“Hard to believe any coach could look at his swing from 1999 and think anything needed to change,” wrote Porter.Īnd yet some coaches can’t help tinkering with a player’s technique. Rory has been going through a lot of swing changes in recent times and he is currently a shadow of himself.Įarlier this week, Ewan Porter highlighted on Twitter the negative effects major swing changes have had on Aaron Baddeley’s game. The former World No1 welled up at the end of a frustrating Ryder Cup and the raw emotion we witnessed on Sky suggests he has a lot on his shoulders. Which Rory McIlroy will turn up at the CJ Cup in Las Vegas?
The PGA Tour may have a monopoly of money and star names this week, but there’s still plenty to look forward to at Valderrama. So while Rahm and fellow Ryder Cup players Matt Fitzpatrick and Bernd Weisberger will attract the spotlight, history tells us one of the lesser lights will also produce a performance to cement their status for next season. The Andalucia Masters is perfectly placed on the calendar to provide a sliding doors narrative for a number of careers resting on the bubble.
With the end-of-season nearing, and rankings at the forefront of everyone’s mind, there is also a lot on the line. The atmosphere should be fantastic with locals, holidaymakers and expats providing a unique mix in the galleries. While this week’s test at Valderrama will be very different to Club De Campo and one of the toughest in Europe, it will have a familiar feel to last week’s event in Madrid. The 37-year-old added his name to a star-studded list that includes two-time winner Rahm, Sergio Garcia and the great Seve Ballesteros, who won his national title three times. Rafa Cabrera-Bello provided one last week when he tapped into the emotion of a special week to become the latest homegrown winner of the Spanish Open. So many of our tournaments boast a back catalogue of iconic winners and special memories. What Europe lacks in star quality, it makes up for in style and tradition. Our events are also rich in history and prestige, something the American tournaments, for all their riches and razzmatazz, struggle to emulate. While there’s no denying the growing gap between the two tours, there’s always a special buzz around the European tournaments at this time of year.
If Dustin Johnson wins in Vegas and Rahm fails to secure a top-15 finish in Spain, the American, with a T8 and T6 in his last two outings, replaces him at the summit. I write ‘currently’ because the Spaniard’s place at the top of the rankings, a status he has held for 16 of the past 17 weeks, is at risk. One edge the European Tour does boast is the fact Jon Rahm, currently the best player in the world, will be on this side of the pond. No fewer than 17 Ryder Cup players, five FedEx Cup champions and 36 players from the world’s top-50 will also tee it up in the States. The American purse of approximately €8.5m is almost three times the €3m up for grabs at the Real Club Valderrama. To compare the CJ Cup in Las Vegas and the Andalucia Masters in Spain makes for rather uncomfortable reading. I've often bemoaned the gap in quality between the European and PGA tours and this week provides the latest in a long list of examples.