www.globalgolfpost.com
MARCH 12, 2012
MIAMI | The Masters is less than a month
away but even at the WGC-Cadillac
Championship last week, it was hard for
some people, particularly Rory McIlroy,
to avoid thinking about what lies ahead at
Augusta National.
After ascending to No. 1 in the world
rankings the week before with his triumph
at the Honda Classic, McIlroy said he
came to Doral feeling a tad flat mentally
and emotionally. He got out of the
doldrums with a third-round 65 that surely
lifted his spirits, and he followed that
up with a 67 to finish alone in third, two
strokes behind winner Justin Rose. Now
he’s taking three weeks off to prepare for
the first major of the year.
“This week, next week and the next
couple of weeks, I’ll be thinking toward
Augusta,” he said after Friday’s round
when he was 10 strokes off the pace.
“That’s what I’m going to build myself up
for. If I was in contention, it probably would
not be on my mind that much. But seeing
where I am on the leaderboard, it’s on my
mind a little bit more.”
Still, after such a delicious start to the
2012 golf season, how could Georgia not
be on everyone’s mind these days con-
sidering what we’ve seen so far from so
many of the game’s grandest names and
up-and-coming future stars.
McIlroy’s performance in the Honda,
when he met the challenge of Tiger
Woods’ Sunday 62 with brilliant shot-
making of his own to protect a two-shot
lead down the stretch, may well have been
the most stirring finish of the season con-
sidering what was at stake for both men.
loves what he sees at the top of his sport.
“I think the game is in a good place,”
Mahan said this week. “The difference
between the No. 1-ranked player and the
20th and 30th ranked player isn’t that
big any more. I think we know a lot more
about the game than we used to. I think
the education on the golf swing has grown
exponentially.
“I think guys are figuring a lot more
‘And then (Tiger Woods) comes out and we
realized there is nothing stopping you from
winning eight tournaments in a year, to win
$10 million in a year.” – Hunter Mahan
That optimism, however, was tempered when on Sunday Woods withdrew
on the back nine at Doral with what he described as a left Achilles tendon problem.
But prior to Woods’ potential setback
in Miami, Graeme McDowell, who played
with Woods that final round at the Honda
Classic, said: “Obviously, Tiger is back do-
ing only outrageous things that Tiger can
do. And you know, we have got a world-
class field around him now as well.”
The week before the Honda it was
Hunter Mahan grinding his way through
the WGC-Accenture Match Play field and
then beating McIlroy in the final round,
once again establishing himself as a for-
midable foe. Like McDowell, Mahan also
things out for themselves and learning a
lot more than they used to, and the result
is it’s pretty tight at the top.
