? McIlroy shares early lead after first round of 67
? Woods shoots bogey-free 70, with Donald one shot back
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 No1 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 No3 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 less 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 world No1 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. And yet there he was, heading out of the clubhouse surrounded by his coterie of security personnel, none of whom were able stop him being the victim of a golfing injustice.
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 had 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,'' the American said.
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 Friday and 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. When questions were asked, he answered.
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 to before taking back the club head. The old certainties appear to be gone ? perhaps temporarily, perhaps for a prolonged period.
If the former were to be the case ? if Woods was 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-time major champion and it will not be just McIlroy who takes advantage. Donald took a few weeks off after the successes of 2011 and looked well short of his best on Thursday but, like the Northern Irishman, he has learned the art of scoring well while playing badly. When he starts playing well then the world No1 has the knack of scoring even better.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jan/26/rory-mcilroy-tiger-woods-abu-dhabi
John Barnes Lee Carsley Tim Cahill England cricket team US constitution and civil liberties Mafia
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