McIlroy leads as McDowell admits Ryder Cup captaincy might escape him
RORY MCILROY got off to a sensational start in the Arnold Palmer Invitational but admitted he must start closing out more often if he's to notch another multi-win year.
The 2018 champion put on a clinic from the tee, demolishing the par-fives at Bay Hill as he opened with seven-under 65 to take a two-stroke lead over Americans Beau Hossler, JJ Spaun and Billy Horschel.
After opening with 66s in 2020 and 2021 only to shoot over par for the last three days each time, he knows it's a 72-hole affair.
But he also knows that if he is to achieve his goal and win multiple times this year, he must start closing out tournaments on Sundays.
"I think with the experience that I have and the tournaments that I have closed out in my career, if you're two ahead with five to play, I think you should win that, yeah," McIlroy said of his loss to Viktor Hovland in the Dubai Desert Classic in January, just eight weeks after that shirt-ripping loss to Collin Morikawa in the DP World Tour Championship.
"I'd say 25 per cent of the time it's someone's just played better than you, and you've given it your all. But I'd say three-quarters of the time there's self-error in there somewhere."
To put McIlroy's round in perspective, Pádraig Harrington worked hard to chisel out a one-over 73, but Séamus Power had several visits to water and struggled to an eight-over 80, running up a double-bogey six at the 18th, a triple-bogey seven at the third and a closing double-bogey six at the ninth, where he drove out of bounds.
"I played the par-5s particularly well, and that was the bulk of the score," said McIlroy, who was one-over after two holes but made three of his six birdies on the par-fives and added an eagle from 41 feet at the 16th (his seventh).
"You can play within yourself here and still shoot a good score, I feel, if you're just disciplined and pick off the birdies where you're supposed to."
Bay Hill's firm greens and deep rough makes it a major-style test, and that suited Graeme McDowell (42), who took advantage of a sponsor's invitation to make six birdies in a four-under 68 to share second with Sunjae Im, Will Zalatoris and Adam Scott.
"I've always enjoyed the test here," said the two-time runner-up, who needs a good season to keep his card as his PGA Tour exemption runs out this season.
"I think it appeals to the major style player for the discipline and the patience that's required. Even though the golf course does offer up five or six really good chances, there's 12 or 13 pretty difficult holes out there."
Languishing 399th in the world, McDowell believes he's playing better than his results suggest and admitted his decision not to seek the 2023 Ryder Cup captaincy could cost him his chance of ever doing the job.
“I'm obviously playing with Zach (Johnson) this week, walking around thinking maybe should I throw my hat in and go with him. I just don't think I'm quite ready. Part of me would love to because part of me thinks, if I don't take this one, I might not get it, which would be disappointing.
“There’s going to be seven or eight guys vying for the next five or six. Someone’s going to miss.”
"But I kind of have to put my own individual career first, I feel like. I desperately want to get back playing consistently well at a high level again rather than maybe taking my attention away and taking the Ryder Cup captaincy.
"Maybe part of me would be suggesting that I'm not good enough to make the team. To be able to compete at a high level, I have to have that belief. If I take the captaincy, then that belief's not there… I'd love to be captain one day, but if I don't take it this time, I'm well aware that I might miss, which would be disappointing.
"I think there's too many great guys stacking up. There's too many great players. There's going to be seven or eight guys vying for the next five or six. Someone's going to miss. When you're talking about Westwood and Garcia and Justin Rose, you're talking about top, top European players, of which I am one, but those guys have maybe slightly different credentials than me."
McDowell has sensible views on the Ryder Cup captaincy, insisting it’s more of an honour than anything else and calling out the post-Ryder Cup hammerings meted out to losing captains, such as Pádraig Harrington as somewhat over the top.
“Should it be great leaders of men, or should it be guys that are legendary players that deserve to be Ryder Cup captains?” McDowell mused. “End of the day, I look at the captaincy as an honour. Pádraig Harrington did a phenomenal job last year. I thought he ticked every box and he got a historic beating. Does that mean he's a bad captain? No, he's a great captain.
“To me, being captain is an honour. It's very, very hard to be a game changer. The way we do it in Europe to a certain extent where we take the Legends and the guys that deserve to be there and we give them that honour. I think that's okay. To me, the captains that have been thrown under the bus over the years, it's a bit unnecessary because it comes down to the players at the end of the day, and there's not really a whole lot the captain can do to help the guys hole putts.”
McDowell has been a supporter of the Saudi International but he insists his decision on the captaincy has nothing to do with the Super Golf League proposed by Greg Norman and LIV Golf Investments.
Europe has not yet named the captain for Rome as question marks hang over the future of Henrik Stenson, who is one of the favourites alongside Luke Donald.
“Yeah, there certainly needs to be a slight delay on our side,” he said. “It seems like the Saudi league seems to be a variable that is kind of putting things on delay at the minute. Like I say, from my point of view, certainly nothing to do with the Saudi league why I'm not going to take the captaincy. It's really about me just trying to focus on what I'm doing out there as much as I possibly can.
“We'll see. I think Luke Donald will do a great job. I think Henrik Stenson will do a great job. It's just a case of which one of these guys want it.”
On the DP World Tour, Paul Dunne, Niall Kearney, Gavin Moynihan and Cormac Sharvin opened with one-under 70s to share 40th, six shots behind England's Daniel Gavins in the Magical Kenya Open at Muthaiga in Nairobi where Jonathan Caldwell was 124th after a 76.
In the Challenge Tour's weather-delayed Mangaung Open, South Africa's Luke Jerling and Spanish duo Alejandro Del Rey and Scott Fernandez shot nine-under 63s at Bloemfontein to lead by two shots.
Kinsale's John Murphy was tied 32nd after a 69, with Tramore's Robin Dawson joint 60th after a 70.
Dawson was alongside Holywood's Tom McKibbin, who was two-under at Schoeman Park as Sunshine Tour regular Richard O'Donovan turned in level at Bloemfontein before play was suspended.
In amateur golf, Royal Dublin's Hugh Foley can become just the fifth Irish player to win the prestigious Copa del Rey as he was left as the last Irishman standing at Sherry Golf Jerez in Cadiz.
He beat Germany's Constantin Mons 2-up and will meet Spain's Jaime Montojo Fernandez for a place in the last 16.
In the Copa de la Reina at Real Club Pineda in Seville, Kirkistown Castle's Beth Coulter fell 1-down to Spain's Claudia Lara, but U16 Girls international Marina Joyce Moreno beat England's Patience Rhodes at the 19th and now faces Denmark's Melissa Johansen in the last 32.
