Lee Westwood may be third in the world, Ian Poulter is a world champion, Padraig Harrington might have three majors in his bag and Paul Casey is defending his title, but none of them are the main attraction for the BMW PGA Championship at a radically overhauled Wentworth West Course today.
Speaking with some authority as one of the bigger hitters on the tour, Casey suggested that the changes to the 18th had actually removed the “risk/reward” element of the hole.
“I always took on the green with the second shot if I had a lie,” he said.
“That has changed; I’ll only go for it with a fiveiron or less in my hand, and if I want that I have to attack the teeshot with the driver.
“We had a great climax last year with myself and Ross (Fisher) finishing birdiebirdie and I worry that kind of finish may be lost.
“I don’t think past experience and records here mean anything now; it’s a new era for the West Course.”
Westwood and Poulter don’t seem to mind and, as Nos 3 and 6 in the world, have ranking issues on their minds…down to the last decimal point in Poults’ case.
“There’s 64 ranking points for winning and if I do I’ll go to fifth and be .35 of a point off third,” explained the WGC Accenture Matchplay champion.
“That’s very close to the goal. It’s closer than ever because of the points that Tiger (Woods) has dropped over the last 12 months and Phil (Mickelson) has pushed himself closer, but for me it’s a win and a top five from third and for Lee it’s a win and a couple of a big finishes and he’s pushing Phil.
“I can see anyone in the top 10 if they play great for three, four months, they can certainly get to the points Tiger’s at now.”
Westwood generally agrees.
“Tiger’s performance and schedule are unpredictable, aren’t they, and while Phil is world class and has won a major already his performances are very much up and down,” he pondered. “No 1 and No 2 are more achievable than they have been in the last few years.”
Ominously, Westwood believes the alterations could work in his favour.
“I was impressed with most of what they’ve done, a couple of greens are a bit too severe but I’m in a nolose situation here.
“I wasn’t a massive fan before the changes and didn’t seem to do too well, just one year when I finished second, so any changes were going to be good for me.”
Instead it is the 21-year-old Rory McIlroy who is getting all the column inches, the congratulatory letters from 30 majors’ worth of golfing legends and being publicly chided for buying a Lamborghini in a recession rather than putting his money in the bank as the European Tour’s biggest event gets under way.
Rorymania was waning a little a month back when he limped home to Holywood to recharge after a disappointing US Masters amid worrying reports of a bad back, but it went into overdrive again two weeks later with his astonishing 62 to win the Quail Hollow Championship.
He went home this week to something of a shock by the intensity of the hero’s welcome and three letters from giants of the game waiting on his welcome mat.
“I got letters from Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and a really nice one from Seve Ballesteros,” he revealed.
“They’re in the process of being framed with the 18th flag (from Quail Hollow).Outrageous”I’d met Jack earlier in the year and he told me to be patient, so he wrote, ‘I told you to be patient but that was outrageous,’ and both him and Arnie said they looked forward to welcoming me to their tournaments.
“Seve is going through a difficult time at the moment and it was incredible of him to take time to write to me, it was very, very touching. He is very proud of all the young European players coming through.
“The win vindicated my decision to play in the US but it’s nice to be back in Europe, in familiar surroundings where I have good memories from last year.”
McIlroy was the target of a speech from long-time tour sponsor Johann Ruppert at the tour’s annual dinner when the Alfred Dunhill Championship tycoon chided pampered pros for not engaging with sponsors in the current climate, and suggesting the Belfast Boy would have been better investing his money rather than splashing out £150,000-odd on his Lambo.
“It did make me think,” said McIlroy.
“You have to find a balance between enjoying your success and the money and building up a secure future because I might not be able to rely on golf for the rest of my life.
“Johann said what is happening in the world at the minute could go on for five to 10 years and he knows his stuff.”
That may be so, but as usual there’s little evidence of downturns, deficits and cutbacks at Wentworth, where £7 million has been ploughed into the course. including a relaying of all the greens from poa annua to a more hardy grass that is more readily playable in May.Wentworth changesThat was enough to convince messrs Harrington and Poulter to return but not everyone is enamoured, to say the least, about the changes to the West Course scripted by local resident Ernie Els but driven by the estate’s owner, multi-millionaire restaurant owner Richard Caring.
The redraft is epitomised by the 538-yard par five 18th, unrecognisable to the way to it was only a year ago (and for nearly 100 years before that) with an American style water feature, drastically altered bunkering and a tiny new green.
Paul Casey, the champion, a Surrey native and a West Course devotee, tried to be diplomatic about the changes but failed miserably, even advocating listed status for this country’s treasured courses to prevent them being altered.
“Ernie has a beautiful house here on the estate with a thatched roof and plaster work, but that doesn’t give him the right to paint it pink and put a tin roof on it,” he said, a crystal-clear analogy indicating what he thought of what had been done to course.
“When you’re the owner of a Grade II listed building you’re the caretaker for the next generation, and if you are the owner of a great course you have the right to make changes but is that in the best interests of that particular course or golf in general?”
Casey also hinted at the disagreements between Els and Caring about the set-up.