US TOUR HOUSTON OPEN:WHEN LEE Westwood outgunned Rory McIlroy in the final event to win the Race to Dubai, he was under orders from his caddie to "bully" the opposition.
It was a harsh lesson for the young Ulsterman, who had shown Westwood a sign of weakness by confessing that he was glad not to be paired with his English rival in the second round of the Dubai World Championship finale.
Mental strength will be vital in next week’s Masters but while Westwood will prepare by challenging for the Shell Houston Open title after impressive opening rounds of 69 and 68 left him two strokes behind early leader Bryce Molder on seven under par, McIlroy’s confidence levels are dangerously low after missing the cut for the first time since the Players Championship 11 months ago.
As Pádraig Harrington surged to within two of the lead with three early birdies before racking up a double bogey six at his ninth hole, the 18th, McIlroy followed an opening 74 with a one-over par 73 that was lacking in any kind of short-game sharpness or sparkle.
McIlroy looked woebegone at times and confessed that his recent three-day visit to Augusta was the only time in recent months that he has felt truly happy on a golf course.
The unshakeable streak of confidence that saw him rack up 10 top-10s in a row between last year’s US PGA and this year’s Abu Dhabi Championship is now a distant memory.
“I’m hitting it a lot better but still not getting it around the golf course,” said McIlroy, who has struggled since he injured his back in January.
“It’s a lack of confidence. I’m just not there. It’s such a fine line between playing the way I did at the end of last year to playing the way I am now. It’s a couple of putts holed here and there or a good break. I just can’t find any momentum or something to get me going on the golf course.”
His second round made for frustrating viewing. After a bogey five at the first, where he lipped out for par from six feet following visits to two bunkers, McIlroy still had hopes of making the cut when he birdied the par-four sixth and par-five eighth to get back to one over for the tournament.
But he missed every holeable birdie chance and stumbled home in two over par with an ugly pair of sixes at the par-five 13th and 15th holes – three shotters he once ate for breakfast.
At the 13th he tugged a fairway wood into a hazard and after chipping backwards to the fairway, he clumsily pitched 15 feet past the hole from 30 yards short of the green and dropped a vital stroke.
The longest putt he holed all week was a slippery 14-footer for par at the par-three 14th. But he was only prolonging the agony.
At the 600-yard 15th, he bunkered his fairway metal lay-up and after coming up 40 yards short of the green with his third, he flipped a spectacular, towering flop shot to three feet but somehow managed to lip out for his par.
McIlroy tried hard to look on the bright side and denied that he was heading to the Masters with a sense of foreboding. However, he confessed that he hasn’t felt happy on a golf course since he visited Augusta a few weeks ago and a return to the Masters venue might be just what the doctor ordered.
“I’m really looking forward to next week and can’t wait to get there. It’s just a shame I couldn’t have prepared a little better this week,” he said.
“When I went there for three days after Doral it was the happiest I’d felt on the golf course for a while. Hopefully I can get back there again and get a little kick out of it.”
Playing the best golf of his life, Westwood appeared blissfully unaware of McIlroy’s plight but advised the youngster to listen to his inner voice and draw confidence from past success.
Westwood said. “The secret is not to panic and to go back to what works for you. When you start to play poorly, you can listen to too many people and what I have done over the years is to listen to what the little voice inside your head is telling you as opposed to what other people are saying.”
Harrington picked up birdies at the 10th, 12th and 13th to get within two shots of the clubhouse lead on six under par before racking up a six at the par-four 18th (his ninth), where he tugged his 180-yard approach from a fairway bunker into the lake protecting the green.
He went back to five under with a birdie at the second, his 11th.
World number three Phil Mickelson racked up a triple bogey seven at the 10th to slip back to one under par. Turning the club upside down and playing right-handed to escape from a lateral hazard, he incurred a one-stroke penalty after his ball hit a bush, struck him on the leg and rebounded into the hazard, forcing him to take a penalty drop.
Second round scores
at Redstone GC Tournament Course, Humble, Texas. Par: 72 (7,457 yards).
135 (nine under)
Bryce Molder 69 66
136 (eight under)
Cameron Percy 67, 69
Alex Prugh 70, 66
137 (seven under)
Joe Ogilvie 70, 67
Lee Westwood 69, 68
Anthony Kim 68, 69
140 (four under)
Bubba Watson 73, 67
Martin Laird 70, 70
141 (three under)
Lucas Glover 73, 68
142 (two under)
Chad Campbell 70, 72
DA Points 71, 71
143 (one under)
Shaun Micheel 70, 73
Jeff Overton 76, 67
Charl Schwartzel 71, 72
Justin Leonard 69, 74
Bob Estes 73, 70
Rickie Fowler 72, 71
144 (level)
Fred Couples 71, 73
Ernie Els 70, 74
DJ Trahan 78, 66
Matt Bettencourt 72, 72
Rich Barcelo 75, 69
Chris Tidland 72, 72
Simon Dyson 73, 71
Others:
147: R McIlroy 74, 73
