GOLF DIGEST:Seve Ballesteros' recovery from a brain tumour is on the "right track" following a second round of chemotherapy.
The five-time major winner, writing on his website, revealed he had “tolerated” the latest round of treatment and is awaiting the results of medical tests to determine when he should return to hospital for a check-up.
“Despite a slow recovery I am on the right track and my spirit and determination are still unshakeable,” the 51-year-old added on seveballesteros.com. Ballesteros underwent four operations to remove the tumour in October.
Harrington puts in the hours before hitting the BeachPádraig Harrington has been putting in the hours to cure a hook before tackling this week's ATT National Pro-am at Pebble Beach.
US TOUR:
“The range I was on I managed to close six nights last week and I closed it both nights this week as well,” said the British Open and US PGA champion, whose first event in America this season saw him finish joint 24th at the Buick Invitational.
“A lot of practice has been done to try and figure it out, and I am more hopeful that I’ve kind of getting to the root cause of it.
“I obviously struggled last week. I knew I was struggling at the start of the week. But you kind of expect that when you come out after the winter. I’ve done quite a bit of work and what tends to happen is when you are changing things and working on things you overdo it. It does take a little bit of competition, a little bit of playing, to figure that out.”
Harrington’s partner is once again JP McManus and they are paired with Paul McGinley and Dermot Desmond. “We have a very relaxed week off the golf course and I’ll try harder to win the team event than I will the individual event this week.
“If I’m making bogey at a hole or something and my partner has a putt for birdie, I’m over there reading it and it cheers me up if he makes the birdie.
“I get into the idea of the team event, of trying to do well in that and that keeps me going in the individual event. It just works very well for me.”
New kid McIlroy's hair to stay
NEWS: The US tour may be asking players to watch their overall appearance, but Rory McIlroy has no intention of cutting his hair “until somebody tells me to”.
The 19-year-old’s curly locks were last trimmed in “July or August”, and, given his rise up the rankings from 172nd at the end of August to 15th this week, he is superstitious now about a trip to the barber’s.
“I’ll lose all my power,” McIlroy joked yesterday.
His first tournament in America will be the Accenture World Matchplay in Arizona in two weeks.
Rick George, the PGA Tour’s chief of operations, said earlier this month: “We just want the players to be neatly groomed, and there are a lot of ways to interpret that. It’s more of a guide than a policy. There are no parameters, per se.”
The European Tour also asks players to “present a neat appearance in both clothing and personal grooming”, but length of hair is not mentioned.
McIlroy has been at home in Holywood since his maiden victory in Dubai early this month, and because of the bad weather is itching to get on the road again.
“I’ve not had much chance to hit balls, so I’m definitely looking forward to going back to the sun,” he added.
WOMEN'S TOUR:Four of the best five women golfers in the world are in Hawaii for the SBS Open which starts today, but it is the player ranked 236th who will have more eyes on her performance than anyone else.
Michelle Wie plays her first event as a member of the LPGA Tour after coming through a nightmare slump in her fortunes to earn a card at the qualifying school in December.
