    What Rory McIlroy produced with his Nike Vapor Pro during Saturday’s third round of the Wells Fargo Championship was absolutely stunning. For the record, it was an 11-under par 61 round. It should definitely have been lower.

    We have spoken of Tiger-proofing golf courses for so many years, but it’s time we gave that term a decent burial. The more appropriate usage now is Rory-proofing.

    Quail Hollow is not a short golf course by any standard. At almost 7,500 yards, it is of a very decent length, and it also possesses the dreaded Green Mile – the name given to its stretch of last three holes, the 508-yard par-4 16th, the 221-yard par-3 17th and the 493- yard par-4 18th, which has a creek running through the middle of the fairway for a considerable length of the hole.

    But McIlroy simply brought the course down to its knees that day. For the record, apart from three of the four par-3s, the world No1 never used a club higher than a nine-iron for his approach shots. That’s a mind-boggling stat, considering four par-4 holes on the course are more than 485 yards long.

    On the par-3 second, which was playing 178 yards long that day, McIlroy hit a nine-iron tee shot. On the 250-yard sixth, he hit a 4-iron, and on the 221-yard 17th, playing slightly downwind, he needed nothing more than a seven-iron to muscle his ball on to the green. But it was his driving that was just imperious that day.

    Forget the accuracy – he just hit eight fairways off the tee on 14 holes – but even when he missed the short grass, he had hit it so long that he was left with nothing shots to the green.

    Averaging 334.5 yards off the tee, his longest approach shot on a par-4 hole was from 169 yards on the ninth hole, which was playing 502 yards, and he made one of his 11 birdies there following a nine-iron shot to less than seven feet.

    His average approach shot during the third round was 127 yards. But if you take out the four par-3s, McIlroy’s average approach shot was a ridiculously low 94.8 yards.

    Safe to say whoever said “you drive for show and putt for dough”, never saw McIlroy drive the ball.

    Don’t crucify Scott

    For the life of me, I can’t understand why there’s such a ruckus after Adam Scott’s honest confession last week that he was not excited by golf being in the Olympics.

    The Aussie has faced the heat with several scathing comments on various social media, and even reactions from the media. Three-time squash world champion Nick Matthew even called him ‘stupid’.

    Speaking on the eve of the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow, Scott said: “Golf doesn’t need to be in the Olympics. Whether I win an Olympic medal or not is not going to define my career or change whether I’ve fulfilled my career. It’s nothing I’ve ever aspired to do and I don’t think I ever will. It’s all about the four majors, and I think that’s the way it should stay for golf.”

    In a way, Scott’s argument makes sense. He said he enjoys watching top athletes perform in Olympics a lot, and for them it is a big deal because in most other sports, the athletes almost work toward a four-year plan to try and win an Olympic gold.

    The golfers are not used to that thinking – for them, a Masters green jacket, or the Claret Jug, is a lot more meaningful achievement at the moment.

    I can understand there is a lot of excitement about golf getting back into the Olympics, and most top stars are expected to show solidarity. But let’s have a few dissenting voices. It’s healthy.

    KP, the nervous golfer

    Whether it is facing a 100mph bouncer, or going out to bat in front of a packed stadium, Kevin Pietersen is not easily fazed by the ordinary. But even the mighty KP admitted to butterflies a day before teeing up at the BMW PGA pro-am.

    The now-rejected England cricket star teamed up with former US Open champion Justin Rose, Jamie Redknapp and Dwight Yorke on Wednesday, but tweeted to his 2.6 million followers on Tuesday: “World Cup Final, final days of Ashes series, International debut & I’m more nervous about 1pm tomorrow than any of that!”

    Quote of the Week

    “My thing is we need to be honest (with) each other, and be professional as we are. It’s not about a rule anymore. It’s about the attitude.” – Miguel Angel Jimenez on his dispute with Keegan Bradley at the Match Play.

    Stat of the Week

    17.78 – world ranking points earned by Tiger Woods since January 2014. For an idea as to how bad it is, a major win earns a player 100 points, a WGC event 80, and a regular PGA Tour event upwards of 50 points.

    He had earned more points (18.3) for finishing tied-third in the Turkish Open in 2013. The former world No1 has now slipped down to 140.

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