Bad For Rory? Royal County Down Firm And Fast As Ever
/Brian Keogh with Irish Golf Desk preview notes from Tuesday's Irish Open practice, anchored by Paul McGinley's defense of all things McIlroy, including the world No. 1's perceived vulnerability on fast, breezy links.
Even if McIlroy's game has led to some debate over his perceived weaknesses on hard and fast tracks, McGinley can only see positives in the 26-year old's game, and who can argue.
"He’s only in his early 20s and he’s still got a lot to achieve and different conditions to get better at," he said. “But as far as I am concerned he’s way ahead of schedule, that’s for sure. It’s easy to be critical. Debate? There is no debate. He is comfortably the No 1 player in the world.”
As with more and more courses in the age of drop kick drivers rolling 150 yards, the driver won't get much use this week. Keogh notes the thought of Reeve Whitson, a local and former Spanish Amateur Open winner.
“The whole course is playing fast and much shorter than usual,” said the former Spanish Amateur Open winner, now an EPD satellite tour player, who has shot 63 around the course. “I’d hit driver quite a few times out there but today it stayed in the bag on the fifth, eighth, 11th, 12th, 13th, 15th, 16th, 18th… I just hit three woods there today because driver would run into trouble."
