“Sometimes just making the cut means a lot to us out here,” remarked Shane Lowry on surviving into the weekend on the mark at The Players, where he made the most of his final two rounds in leapfrogging his way up from tied-65th to ultimately secure another top-20 finish in a season that is providing consistently good results.
Lowry has finished tied-11th in the Cognizant Classic, tied-seventh in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and tied-20th at The Players in successive weeks and makes it a fourth tournament on the trot at this week’s Valspar Championship at the Innisbrook resort in Palm Harbor in Florida.
Séamus Power, who missed the cut at Sawgrass, is also in the field.
Another Irish player showing good consistency is Lauren Walsh, who is into her second season on the Ladies European Tour. The Kildare woman finished 16th in the Australian Women’s Classic on the LET and finishes her stint Down Under at this week’s Ford New South Wales Open in Wollongong where tour rookies Anna Foster and Anabel Wilson are also playing.
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Rory McIlroy takes home the big bucks while Shane Lowry stays consistent
Rory McIlroy beats JJ Spaun in play-off to win second Players Championship
The Players Championship: Rory McIlroy beats JJ Spaun at Sawgrass – As it happened
Tom McKibbin, meanwhile, plays in his first event on the DP World Tour since moving his main focus to LIV when the Northern Irishman competes in the Porsche Singapore Classic where Dubliner Conor Purcell, in his rookie season on the main circuit, returns to action for the first time since missing the cut at last month’s Kenya Open.
Future focus
Nick Faldo will be the headline speaker at the inaugural Golf Business Technology Conference scheduled for Belfast from May 13th-16th, a B2B (business-to-business) event aimed at helping golf course owners and operators stay at the forefront of innovation.
The six-times Major champion – who has forged a fine reputation as a golf course designer, including Lough Erne among his portfolio – intends to share his insights on the evolution of the game and the impact of technology at the conference which takes place in the Merchant Hotel in the heart of the city. Registration is available at www.golfbusinesstechnologyconference.com
“Technology is having such a big influence over the game and how it is played and consumed. It is good to be a part of a conference that is bringing key players from within this part of the industry together, paving the way for the future of the game,” said Faldo.
Word of Mouth
“It was a perfect club. I hit it, I guess, just too good. Kind of went right through the wind. I almost was telling it in my head to get up because it looked like it was kind of floating. I didn’t know where it was. I thought it was maybe in the front bunker, it was in the water. I hit a great shot. I did what I needed to do. It just didn’t work out in my favour” – JJ Spaun on airmailing the 17th green with his 8-iron tee-shot on the second play-off hole of his duel with Rory McIlroy in The Players at TPC Sawgrass.
By the Numbers: 4,500,000
That’s the amount, in US dollars, which Rory McIlroy took home for his win in The Players. McIlroy’s second win of the season, adding the PGA Tour’s flagship tournament to the AT&T Pebble Beach pro-am, also moved him to number one on the FedEx Cup standings.
On this day: March 18th, 1990
There was a familiar theme to the newspaper headlines following The Players after Jodie Mudd triumphed by a shot over Mark Calcavecchia: “His name is Mudd!”
The 29-year-old American compiled rounds of 67-72-70-69 for a 10-under-par aggregate of 278 to fend off Calcavecchia, who also closed with a 69, in what proved to be a two-man battle on the final day. Steve Jones and Tom Purtzer finished six shots behind Mudd in tied-third.
Mudd had his brother Tommy working as his caddie and, ahead of the final round, told him: “Today is the day we take it up one more level.”
The win in the flagship, Mudd’s third of his PGA Tour career, came with a defining birdie on the island 17th green. “It’s something I’ll always cherish,” said Mudd of his victory, which earned him a pay-day of $250,000.
Social Swing
So sad to hear Brian Waites has left us. We were partners in the ’83 Ryder Cup matches, you will go down in history as the last club pro to play, oh and to never miss a fairway. Sorry for missing that chip. Thank you for being a supportive friend and the special memories – Ken Brown pays tribute to his golfing partner and friend Brian Waites.
Here’s a hot take. Does Scottie win in 2025 before the Ryder Cup? I don’t think so – Phil Mickelson not holding back on his thoughts about world number one Scottie Scheffler.
Solid 2 weeks on the road finished off @THEPLAYERS to be walking away from both weeks happy enough with the performance but knowing there is still loads of room for improvement is satisfying. Dreamed of playing these events as a kid, now getting to live the dream #keepdreaming – Bob MacIntyre after his top-10 finish at TPC Sawgrass. The Scot goes time-zone hopping to Singapore for this week’s DP World Tour stop.
In the Bag: Rory McIlroy (The Players)
Driver – TaylorMade Qi10 (9 degrees)
Fairway woods – TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees), TaylorMade Qi10 (18 degrees)
Irons – TaylorMadeP760 (4), TaylorMade RORS Proto (5-9)
Wedges – TaylorMade MG4 (46, 50, 54 and 60 degrees)
Putter – TaylorMade Spider Tour X
Ball – TaylorMade TP5
Know the Rules
Q In a match, player A requests player B to lift B’s ball that is on A’s line of play. Player B refuses to do so. What is the ruling?
A If player B refuses to lift their ball or move their ball-marker when required to do so by another player, and a stroke is then made by the other player, player B gets the general penalty (Rule 15.3).
