Tuesday 3 February 2015 15:42, UK
Ewen Murray believes Rory McIlroy's masterclass in Dubai was a fitting climax to an enthralling Desert Swing, while Tiger Woods needs to get back to basics after an 'embarrassing' showing in Phoenix.
We say goodbye to another Desert Swing, one that left us with some grand memories and one that has seen the year of 2015 off to a splendid start.
Gary Stal's victory at the National in Abu Dhabi was his first, South African Branden Grace enjoyed his sixth win in Qatar and world No 1 Rory McIlroy took his 10th European Tour title, winning the Omega Dubai Desert Classic for the second time.
These three events are top class and they continue to grow year by year. Last Sunday drew a record crowd of 10,000 to the Emirates Golf Club, a far cry from the handful of fans who appeared at the beginning of the 1990s.
The City of Dubai, of course, has changed immensely since these early tournaments. During last week's Classic, Dubai took over from Heathrow as the world's busiest airport. It has become one of the main gateways to the world, and it's where East meets West.
This year’s Desert Classic was more two events rather than one tournament. There were 125 players competing in one, and Rory McIlroy played in the other. Northern Ireland's 25-year-old superstar was, quite simply, in a class of his own.
With each win – he now has four in his last seven starts on the European Tour - his confidence and belief get stronger. This victory edged him further clear at the top of the world rankings and it will take one mighty effort from somebody to dislodge him.
Masterclass
Four shots clear at the start of the final round, Rory looked comfortable all day and never in danger of being caught. Big leads are not easy to defend but McIlroy gave a masterclass in front running.
The first time he had anything higher than a four on his scorecard was at the par-five last when he laid up with his second shot. His driving was once again exemplary, his approaches were aimed and dispatched to the wider parts of the green and his putts laid stone dead, taking all the pressure off him.
Rory looked comfortable all day and never in danger of being caught. Big leads are not easy to defend, but McIlroy gave a masterclass in front running
The most impressive part of it all is that this is not the way McIlroy plays golf. For him, I suspect, it was like playing with handcuffs on. As I watched him plot his way around the course, I thought of the time, not so long ago, when he stepped onto the first tee at Augusta National with a four-shot lead.
After a booming drive, he attacked the back pin placement with his wedge and opened up with a bogey-five. He continued to attack and he signed for an 80. That day for Rory was painful, but perhaps vitally important for the rest of his career.
Last Sunday, a repeat performance was never further away and, should he ease himself into a similar position in April at the year's first major, a more mature Rory will know how to deal with it. More important, he also knows he can achieve it.
Sunday in Dubai was a turning point in the career of this impressive young man. He would not have enjoyed tip-toeing round the course, but it's a round he would have been immensely proud of.
Sadly, his next public appearance will not involve fairways and greens. They will be replaced by the benches and docks of Dublin's High Court as his former management company, Horizon Sports and he argue their points. I wish they had come to an agreement on the steps outside the building and got it over and done with before it was due to start.
His next tournament will be the Honda Classic at West Palm Beach and that will be followed by the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Trump Doral. The Masters will then be just a month away and the talk will be of Rory joining an elite band of just five players who have the Grand Slam. Right now, not many would bet against it.
Emotional Alex
The "other event" at the Emirates was won by Alex Noren, who at times last year must have doubted whether he would play professional golf again. Severe tendinitis in both wrists limited him to just two events, the last being the BMW PGA Championship in May.
Alex was a little emotional at the end, perfectly understandable, but he's back in the fold and ready to win again in the near future.
Andy Sullivan continued his good start to the year, his only disappointment would be taking six at the 18th on Sunday. Nevertheless, more world ranking points edges him closer to the world's top 50 and, if he can crack that barrier by the beginning of April, he'll join Rory and Co in Georgia.
The name of Tiger Woods is outside that world top 50 for only the second time since 1997. Tiger made his comeback at the noisy Phoenix Open and for his many supporters, it was a sight for sore eyes.
On the plus side, six months out of the game is a long time even for someone of his talent, and it will take a little time to get up to tournament speed. He will achieve that before the Masters, but can he find anything close to the game we marvelled at for over 10 years?
Let's be honest here, Tiger has never been a great driver of the ball. Even in his prime, he didn't come close to matching Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson or Rory McIlroy off the tee. However, he had no equal as far as the short game was concerned.
In my lifetime, nobody has matched the skill, vision, touch and imagination of Tiger from inside 100 yards. Nobody has putted as well as him and it seemed the more pressure he was under, the better he performed.
When you think of some of the putts he's holed close to the end of events, as well as the memorable moments in which he has turned tournaments in his favour. What about "that" pitch from the back of Augusta's 16th, the pitches he holed en route to several successes at Muirfield Village and other events?
His pitching last week was, let's say, ‘embarrassing'. So what has happened? Woods' alliance with Sean Foley was, I believe, disastrous. His lengthy spells with previous instructors, Butch Harmon and Hank Haney yielded 14 majors.
The changes made with Foley - and I don't blame Sean totally - were drastic. Gone were his sound basics that stood him in good stead for so long and they were replaced by robotic movements that were at the further end of unnatural.
No need for explosiveness
Tiger must take the major share of the blame. We all know he has his own language with 'W's,' 'reps' and so on, but he has consistently in recent years mentioned, 'explosiveness'. I believe that is the macho side of Tiger Woods as it suggests power and length is important to him.
The changes made during these last four years have led to his chipping and pitching problems today. It's easy to hit an 8 iron the length of a six iron. All you have to do is de-loft the club, keep a bit of shaft lean at impact, and Bob's your uncle.
Loft, and understanding it, is the essence of good pitching and chipping. De-lofting, then trying to find loft at impact is a downhill road to ruin.
Tiger produced a superb instructional book, I think around 2001, and its title was "How I Play Golf". But everything he has done in the past four years has gone against everything he wrote in that book.
I would urge him to spend an hour or two reading it. The words might trigger his memory and his brain may once again send the correct signals to his immensely talented hands. I hope so. I'm sure I'm not alone in wanting to see him back to somewhere near his best soon.
In closing, a few words of congratulations to the Harmon family. Butch has had a win already this year with Jimmy Walker. His brother Billy coaches Bill Haas, who won the Humana Challenge last week, and his son Claude is in charge of the Brooks Koepka swing - the new Phoenix Open champion.
The Harmons know their stuff. I wish I'd listened to Butch a few years ago. No doubt his prices have just gone up again!!
I'll be back with you at the end of February by which time I hope it's warmed up a little.
