GOLF/ABU DHABI CHAMPIONSHIP:THE BEST (and the rest) of the 2012 golf season is yet to come but for the moment Rory McIlroy can bask in a minor victory in the contest between the sport's three major figures.
The Northern Irishman, grouped alongside Tiger Woods and Luke Donald for the first round of the Abu Dhabi Championship, emerged with a three-shot advantage over the former world number one and a four-shot lead over the man currently sitting atop golf’s totem pole. As for the tournament itself, McIlroy was tied for the lead with Sweden’s Robert Karlsson after 18 holes.
“I didn’t feel like I played that good, but I did well to manage my way around the course,” McIlroy said after shooting a five-under-par 67. Woods signed for a round of 70, and Donald for a 71. Goodness knows what scoring the American and the Englishman might need to match the world number three were they to run into him on a good day.
And before anyone accuses McIlroy of being falsely modest, he was absolutely correct in his self-assessment. He did not play well, finding fewer than half the fairways off the tee and only 12 of the 18 greens in regulation. Contrast that with Woods, who missed only four fairways on a tight course and made 17 greens in regulation.
What the statistics do not show but what was plain to see was that the former Woods completely outplayed his young partner (and Donald for that matter) in most facets of the game, striking his ball with much more authority and controlled power.
Once upon a time, Woods was the one dishing out muggings like this – playing poorly but scoring well. It is a different world these days. Now he is the one on the receiving end.
“In the last few months of last year I felt even though I didn’t play very well I could still find a way to score out on the course,” said McIlroy. “This is a continuation of that. It makes a huge difference when you can turn a 74 into a round of 70, or as I did today, turn a 70 into a 67.”
Woods inverted this magical alchemy, turning a potential 67, or even better, into a mundane round of 70. The difference between the two was putting, which is to say McIlory holed his fair share and Woods did not hole anything. This time the book of statistics told the full story – Woods 34 putts, McIlroy 25.
“I had a great ball-striking round but had a hard time reading the greens out there. I just got fooled a lot of times because of the grain on the greens,” said Woods.
Woods will certainly hope his troubles were caused by the particular type of Bermuda grass on the greens on the Abu Dhabi club’s National course. If so, then he has every reason to feel optimistic about his putting, and his overall game, in the season ahead because, as he said, he struck the ball superbly, more than matching McIlroy with driver and bludgeoning his ball 40 yards past Donald on some holes.
However, if his putting problems are more fundamental then trickier times lie ahead.
Let us see what the next few days bring. But at first glance the suspicion is that Woods does indeed have issues with the most important club in the bag. In his prime he was a supreme putter, blessed with innate gifts of rhythm and fearlessness required to handle the glass-like greens of the professional game.
These days, he looks like a maths undergraduate stumped by a difficult algorithm. He no longer looks comfortable standing over the ball, a predisposition reflected in the age he takes before bringing back the club head.
If Woods was to putt like his old self over the next three days, then the rest had better watch out. If not, then there will be many more days like this for the 14-times Major champion.
Donald took a few weeks off after the successes of 2011 and looked well short of his best yesterday but, like the Northern Irishman, he has learned the art of scoring well while playing badly. When he starts playing well then he has the knack of scoring even better.
(Gbr Irl unless stated, par 72)
67 R McIlroy, R Karlsson (Swe)
68 J-B Gonnet (Fra), R Finch, G Maybin
69 R Ramsay, R Rock, N Colsaerts (Bel)
70 T Woods (USA), C Schwartzel (Rsa), J Edfors (Swe), J M Lara (Spa), A Wall, D Drysdale, Paul Lawrie, J Kruger (Rsa), T Olesen (Den), W-c Liang (Chn), M Hoey
71 A Hansen (Den), S Garcia (Spa), J Luiten (Ned), C Montgomerie, G Coetzee (Rsa), O Fisher, R Jacquelin (Fra), J Elson, R S Johnson (Swe), K J Choi (Kor), K Horne (Rsa), A Canizares (Spa), L Donald, P Harrington, M Fraser (Aus)
72 T Aiken (Rsa), J Kingston (Rsa), S Hansen (Den), B Curtis (USA), S Dyson, J-M Olazabal (Spa), M Brier (Aut), G Fdez-Castano (Spa), L Westwood, G McDowell, D Howell, M Siem (Ger), D Clarke, A Cejka (Ger), B Rumford (Aus), R Gonzalez (Arg), S Gallacher, M A Jimenez (Spa), L Gagli (Ita), F Andersson Hed (Swe)
73 D McGrane, R Fisher, M Ilonen (Fin), M Manassero (Ita), S Jamieson, J Sjoholm (Swe), G Boyd, A Noren (Swe), T Bjorn (Den), S Lowry, T Fleetwood, N Fasth (Swe), B Dredge, C Wood, P Whiteford, S Khan, A Pavan (Ita)
74 R J Derksen (Ned), F Molinari (Ita), G Storm, P Hanson (Swe), C del Moral (Spa), E Molinari (Ita), C Nilsson (Swe), M Zions (Aus), R McEvoy, S S P Chowrasia (Ind), V Dubuisson (Fra), D Lynn, J Day (Aus), R Coles, R Wattel (Fra), J Donaldson, T Goya (Arg)
75 B Grace (Rsa), D Willett, J Van Zyl (Rsa), K Ferrie, P Hedblom (Swe), P Larrazabal (Spa), M Warren, M Jonzon (Swe), J M Singh (Ind), H Otto (Rsa), D Horsey, R Davies, O Floren (Swe), J Morrison, T Lewis, R Green (Aus), M Foster
76 C Cevaer (Fra), G Murray, T Hamilton (USA), A Dodt (Aus), L Slattery, M Bothma (Rsa), F Zanotti (Par), G Bourdy (Fra), R Cabrera Bello (Spa)
77 M Wiegele (Aut), P Price, M Kaymer (Ger), B Wiesberger (Aut)
78 S Kjeldsen (Den), Peter Lawrie, T Jaidee (Tha), G Havret (Fra), A Quiros (Spa)
79 M Campbell (Nzl)
80 H Stenson (Swe)
81 S Little
82 A Al Musharrekh (UAE), P Martin (Spa)
87 S Fee.
Maybin makes ground with consistent ease
GARETH MAYBIN went about his business quietly but confidently in yesterday’s first round to lie just one off the lead with a blemish free round of 68. Starting on the 10th tee, Maybin was consistency personified until the second where a run of four birdies in five holes moved him up the field. Michael Hoey, is also in the top 10 following a two-under round of 70. Hoey was in a position to threaten the lead but three dropped shots in the final four holes forced him to settle or a share of ninth spot, one better than Pádraig Harrington. Graeme McDowell had his difficulties with the driver which cost him a double bogey on the 17th, dropping him back to level par. Darren Clarke is on the same score with Shane Lowry and Damien McGrane a shot further back.
