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McIlroy has learnt to deal with the madness – now top spot beckons
Couples picks Woods and Haas in US Presidents Cup squad

Posted: 28 Sep 2011 04:05 PM PDT

n TENNIS

Pan Pacific Open

Third round: Vera Zvonareva (Rus) bt Iveta Benesova (Cze) 6-1, 6-2; Marion Bartoli (Fra) bt Peng Shuai (Chn) 6-2, 6-1; Maria Kirilenko (Rus) bt Ana Ivanovic (Srb) 6-3, 6-1; Victoria Azarenka (Blr) bt Klara Zakopalova (Cze) 6-3, 7-5; Petra Kvitova (Cze) bt Vania King (USA) 6-1, 7-6 (7-4); Maria Sharapova (Rus) bt Julia Goerges (Ger) 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-4); Kaia Kanepi (Est) bt Caroline Wozniacki (Den) 7-5, 1-6, 6-4.

Thailand Open

First round: Tobias Kamke (Ger) bt Pablo Andujar (Spa) 6-0, 6-1; Go Soeda (Jpn) bt Karol Beck (Svk) 3-6, 7-6 (7-0), 7-6 (7-4).

Second round: Matthias Bachinger (Ger) bt Danai Udomchoke (Tha) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.

McIlroy has learnt to deal with the madness – now top spot beckons

Posted: 28 Sep 2011 04:05 PM PDT

LONDON: Rory McIlroy says that in quiet moments on his own, he cannot help reflecting with incredulity on a season of meltdown and magnificence and madness.

"I just think, from the incredible low of Augusta to the incredible high of Congressional and everything that's happened since, that it's probably going to be the defining year of my career," he muses.

It is a year that has changed him, he concedes, a year that somehow seems to be symbolised by him being seated here in a vast conference room at the UK headquarters of Santander, freshly signed up by the bank to a multi-million pound endorsement deal which effectively screams confirmation that the boy has now joined the uber-elite of the world's sportsmen.

McIlroy still looks like the same mop-headed kid but he has had to grow up fast after his heartbreaking implosion at the Masters, his glorious redemption at the US Open, the subsequent madness of 'Rorymania' at Sandwich and now a romance with the world No. 1 tennis player Caroline Wozniacki which completes his transformation into one of sport's most compelling one man soaps.

"I think it has to change you. You do have to get harder as a person and I've noticed that a little bit about myself already," he says.

"The Open was an eye-opener for me in a way because I'd never really received that amount of attention before. You obviously want to try to be as open and honest as you possibly can but with so much attention on you it's hard. You have to put a little bit of a shield up."

Everything he does now gets magnified.

Take the other week when Lee Westwood tweeted about Wozniacki's boyfriend being "half-Danish", to which McIlroy responded: "At least I'm not English."

This daft exchange was then translated back home in Belfast as "Furious Twitter Row".

"It wasn't a war! Me and Lee are very good mates; it was just good friendly banter," says McIlroy, shaking his head.

There was, however, nothing too warm and fuzzy about McIlroy's angry tweet to American commentator Jay Townsend, telling him he was a "failed golfer" who should "shut up" following his criticism of McIlroy's caddie JP Fitzgerald.

"That was something that had built up over the last two or three years. I think every sport has guys who don't like certain commentators, it's just one of those things," he shrugs unapologetically before conceding with a smile: "Twitter's a very powerful tool, but very dangerous too."

So was this an example of the new hard as nails Rors?

He disabuses you of this with his charming reprise of the bloke the world fell for after his mind-blowing act at the US Open: "I still do find it hard to say 'no' to people, to all the requests.

"At the start after Congressional, I probably was a bit uncomfortable with all the madness but once you get used to it, you can find your feet and it's OK. I've had to learn to deal with it – but it's a great problem to have. Anyway, it's definitely calmed down a bit."

That is largely down to him not having won since then.

We now routinely expect wonders from a 22 year-old when it is easy to forget that, actually, he has still only ever won three professional tournaments.

Three top-six finishes in his last six events since Congressional do not meet the golfing world's great expectations. More importantly, they do not meet McIlroy's.

"I don't really care if other people think it's good enough. It's whether I think it is good enough and, to be honest, no it isn't. It's the best year I've ever had, but as with a lot of top-level sports people, you always think you should have done better."

His own starbursts of brilliance sound almost difficult for him to comprehend.

Ask him if he believes that at Congressional he played golf like no one else could and his eyes light up: "Yeah, definitely. I know I've done that and now it's just a matter of being able to do that on a consistent basis.

"When I'm 100 per cent, I won the US Open by eight shots, was six shots ahead in the final round in Dubai and, after being on the cut line, shot 16 under at the weekend to win Quail Hollow by four. So when you're on, you feel untouchable. I'd take it if this happened to me four or five times a year.

"But it's being able to win when you're not playing your best; that's the secret I want to find. Turning those second, third and fourth placed finishes, when I'm not playing my best, into wins is basically what I'm trying to do now." — Daily Telegraph

Couples picks Woods and Haas in US Presidents Cup squad

Posted: 28 Sep 2011 04:05 PM PDT

NEW YORK: Tiger Woods and Bill Haas were both named on a powerful United States team for this year's Presidents Cup while the Australian pair of Robert Allenby and Aaron Baddeley filled the two International places as the rival captains revealed their wildcard selections on Tuesday.

The American team's non-playing captain Fred Couples had already announced he was reserving one of his two spots for Woods while Haas provided a compelling case for his inclusion on the 12-man roster by winning last weekend's season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta and the US$10mil bonus as FedExCup points champion.

Norman also kept true to his pledge that he wanted two of his countrymen with experience of playing the tricky Royal Melbourne Golf Club layout where the Ryder Cup-style competition will be contested from Nov. 17-20.

He gave the nod to the two Australians ahead of last year's British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa and Fijian former world number one Vijay Singh to bolster a lineup already overflowing with talent.

The addition of Baddeley and Allenby boosts the Australian contingent on the International squad to five with Jason Day and Adam Scott, the joint runners-up at this year's Masters, and former US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy having already earned automatic selection.

"Knowing we were playing in the backyard of Australia I wanted to load up the team with as many Aussies as I possibly could," Norman said on a conference call.

No player will be under more scrutiny or pressure than Woods, who has seen his ranking and form plunge since his last tournament win, in Australia two years ago, while trying to rebuild his golf swing and private life following the breakup of his marriage.

The former-world number one has played on every US Presidents Cup team since 1998 but has not won a tournament since the 2009 Australian Masters at Kingston Heath, located on the same renowned Melbourne Sandbelt as the Presidents Cup course. — Reuters

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Rabu, 28 September 2011

The Star Online: Sports

The Star Online: Sports

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