Bernie was asked to contribute to a ‘season-ending’ highlights feature appearing in last Saturday’s edition of the Irish Examiner newspaper, and one of the newspapers he contributes.
Simon Lewis is chief golf writer for the newspaper and hereunder is the article with Bernie’s contribution.
By Simon Lewis
Rugby and Golf Correspondent
The European Tour heads to the sunny Algarve next week, but with an end of season chill now in the air, we asked four golf writers to review 2014, from McIlroy’s Majors to McGinley’s Ryder Cup — and everything else in between.
Question 1: Who’s your world golfer of the year for 2014 and why?
“Rory McIlroy’s Open, WGC-Bridgestone, PGA title run in successive weeks would have been plenty. Preface it with the BMW PGA Championship and cap with a Ryder Cup singles demolition of Rickie Fowler and you’ve a very special year that also produced 17 top-25 finishes from 17 starts, including 12 top-10s.”
Brian Keogh, Tour writer
“Unquestionably, Rory McIlroy. Two majors wins, a WGC and the European Tour’s flagship BMW PGA make it a sensational year. With his performance in the Ryder Cup and his consolidation as world No 1, he looks destined to become golf’s dominant figure in the first half of the 21st century.”
John McHenry, ex-Tour pro, Irish Examiner columnist
“Rory McIlroy for so many reasons. The best and most dominant player on tour — the player with the most flair and the most honest player in the media centre.”
Bernie McGuire, Tour writer
Rory McIlroy waves to Andy Murray at USA -v- Costa Rica basketball match last Friday at Maddison Square Garden in New York. Bernie’s vote for Player of the Year.
“Rory McIlroy. World No. 1. Two Major Championships within the space of three tournaments. A first WGC title, capturing the European Tour’s flagship event and certain to end the season European Tour No. 1 for a second time in three seasons. Daylight is a distant second!”
Question 2: Who’s impressed you most on the European tour?
Simon Lewis
“I’ve really liked the cut of Stephen Gallacher’s jib. He’s been around a while, winning in 2004, but the Scot determined to make a Ryder Cup team on home soil and gave it heart and soul to do so. It took a captain’s pick but the effort deserved it.”
Brian Keogh
“Jamie Donaldson looked likely to step up a level when he won in Estoril in 2007 but went into neutral for four years before his victory in the Irish Open at Royal Portrush in 2012. His win in the Czech Masters to secure his Ryder Cup place was massively impressive.”
John McHenry
“Joost Luiten has impressed me but, quite honestly, Jamie Donaldson has only just begun to start believing in himself and his performances over the past year, culminating in the Ryder Cup, have been inspirational.”
Bernie McGuire
“Victorious Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley. I commented often in the countdown to Gleneagles he would have the team jumping through hoops and that is what transpired.”
Question 3: What Irish golfer — excluding McIlroy — has made the greatest strides in 2014?
Simon Lewis
“Shane Lowry came out and proved he has the game to compete with the best. After a slow start, he never looked back after a second place at the BMW PGA. Three more top-10s followed, including ninth at The Open, helping Lowry to his most lucrative season on Tour.”
Brian Keogh
“Shane Lowry. We were wondering if he might struggled to keep his card when he missed six of his first eight cuts. Then came Wentworth where he finished second to Rory McIlroy and but for a bad run around the turn on Friday, he might have challenged the Holywood man for The Open.”
John McHenry
“Shane Lowry is finally beginning to talk himself up and that is great because in my opinion he hasn’t fully realised his full potential yet. He belongs competing amongst the world’s top 50 players regularly.”
Bernie McGuire
Bernie picks out Shane Lowry as the most improved Irish-born player this year. (Photo – www.golfbytourmiss.com)
“Shane Lowry and inching ever closer to the world’s Top 50 and the assurance of contesting all four Majors in 2015.”
Question 4: What was your favourite major or Tour moment of the year?
Simon Lewis
“The 66 from West Waterford amateur and Paddy Harrington scholar Gary Hurley in the Irish Open second round was a joy. Cheered by family and friends at Fota Island, the NUI Maynooth student made their day with a wonderful round of golf to outscore the likes of McIlroy and Lowry.”
Brian Keogh
“McIlroy’s win at Royal Liverpool was special but watching him put the foot down on the back nine in the US PGA at Valhalla to hold off Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler had everything — great golf, drama and an Irish winner.”
