Rory McIlroy is roaring after Tiger

RORY McILROY was described by no less than Tiger Woods last night as having “all the components to be the best player in the world” but golf’s most talented teenager saw his challenge dissipate late in the third round of the CA Championship at Doral in Florida.
Three-time major winner Phil Mickelson and fellow American Nick Watney, both on 16 under par, will take a four-shot lead over Colombian Camilo Villegas and India’s Jeev Singh into today’s final round, six shots ahead of McIlroy, who lost his way on the back nine after closing to within one shot of Mickelson through 12 holes.
His ball-striking failed to match the consistent sharpness so evident in his first and second rounds in which he shot 68 and 66. From the outset, he was ragged off the tee, dragging his opening drive of 330 yards left into the rough. He salvaged a birdie with an excellent approach shot to within 20ft of the pin and an undemanding two-putt and his mindset remained indefatigably positive. A bogey on the par-three fourth when he pulled his tee shot into a greenside bunker did not dent his confidence, for he responded immediately with a birdie on the short par-four fifth hole when he executed his approach shot to within 3ft of the flagstick. Another up-and-down from behind the green on the par-five 10th moved him to 12-under and a two-putt birdie on the 12th left him within striking distance of Watney and Mickelson.
Then his assault began to fall apart. He missed the green on the par-four 14th and failed to get up and down after using his three-wood out of the fringe rough. Duffed chips and further bogeys on the 15th and 17th quickly followed and a round so full of promise two-thirds of the way through finished disappointingly in 72 strokes to leave him where he had started the day on 10 under par. He lost position in the field from third to 10th.
“It was a pretty difficult day out there and I thought I was doing very well as three-under through 13 was a good score,” he reflected. “But I just let a few slip at the end. I hit a bad drive at the 14th, got away with it, just missed the green to the right and had a terrible lie. It could have been better but I am still there or thereabouts. It has been a great three weeks but it would be nice to shoot a good round tomorrow before I head home for a couple of weeks.”
The 19-year-old from Holywood, Co Down, has demonstrated a precocious talent in America and in only his second strokeplay tournament on the PGA Tour his performance here has been extraordinary. He is unlikely to become the youngest winner in the history of American professional golf today, breaking by two days the record of Philadelphia’s Johnny McDermott, who was aged 19 years and 315 days when he won the US Open in 1911, but even Woods, who walked off with a satisfying four-under-par 68 to move to seven-under overall, has noted his potential.
“There’s no doubt, no doubt, hopefully while I’m not around or even while I am around,” Woods declared when asked if he has seen golf’s future No 1 in McIlroy. “The guy’s a talent, he certainly has the talent and we can all see it, the way he hits the golf ball, the way he putts, the way he can chip and get up and down. He has the composure and all of the components to be the best player in the world, there’s no doubt. It’s just a matter of time and then basically gaining that experience in big events. That takes time and, jeez, I mean he’s only 19. Just give him some time and I’m sure he’ll be there.”
Confronted by the same challenge in their second rounds on the Blue Monster course, Woods and McIlroy reacted in ways that said much about them both. On the par-five eighth hole Woods drove his ball 281 yards, leaving a shot of 270 yards over water to the pin. “I can’t get there,” he decided. “It’s 250 into the wind to the front of the green. Over water, there’s no way.” He laid up, pitched to 25ft and took two putts for par.
Then came McIlroy. Bogeys on the fifth and seventh holes had stalled the teenager’s momentum but his drive bounded 284 yards down the fairway, so 268 yards — over water — remained to the pin. He unleashed his three-wood, the ball arrowed through the wind onto the middle of the green and came to a stop 7ft from the flagstick. “The two best shots I think I’ve ever hit,” McIlroy reflected, referring to this and the four-iron he hit off the fairway on the 18th hole to 8ft, which yielded a birdie to add to his eagle on the eighth. Uninhibited youth had prevailed spectacularly.
Woods once played like this, too, but we may have to become accustomed to the more calculating version. The surgery to repair the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, which required an eight-month programme of rest and rehabilitation, seems to have forced him to play less aggressively. He played his best golf of the week but continued to struggle with his putter in yesterday’s third round, missing birdie efforts from 11ft on the second green after a two-putt birdie on the first, from 8ft on the fifth and 15ft on the sixth, much to his chagrin. But a beautiful tee shot to the ninth to 15ft was followed by a perfect putt, moving him to five under par, and he went six-under with another two-putt birdie on the par-five 10th before missing from inside 9ft again on the 12th, another par-five. He birdied the 14th and holed out from a greenside bunker on the 16th to go eight- under but a bogey on 17 spoilt his finish.
Luke Donald shot a 68 to move to nine-under, Padraig Harrington carded 71 for eight-under and Paul Casey remained at seven-under with a 72.