This and that as the PGA Tour cranks up after Tiger Woods’ WGC-Cadillac Championship win at Doral:
• The tooth and nothing but the tooth. Just about every aspect of top-ranked Rory McIlroy’s game is dissected on a regular basis. You can now add his health – well at least the state of his teeth. The 23-year-old Irishman has drawn the ire of fans, media and his fellow players after withdrawing midway through the second round of the Honda Classic. McIlroy, who was well on pace for a round in the 80s, initially said his head wasn’t in the right place, but later reversed field and said he pulled out because of a severe toothache.
A golfer withdrawing from a Tour event because of a toothache isn’t exactly the best of excuses, but it had even less bit because McIlroy was seen munching on a sandwich earlier in the round.
So, his initial reasoning was likely correct, as McIlroy has yet to break par since signing a deal with Nike estimated to be worth up to $15 million. The move put him in the spotlight normally reserved for Tiger Woods, but – as Woods will testify – that spotlight doesn’t often shine the best light.
McIlroy admitted walking off the golf course ‘wasn’t the right thing to do,’ by the way.
• Reversal of Fortune. Speaking of Tiger, he owned World Golf Championship events before he slammed into that three years ago and all the naked bodies fell out. Woods won 15 of 27 WGC events in which he entered, an incredible 58 percent winning percentage. But, before his latest Coral victory, he’d gone 10 straight without a victory since winning at Firestone in 2009 – a tournament he’s won seven times and yet has only produced one top-10 finish during the past three years.
• Sitting back. The recent talk has been about Tiger, Rory and even snow in Arizona. Meanwhile Brandt Snedeker is sitting back healing and waiting for the Masters. The 32-year-old Snedeker started off hotter than a firecracker, posting four top-three finishes, including a win at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. That earned him $2.859 million in winnings already and a hefty lead in the FedEx Cup points race. But he pulled a rib muscle shortly after that win, prompting him to skip the Match Play Championship in Arizona along with the WGC-Cadillac Championship. Snedeker has said he’s anxious to play, but he’s sticking to his plan so he can be healed up by the time the Masters rolls around so he can make a run at his first major championship time.