Joy of Golf: Communication is key for McIlroy

Joy Chakravarty 06:30 10/11/2016
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  • McIlroy was the posterboy of the tournament.

    I was in Antalya for the Turkish Airlines Open last week, and it was easy to see how Rory McIlroy, the posterboy of the tournament, transformed into a villain.

    McIlroy’s face was visible everywhere – starting from the food menu of Turkish Airlines flights, to countless banners, hoardings and the event souvenir. Only McIlroy was nowhere in the vicinity of the Regnum Carya course, having pulled out on the Saturday before the $7 million tournament.

    Apparently, the Turkish Golf Federation spent close to a million dollars in implementing various safety measures which were asked by the European Tour after reports emerged on October 14 that a couple of rockets were fired at the seas-side resort town from nearby mountains.

    The organisers did everything they were asked for, including an extra chartered flight from Gatwick straight to Antalya. However, the week before the tournament, a car bomb exploded in the city (but almost 50kms away from the secluded resorts area).

    Those two incidents spooked McIlroy and a few other players. He decided to forego the reported appearance fee of $1.5 million and also his chances of winning the Race to Dubai for a second consecutive year.

    Was McIlroy wrong in pulling out? Absolutely not. Personal safety has to be the biggest consideration for any action take by an individual. However, he could have done it in a better way. His biggest mistake was not communicating with the organisers.

    Things do get magnified when McIlroy is involved. That has got everything to do with his status in the sport. Obviously, he is a free agent, but he also has the immense responsibility which comes from being one of the best in his profession. Very few players command the kind of appearance fee he gets, which is also the reason why very few players get the flak he gets for similar flubs.

    GOLF THERAPY FOR CRICKET

    A few years ago, I read a very interesting article about doctors in UK actually prescribing golf as therapy for their patients for a variety of illnesses.

    It does make sense. For somebody who needs to exercise (like people suffering from obesity, diabetes), a single round of golf could mean an enjoyable walk of nearly seven kilometers.

    But I never knew that golf could also be a cure for poor batting in cricket. England limited-over captain Eoin Morgan completely believes in this, and by all accounts, his advice has come in very handy for opener Alex Hales.

    It seems after a poor Test series against Pakistan earlier this year, Hales was despondent about his string of low scores. Enter Dr Morgan, an exponent in alternate therapy.

    Morgan felt Hales was not relaxed while batting and he was getting too uptight. Knowing Hales’ love for golf, the captain asked him to spend more time on the driving range then at the nets.

    Guess what happened six days later? In the third ODI of the series at Nottingham, England smashed the highest total in history of the format – 444 for three. And Hales’ contribution in that? A massive 171 of just 122 balls!

    STORM SUBSIDES FOR GRAEME

    The sun is shining once again on Graeme Storm after a few days of despair.

    The Englishman, who looked like without a permanent job for the 2017 season after failing to keep his European Tour membership by a mere 100 euros, received some great news this week when American Patrick Reed failed to save his European Tour membership by not playing the mandatory five ‘regular’ Tour events.

    Reed needed to play 13 events to keep his membership, but missed last week’s Turkish Airlines Open.

    The removal of the world No8 from the Race to Dubai has meant Storm secured the 111th and final qualifying place for 2017 season.

    DRUGS-FREE GOLF

    The International Golf Federation have revealed that a total of 197tests were conducted – by either the IGF, or the National Anti-Doping Organisation (NADO) or the IOC – over the 60 male and 64 women who took part in the Olympics in Rio this year.

    Despite the majority of field being tested more than once, the good news is that none of the tests came out positive.

    STAT OF THE WEEK

    335.8 – yards, the average driving distance of Jimmy Walker. That makes him the PGA Tour’s longest driver this season, an increase of 34.5 yards from last year.

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