RORY WITH A MAGIC WAND

Rory’s best is better than anyone else’s. The trouble is, he doesn’t seem to find his best quite as often as some of the world’s other top players – and it all boils down to his poor putting. He led the PGA Tour in ‘strokes gained – off the tee’ and was second in ‘strokes gained – tee to green’ last season. But he was 135th in putting, losing 0.207 shots to the field on the greens each round. Despite his cold putter, he still managed to average 4.42 birdies per round (second on the PGA Tour), win three times and take home the Fedex Cup crown and the massive cheque that goes with it. At the age of 27, his CV already boasts four majors and 22 global victories. How good would he be if he was just an average putter, let alone a good one? We want to see how dominant Rory could be if he finds his groove on the greens. He’s long been touted as the heir-apparent to Tiger Woods but Jason Day and Dustin Johnson’s superior putting skills took them past the Northern Irishman last year. It’s time for Rory to step up and show everyone that he really is the dominant force in world golf. There were positive signs when a change of putter contributed to his Deutsche Bank Championship and Tour Championship victories at the back end of 2016. It could be a very big year for Rory.