McIlroy factor dismissed as transatlantic tussle looms

Nick Rodger

Golf Correspondent

Wednesday 15 August 2012

The Ryder Cup is barely six weeks away and the pre-bout posturings are in full flow.

Jose Maria Olazabal and Davis Love III pose with the Ryder Cup at Medinah Country Club. Picture: Getty

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Nick Rodger

Just over a week ago, it was the Americans who were flexing their muscles. Keegan Bradley led a US one-two-three in the WGC Bridgestone Invitational and Jose Maria Olazabal, Europe's team captain, must have been left fidgeting uncomfortably in his seat. With two major champions already safely tucked into the American team bag, namely Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson, there was genuine and justifiable belief about the possibility of a third going into the final grand slam event of the campaign, the US PGA Championship at Kiawah Island.

Step forward Rory McIlroy to deliver a telling counter blow and lift the morale in Camp Europe. The Northern Irishman's Kiawah canter on Sunday could not have been more timely while the third place finishes of Ian Poulter and Justin Rose, on a final leaderboard peppered with Europeans, provided plenty of cause for optimism with the transatlantic tussle at Medinah Country Club looming on the horizon. How significant McIlroy's victory is for Europe's defence of this little gold trophy remains to be seen, of course.Davis Love III, the US captain, certainly doesn't feel too concerned. As the US PGA champion of 1997, he was one of three major champions, along with Tiger Woods and Justin Leonard, on the American team of that year and they were beaten by a Seve Ballesteros-led Europe at Valderrama."Does it ultimately matter that Rory's won the PGA when we get to Medinah?" asks Love III. "It gives him confidence and it gives the team some confidence but I remember some times when it didn't work out for us. In the end it only matters how you play those three days."Europe's domination at Kiawah Island, the final counting event for US qualification, ensured that Love III's list of eight automatic qualifiers did not change, with Phil Mickelson clinging on to his place in the side. Add in Woods, Bradley, Watson, Simpson, Zach Johnson, Jason Dufner and Matt Kuchar and you have a formidable looking outfit already. Those directly outside the qualifying zone, Hunter Mahan, Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk and Rickie Fowler, have all shown impressive form this season and unsurprisingly are being widely tipped to be handed the four wildcards on the deadline day of September 4. The process could not have worked out better for Love III.Olazabal, meanwhile, can still point to the fact that McIlroy, Luke Donald and Lee Westwood are first, second and fourth on the world rankings. Yet, while McIlroy emerged from his well-documented slump in spectacular style by romping to the second major title of his career and Donald continues to belch out the solid finishes like an industrial machine, Westwood, a veteran of seven Ryder Cup matches stretching back to 1997, remains worryingly out of sorts. A third round 81, which led to an eventual 70th place finish out of the 75 players in the WGC event, was certainly not what he or his captain would have wanted to see at this crucial time of the season. Throw in rounds of 75 and 77, which led to a missed cut in the US PGA Championship, and a parting of the ways between him and his long serving coach Pete Cowen in the frustrated aftermath and you can understand why Olazabal may be nibbling away anxiously at his finger nails over Westwood's woes.With McIlroy, Donald and Westwood all booked on the plane for Chicago and Rose, Graeme McDowell, Paul Lawrie and Francesco Molinari all but through the departure gates too, there remain some big decisions for Olazabal as qualifying draws to a close at the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles a week on Sunday. Poulter barged his way into the last automatic spot with his fine finish at Kiawah Island and knocked Sergio Garcia out in the process.The Spaniard, who won back-to-back events late last year but has slithered back into the depths and will try and haul himself back into the qualifying spots at this week's Wyndham Championship in the US, would be the obvious bet for one of the two wildcards given his Ryder Cup resume and his relationship with Olazabal. He certainly seems to have more of a chance than Padraig Harrington. "He's well down the list, he will have to really do extraordinarily well here," said Olazabal in something of a snub to the Irishman prior to the US PGA. It was a surprise admission. Harrington finished eighth in the Masters and fourth in the US Open and his form this year, while not vintage, has still been in a different class to both Garcia and Martin Kaymer. The road to Medinah still has a few twists and turns yet.

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McIlroy factor dismissed as transatlantic tussle looms

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