John McHenry
“I was hugely impressed with the manner in which McIlroy won the Open Championship. His game plan was perfect and in winning he showed so much more patience and maturity than we have seen from him before. It was an unbeatable formula.”
Bernie McGuire
Six-time Major winner Nick Faldo taking a shot of Trump’s helicopter as we come into land after a fly-over of Trump’s new course during the 2014 Scottish Open.
“The Scottish Open and being invited aboard Donald Trump’s private chopper for a 15-minute flyover of his Trump International Links Course Scotland and then as we came into land, six-time Major winner Nick Faldo was taking a picture of us.”
Question 5: An Irish club that’s out-running the recession with good marketing, facilities and smart investment?
Simon Lewis
“The Castlemartyr Resort in East Cork has had more than its fair share of issues through the recession but its golf staff have come out fighting and are inundated with society bookings, having stuck to their maintenance budgets throughout to produce an excellent, playable Ron Kirby inland links course.”
Brian Keogh
“Dun Laoghaire. Admittedly they struck gold during the Celtic Tiger when they sold their course to a developer and moved to a brand new site. With a huge war-chest in the bank, they have some of the best facilities in the country and will host the Curtis Cup in 2016.”
John McHenry
“Lahinch Golf Club has done a wonderful job over the past couple of year in restructuring its facilities and finances. Fota Island has also proven itself as a quality resort with first class service.”
Tony Leen (Irish Examiner sports editor), for Bernie McGuire
“Given where the club’s finances were a couple of years ago, Killarney Golf Club management has done an admirable job righting a listing vessel. Cormac Flannery’s team are engaging members to assist with course tidy-ups and info briefings, and the course staff — under the eye of Enda Murphy — have restored two old gems lovingly. Kudos also in an Irish Open year to Fota Island resort — a business model to follow for many resorts and golf clubs.”
Question 6: Tour golfer we should keep an eye on for 2015?
Simon Lewis
“Brooks Koepka hits it a mile and after a season of near misses on the European Tour, the American is ready for a breakthrough, a tie for fourth at the US Open and a top-15 finish in the PGA showing he has the big-tournament mentality to match the talent.”
Brian Keogh
“Moritz Lampert. The 22-year old German made amends for a disappointing rookie season last year by winning back his card thanks to three wins on the Challenge Tour. With Q-School in full swing, watch out also for England’s Toby Tree, a star in waiting.”
John McHenry
“I like Jordan Speith, Patrick Reed and Russell Henley on the PGA Tour and Moritz Lampert and Andrew Johnson from the European Challenge Tour.”
Bernie McGuire
Russell Knox – One of golf’s brightest new stars.
“Scotland’s PGA Tour based Russell Knox is like a breath of fresh air and so very different to many of the Scots on Tour. He’s bright, bubbly and provides plenty of copy. He married a former WTA tennis pro who is Knox’s hardest critic.”
Question 7: Who’s the next Irish big thing?
Simon Lewis
“There are reasons to be optimistic in both the men’s and women’s game. Stephanie Meadow made a sparkling pro debut in the US Women’s Open while teenager Robin Dawson begins a Paddy Harrington Scholarship having already made his senior international debut and won a Senior Cup with Tramore.”
Brian Keogh
“We’ll go for Stephanie Meadow, who burst onto the professional scene by finishing third in the US Women’s Open on her debut. Watch out too for amateurs Gary Hurley, Gavin Moynihan and Dermot McElroy.”
John McHenry
“Stephanie Meadow has the potential to make it very big on the LPGA tour.”
Bernie McGuire
“Gavin Moynihan — already commands an impressive amateur CV and should take to the pro ranks, when he makes that decision, like a duck takes to water.”
Question 8: What’s the best course you played this year, and why?
Simon Lewis
“Play? Property tax and water rates have taken away my green fees budget, thank you very much. And even if I had the dough, do you think I’ve got time to play golf with family and work commitments? Somebody, please, make golf more accessible to the time-constrained.”
Brian Keogh
“Sadly, I played almost no golf this year but once again, Portmarnock did not disappoint. Superintendent Gary Johnstone has done a superb job restoring the course to its best. New run-offs, drainage and tee complexes have all matured since the work was carried out a few years ago. A classic.”
John McHenry
“Adare Manor Resort. It is a wonderful golf course full of variety from those bordering the edge of the stately manor to those cut through the trees or those meandering around the waters edge.”
