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The Masters? Next month? Oh, I had no idea. That explains a few things.
Rory McIlroy's first title in 18 months, the re-emergence of Henrik Stenson... Oh, and Tiger. Yeah, the Masters is around the corner.
Out of Hibernation
Much was made of Henrik Stenson not doing much since his 2016 Open Championship victory. His only win since came in the Wyndham Championship where, in all honesty, anything less would've been catastrophic given the standard of his challengers. But it was a different story in the opening round at Bay Hill. Rickie Fowler, Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy and, of course, Tiger Woods all shot -3 or better on Thursday. Stenson, though, struck -8. The Swede went 3-under on day 2 for a share of the lead with Bryson DeChambeau heading into the weekend. Back-to-back 1-under rounds of 71 saw him fail to keep pace at the top and finish in fourth at -13, but the Callaway man has certainly rediscovered his game at the right time after falling from 9th to 15th in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) already in 2018 (this result has lifted him back to 14th).
The Rory Story
McIlroy has acknowledged many times the extraordinary influence of his mentality on his performance. Whilst psychology is a critical part of any golfer's game, it is often the deciding factor for McIlroy. So, the fact that the Northern Irishman appears to have returned to a winning mentality less than a month before the Masters is HUGE. An incredible -8, bogey-free Sunday concluded with five birdies in his final six holes and a sublime final putt. His three stroke victory was made all the more impressive by the low scores of the chasing pack forcing him to an -18. We are talking about Rory McIlroy here, so there is no telling what will happen between now and the Masters, but Augusta cannot come soon enough for the now-World No. 7.
Tiger Tracker
He's been the talk of the town in 2018 and that talk will not stop flowing now. His 10-under T5 doesn't tell the full story (does it ever?). Going 11-under on par-fives and 1-under on par-fours, he looked like the Tiger Woods of years gone by; capitalising on opportunities and making few mistakes. However, 2-over on par-threes for the week makes it very clear where the improvement needs to come. We saw a similar pattern at the Valspar Championship, where he went PAR, -3, -6 on par-threes, fours & fives respectively. His level-par Friday was seen as a bad day by many, but that only emphasises his abilities. After all, how many 42-year-old golfers would call level-par a bad day after four back surgeries?
Rory McIlroy - What's in the Back?
Driver: TaylorMade M3 460
3-Wood: TaylorMade M3
5-Wood: TaylorMade M3
Irons: TaylorMade P-750
Wedges: TaylorMade Milled Grind
Putter: TaylorMade TP Collection Soto
Golf Ball: TaylorMade TP5x
Written by Joe Carabini
