CLARKE’S BOOST FOR ROCKY RORY
McIlroy tipped to end slump after practice session with old pal
Rory McIlroy turned to an old friend on the eve of The open yesterday as he looks to end his alarming dip in form.
Towards the end of a sublime day on the North West coast, he took to the links for a swift nine holes with fellow Northern Irishman Darren Clarke, a man who first saw him swing a club when he was barely nine years old.
Clarke’s assessment? ‘ He’s swinging the club wonderfully,’ the former ryder Cup captain told
Sportsmail. ‘ He’s just going through one of those periods where he’s not holing any putts. But I love this one iron he’s put in the bag this week. It’s going like a bullet. I’m expecting him to get his season going again and have a very good week.’
McIlroy comes into The open on the back of two missed cuts in events staged on links courses and has looked a disgruntled soul at times on the range.
In a wise move, he approached Clarke a couple of days ago for a few holes and the latter eagerly accepted. ‘I don’t know if I can say anything to rory these days given how well he swings the club,’ said Clarke. ‘ But it is true that I do know his swing and we had a good time out there.’
Clarke knows better than anyone that it is possible to dig yourself out of a very deep hole so close to the biggest event in the game. How he came to win the 140th edition at royal St George’s after arriving at the end of his tether has gone into open legend. After missing the cut in the Scottish open, he turned up at Sandwich more in the mood to quit the game than play in The open.
yet seven days later he was lifting the Claret Jug after finding the sort of spark McIlroy is looking for as he desperately seeks to get his season back on track.
Clarke, however, laughed at the idea McIlroy was beset by similar woes. ‘Believe me, he is hitting the ball an awful lot better in practice than I was back then,’ he said.
There was evidence on the final hole they played, as McIlroy completed a beautiful mid-iron approach with a sawn-off followthrough that held its line in the crosswind and finished 20 feet from the flag.
With a press conference scheduled for today, McIlroy didn’t hang around to comment, but the experience of going back in time and turning to Clarke was surely beneficial. The pair were seen chatting all the way down the ninth hole, their faces bathed in smiles. What a nice treat this was for the thousands of spectators who hung around and enjoyed what sadly sounds like the best weather day of the week. Birkdale has been desperately unlucky with the elements, with the editions in 1998 and 2008 both materially affected. let’s hope this one escapes the nasty stuff.
For the course looks as good as it ever did, which is saying something given it is arguably the best venue in these isles. The rough is nowhere near as bad as it was nine years ago, and there will be some fine scores unless the wind gets out of hand.
Even though it was only Tuesday, there was plenty to enjoy, from the playful 60th birthday pantomime provided by Sir Nick Faldo, to Henrik Stenson promising to take the Claret Jug skydiving if he completes a successful defence.
on the 18th green, Ian Poulter couldn’t help but show his son luke the 20ft putt he holed in 2008 which he thought, at the time, was for The open. As it turned out, Padraig Harrington would play the best nine holes of his career to deny him but luke, only five at the time, was keen to see it replicated. So Poulter put down a large ball marker where the hole would have been and took aim. With no pressure, you can guess what happened next. He even replicated the uppercut salute from 2008.
Poulter is still mad at himself after blowing a golden opportunity to get back into the world’s top 50 at the Scottish open on Sunday but the confidence is back and so is that look in his eye. Don’t be surprised if he goes well again this week.
Who knows what will happen with McIlroy? But he was surely on wise ground in turning to a links master like Clarke. Even though he has largely played rubbish since he won the Claret Jug, Clarke has still finished in the top 30 in three of the last four opens.
No one, mind, does lugubriousness quite like Darren Clarke.
Sitting on a bench in front of the clubhouse on Monday, he said: ‘Derek, if I’d known as a teenager how much this game would mess with me, I surely would not have kept going.’
Total baloney, of course. Clarke is a golf addict just like McIlroy, who will surely find a solution sooner rather than later. As Justin rose said: ‘The one thing about rory is as soon as you question him, he’ll do something and turn it all around. How many times has it happened where people say he’s in a slump and suddenly he’ll go on a run? Never worry about him from that point of view.’
Clarke certainly doesn’t.