Bernie McGuire
The 18th hole of the North Course at the Lake of Isles club in Connecticut – what you don’t see is that the tee shot has to be hit over the body of water to the fairway. Great finishing hole. (Photo – www.golfbytourmiss.com)
“The North Course, Lake of Isles, North Stonington, Connecticut. I was on route from the Barclays Championship in New Jersey to the Deutsche Bank Championship outside of Boston and stopped for the night close to the course. The club gave me permission to tee off first on a superb morning that quickly reminded me of the Mastercard ‘Priceless’ TV ads.”
Question 9: What’s the most memorable golf hole you played this year?
Tony Leen (answering for Simon Lewis)
“The new par 3 No 13th at the Old Head outside Kinsale — a cliff-edge one-shotter in ever sense of the word, completes a mini-Amen Corner, with No 12 — what I regard as the most daunting par 5 in Ireland — coming just before.”
Brian Keogh
“No 8 at Portmarnock never disappoints. It’s not long but that approach to a narrow sliver of green protected by a bunker at the front and severe run-offs on either side is always memorable.”
John McHenry
“Hole 4 La Cascada, a par 5 on the Valderrama Golf Course in Spain. A great hole, full of treachery.”
Bernie McGuire
Crail Golfing Society – Golf’s 7th oldest club and the 4th hole at Balcomie one of Bernie’s favourites.
“The 18th hole at the Old Head, Kinsale and the fourth hole at Balcomie Links, Crail, Scotland.”
Question 10: Are tour pros more or less accessible these days?
Simon Lewis
“Compared to other elite sports people, golfers are very accessible and appear perfectly willing to give time for media interviews as well as spend as long as necessary to sign autographs and interact with fans.”
Brian Keogh
“Tour professionals are no less accessible than they were 12 months ago. Time with Rory McIlroy is now at a premium but the world No 1 will still happily answer extra questions, something other players find irritating.”
John McHenry
“If you are prepared to work with them, then I still believe that they are accessible, but it is on their terms. McIlroy is great value for money, as was Paul McGinley as captain of the European Ryder Cup team.”
Bernie McGuire
“It is the Tour staff and not necessarily the players that is leading to the Tour players becoming a little less accessible. Of course, there is still the opportunity of a one-to-one interview but with practically all interviews appearing soon after on Tour websites and Tour staff ‘tweeting’ quotes, it also has sadly led to more and more journalists reporting on golf from the comfort of their lounge room.”
Question 11: What was the shot of the year?
Simon Lewis
“Rory McIlroy’s 3-wood into Valhalla’s 10th from 281 yards gave him an eagle putt from seven feet and was pure magic. Pure, magical fluke. He hit it 30 feet lower than intended but boy did it produce the goods, igniting his PGA Championship final round just as his rivals were closing.”
Brian Keogh
“With Rory McIlroy admitting he got lucky with the three-wood approach to the 10th that set up the eagle that helped him win the US PGA, we’ll go for Bubba Watson’s 366-yard drive over the corner on the 13th to set up a his second Masters win in three years.”
John McHenry
“For me it was McIlroy’s second shot to the 10th hole in the final round of the USPGA. McIlroy described it as being lucky but it was pivotal to him being able to get himself back into and ultimately with the event.”
Bernie McGuire
Welsh wonder Jamie Donaldson mobbed after securing Europe victory in the Ryder Cup. (Photo – www.golffile.ie)
“Unquestionably, Jamie Donaldson’s 146-yard 9-iron second shot into the par four 15th hole that delivered Europe victory in the Ryder Cup.”
Question 12: Did Phil push Watson under a bus or is he being crucified for answering a question honestly?
Simon Lewis
“Honest he may have been, but Mickelson was also disloyal and disingenuous the way he disrespected his captain and then acted shocked when it was suggested he had done so. What made it worse was that in the same press conference, he said he had never addressed his concerns with Watson before the Ryder Cup.”
Brian Keogh
“Mickelson may have done more for the US Ryder Cup team with his comments than he ever did on the course. Yes, it was cruel but with the PGA of America bosses all sitting in the back row, he made a point that will be difficult for them to ignore.”
John McHenry
“What Mickelson said was accurate and harsh as it may seem to Watson, but by saying it Mickelson guaranteed that action — or at the very least a period of reflection — on the matter would be taken.”
Bernie McGuire
“My first reaction sitting in the media center that Sunday night was thinking of the headlines appearing next morning in the red banner London papers. But then Mickelson’s smart enough and has been around long enough to know exactly what he was implying.”
