Under discussion: The dramatic final day of the Augusta Masters
Chatting are: The Irish Examiner’s Tony Leen, Simon Lewis, ex Tour pro John McHenry and Charlie Mulqueen
TONY LEEN, Irish Examiner sports editor: A DRAMATIC Masters undoubtedly, but everyone here has that massive feeling of anti-climax once again. Rory McIlroy’s form in the first three rounds showed no signs of his nerves betraying him as they did so spectacularly on the back nine Sunday. Charlie, you’ve seen enough of Augusta disappointments in your time. What happened?
CHARLIE MULQUEEN, veteran golf correspondent: It was one of those sporting moments when you feel almost embarrassed to be watching. Obviously it recalled the Greg Norman collapse in 1996, when again you had to feel sorry for the man suffering so much pain, even if you also had to admire Faldo for the way he capitalised and for being so gracious in victory. This time Charl Schwartzel took full advantage and his finish was absolutely staggering, even if he was desperately fortunate to hole a pitch at the first and his approach to the third.
SIMON LEWIS, Irish Examiner golf correspondent: I don’t think anyone was prepared for what happened, but then again I don’t suppose anything can prepare a golfer, particularly a very young golfer, for the pressures of leading the Masters on a Sunday afternoon for the first time. That said, there were signs earlier in the round that things were not going to plan. He missed the green on one, and then some important short putts before the turn.
TONY LEEN: What it just a meltdown of epic proportions or was it avoidable? Surely this is where a caddie earns his crust?
JOHN McHENRY, ex-Tour pro: I think so but you need to get a balance on this. McIlroy has more than proven that he has the talent to get the job done. I firmly believe that their tactics were poor. Start conservatively, middle of green on the first and 3 wood short of bunkers on No 2, and start applying pressure to others. It was McIlroy’s to lose and he helped out massively in that regard.
TONY LEEN: John, despite everything, he still led the tournament standing on the tenth tee. It’s equivalent to playing poorly in the first half of a match but leading 1-0 and knowing that things will only get better. Does he listen to his caddie?
JOHN McHENRY: If you know Augusta, the fast lane is down the left alright but there is also loads of room on the right, even with his length. My gut feeling is that Rory was too much on auto pilot, even by the tenth hole, and wasn’t challenged positively enough by his caddy, for targets, shots etc. His attempted wood for his third into the 10th green was, in its own right, wrong because even if he had hit the perfect shot it would have gone barrelling through the green.
CHARLIE MULQUEEN: The post mortems will go on for a long time and caddie J.P. Fitzgerald’s role in the debacle will undergo the sternest examination. Did J.P. advise against playing a driver off the tenth tee? Were there other times when he might have spoken a few words of wisdom that might have altered the trend? J.P. was a fine player himself and has worked with the likes of Paul McGinley, Darren Clarke and Ernie Els on some of the biggest stages of all. I would have had the fullest faith in him but already I am being told it might have been a different story had, say, the likes of Billy Foster been on the bag.
SIMON LEWIS: There’s no doubt that at No 10 McIlroy needed a strong voice to calm him and slow him down. Whether he was ignoring his caddie or the strong voice just wasn’t there is the issue.
TONY LEEN: A lot of commentators were saying last night, ‘oh Rory will learn from this’. But will be RECOVER from this? He’s accumulated a lot of scar tissue for a 21 year old. Is he the next Tiger or the next Greg Norman - that’s the question today.
CHARLIE MULQUEEN: Well, I think he has previous and responded quite well. Remember the 80 after his opening 63 in last year’s Open at St Andrews? He went out over the weekend and shot 69 and 68 to tie for 3rd. Not bad for a 20 year-old. Now he’s a year older and hopefully a year wiser. He goes to Malaysia this week where he is afforded an immediate chance to get back on the horse. It will be interesting to see how he and J.P. get on. Personally I think they’ll be fine.
JOHN McHENRY: Totally agree, Charlie. The start of the round was about consolidation and applying pressure. With McIlroy’s length, he was always going to have plenty of birdie opportunities, the thing was to make as few bogies as possible. His caddie’s job was to keep him under control - he was out of control as early as the second hole. JP needed to earn his money here, not simply say “yes”.
TONY LEEN: What I’m saying is - what’s the timeframe on recovery from an experience like this? Is this going to be knocking around in his head now each time he’s coming down the stretch in a major? Fine re Malaysia next week, but how will be handle Augusta next year?
SIMON LEWIS: They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and he is only 21, people do learn from these things. The Norman comparison sounds a little harsh to me at this early stage in his career. It was a meltdown, not a choke, more like Mickelson at Winged Foot than Norman in 1996 and McIlroy will win majors. Nor will he need to wait as long as Mickelson did for his first major.
CHARLIE MULQUEEN: In the longer term, there’s the question of when rather than if he will win a major. I know that Sergio Garcia nearly won the PGA 12 years ago and still hasn’t won a major, but McIlroy has too much talent to allow a repeat of that. He’s a great kid and it must not be forgotten that he is only 21 years of age.
JOHN McHENRY: Rory needs a strong mentor, not someone he is particularly friendly with, or who is in his own stable. Someone like Olazabal, for instance, could help him by offering impartial advice, help him with his short game and call a spade a spade!
SIMON LEWIS: It was apparent that Schwartzel, who is in the same stable as McIlroy, has those figures around him: the likes of Nick Price, who have been seen it done it and are not afraid to name gardening implements by their proper names.
