Names are the game
McIlroy, Fowler to rescue
ORLANDO, Fla. — Saturday is moving day on the PGA Tour and the biggest moves made at the Arnold Palmer Invitational yesterday were by the biggest names. For a sport in need of a new superstar it was a shot in the backswing for golf.
On the same day a report came out that slowly unraveling Tiger Woods had yet to play a practice round since failing to make the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open in late January and likely would miss the Masters for the third time in the past four years because of persistent back problems, Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler came from back in the pack to move within 5 and 6 shots respectively of the lead after two days of struggles.
Fowler started his day at 2-over for the tournament, 12 shots behind the leader and McIlroy was at 1-over and 11 behind but after both shot red-hot 7-unders at Bay Hill, they were the two biggest names on the board by nightfall. In fact, they were probably the only recognizable ones there for anyone but the most golfobsessed among us.
Charley Hoffman ring a bell? How about Emiliano Grillo, who is an Argentine touring pro, not a new restaurant in East Cambridge. What of Harold Varner III or Tyrrell Hatton? You may have heard of Adam Hadwin but probably only because he won last week at the Valspar and went out and birdied four of the first six holes yesterday to put himself in position to win back-to-back titles.
But the big story was that McIlroy and Fowler, two of the most popular young golfers on the planet, shot themselves into position to challenge at a time when the sport could use it. McIlroy has yet to win this year but has only two starts because of a January rib injury while Fowler won the Honda Classic last month and is now in position to win a second time in the same calendar year for the second time in three years. A win here won’t make them what Tiger was but it would remind the sporting world that golf still has faces worth watching.
With Woods long absent and unlikely to ever return to the dominance that made golf a must watch event every time he was in the field, the sport needs someone to become its new standard bearer. McIlroy, with four major championships already on his resume at 27, remains the most likely to do it but Fowler has long been a favorite of young fans more for his multi-hued and often electric-colored clothing than for winning.
You can’t go to a tournament with Fowler in the field without seeing some 12-year-old decked out in orange golfing gear. To see both names in contention today would certainly have made the tournament’s namesake give his trademark thumbs up.
This turn of events was particularly unlikely for Fowler, who was not only 12 shots off the lead when his day began but double bogeyed the third hole to fall farther back. Seven birdies and an eagle later he’d carded an unlikely but welcomed 65 that was greatly aided by a phenomenal shot out of the edge of some water on 11 that allowed him to save par and get rolling toward the top of the leaderboard.
“The up-and-down at 11 definitely kept the round going and gave me a kind of little boost going into the next few holes,’’ Fowler said. “Just had to play not a perfect round but just hit my spots and don’t make any serious mistakes.
“Eleven could have turned into a 5 or a 6 pretty quickly but I got a little bit of a break with my ball in the shallow end of the water and I was able to take advantage of that. I knew I had some birdies (chances) after that. It was nice to take advantage of a couple of those opportunities.’’
After shooting an opening-round 74 that was 2-over par, McIlroy rallied slightly Friday and yesterday felt something might be brewing as he warmed up on the driving range. As things turned out it was much more than a spot of tea for the Ulsterman.
“My timing’s just been a little bit off this week,’’ McIlroy said. “I’ve been sort of throwing myself at it and getting a little ahead of it and missing a few to the right.
“My timing was a bit better (yesterday) starting from the warmup on the range. Thankfully it transferred out on to the course. To be starting (yesterday) at 1-over par and end up at 6-under for the tournament is great. I can’t control what the guys do out there but if I can be within 5 or 6 of the lead I’d be pretty happy.’’
Today he is but not as happy as NBC, which is broadcasting the tournament, or the suits who are running the game without a Tiger in their tank or on their leaderboard anymore.