TONY LEEN: I get the sense John that you have issues with ‘Team McIlroy’. That he’s not surrounding himself with the right type of help?
JOHN McHENRY: The game of golf at that level is about two things, I believe. All the stars have a power game from tee to green. The winners are the people with the best heads and the most creative short games. McIlroy obviously believes he belongs on that same stage as the major winners but if you think of it, he only played truly great from tee to green on the first three days and when the sh** hit the fan on Sunday, he showed he neither had the short games skills nor the mental capacity to grind out a result.
TONY LEEN: Where does this Masters rank? There was so many players in the mix on Sunday afternoon. It was appropriate that it took four finishing birdies for Schwartzel to get the job done. The right winner?
CHARLIE MULQUEEN: I’m sure we’ve all noticed how Chubby Chandler has the Midas touch where these major championships are concerned. He always regarded Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood as the members of his stable most likely to win a green jacket or a claret jug, yet it’s two of his team that have done it. Just as very few saw Oosthuizen as a winner at St Andrews, there wasn’t a wagon of money on Schwartzel at Augusta. Chubby was there to hug Charl as he departed the final green - no fault there - but he now has a mighty job on his hands in rehabilitating McIlroy and it remains to be seen whether he’s the man to do it. He won’t need reminding that Graeme McDowell defected a couple of years ago to Conor Ridge’s Horizon and while G-Mac would never advocate to Rory that he should follow a similar route, it probably isn’t outside the bounds of possibility that he will seek new horizons.
JOHN McHENRY: ISM is a huge brand in world golf with some of the most talented players. Part of the success - and the problem of the brand - is that it is dominated by Chubby Chandler and he can not be everything to everyone. Rory is a superstar in the making. At times I think he should look closely at what Graeme McDowell did in going to a smaller stable, where he was the centre of attention, to advance his career. Much like Tiger Woods, he needs to be number one priority at all times.
CHARLIE MULQUEEN: As for this Masters, I thought it had just about everything, not least the weather! I’ve been there a few times when it was absolutely miserable, wet and cold, but this was perfection. Rory gave us a great run for our money, the new champion was fantastic at the start and finish of his fourth round and Tiger showed that he is by no means a spent force - if only he still putted like he used to do! But then, that also applies to McIlroy. It’s all very fine for Chubby to say the reason he misses so many putts is that he knocks it so close at nearly every hold that he’s bound to miss a few. But four putts at the 12th from less than 20 feet! Disastrous and inexplicable.
SIMON LEWIS: Cracks may well be emerging in the McIlroy camp. His manager Chubby Chandler will not want to lose one of his stars for the future but he has lots of big names now to look after and keep sweet, and Schwartzel and Oosthuizen have added their names to that list. What Rory needed when he came off 18 after his 80 on Sunday night was big arm around his shoulder but Chubby was with the new Masters champion.
JOHN McHENRY: I think it was a fantastic Masters - with the wrong result. If only all tournaments could be so exciting. Problem is if it was an ordinary tournament Rory probably would have won by ten!
CHARLIE MULQUEEN: There will be plenty of guys to put an arm around Rory’s shoulders ... Darren, G-Mac, he has countless friends on tour simply because he is such a nice guy. His parents Gerry and Rosie have seen to that and their love and support will also mean an awful lot. Let’s remember, it’s only a game, nobody has died, and Rory won’t be 22 until May 4th!
JOHN McHENRY: I firmly believe that Rory has the potential to be a superstar. The problem is that he will self-destruct unless he converts more often and secures a major in the near future.
TONY LEEN: Is Tiger back? If his putter had even been tepid he’d have posted some clubhouse target on Sunday.
CHARLIE MULQUEEN: Tiger is far from a spent force but you know what, he reminds me of myself. He’s a grumpy old bugger ... he turned away in disgust after hitting one approach and I thought he must be buried in a bunker or whatever. But the ball comes down twenty feet or so from the flag. Who does he think he is? The Tiger of old? Not yet, not yet! J
JOHN McHENRY: Tiger only played two good rounds. Definitely on his way back and will win a major before year’s end. All he needs now are some victories.
CHARLIE MULQUEEN: He doesn’t get any more likeable, does he? At least we didn’t have the pleasure of seeing him spit on this occasion — at least I don’t think so. Even if he had a little bit of Phil’s class ...
SIMON LEWIS: Or Rory’s for that matter. The way McIlroy stayed around at the back of the 18th after that round and obliged the media with his thoughts at such a disappointing moment was admirable. Like you say, he has many friends in the game and support for him is huge.
JOHN McHENRY: Tiger attracts everyone. You may not respect him too much for his antics but no one gets the temperature rising quite like Tiger. With these new swing changes he may actually become a bit of a boring old fart in the future, hitting fairway and greens all the time. He’ll definitely be a force at the British Open.
TONY LEEN: Finally gents, what were the other important trend? McIlroy hogged a lot of headlines on this side of the Atlantic, but Luke Donald is knocking on the door again. Adam Scott has worked out his putting woes and Jason Day can play — despite those annoying mannerisms.
JOHN McHENRY: I’d watch out now for Adam Scott - Luke is great but a bit of a Tom Kite, I’m sorry to say. Jason Day looked good - a little more refined and he could be a big time player. Els and Goosen look a shadow of their former selves.
SIMON LEWIS: It was great to see Donald back in the frame and Day can play, he’s only 22 and he showed no sign of any fragility down the back nine. Shame he’s such a slow player.
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/BqXQuSDhO84/post.aspx
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