Change on the cards? McIlroy seeks "spark" as DeChambeau takes off
Bryson DeChambeau of the United States celebrates making his putt on the 18th green to win during the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by MasterCard at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge on March 07, 2021 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
There will be inevitable speculation about the future of his coach and caddie after Rory McIlroy confessed he needs “a spark” to get his game back on track after a closing 76 left him making up the numbers in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.
Having followed a 66 that included some fortunate putts with rounds of 71 and 72, he was already facing an uphill task having fallen four shots behind eventual runner up Lee Westwood through 54 holes.
He was keen for conditions to be as tough as possible for the leaders as he planned to make a fast start to his final round and set a formidable clubhouse target.
It would have required a 68 to match DeChambeau, who shot 71 to Westwood’s 73 to win by a shot on 11-under.
But McIlroy’s final round charge never materialised as he missed a 14 footer for birdie at the first, bogeyed the par-three second and followed a birdie at the fourth with a tournament ending double-bogey seven at the sixth.
Only McIlroy knows what he was trying to do on the tee and whether or not he was inadvertently dragged into a macho, big-hitting contest with DeChambeau, who was playing four groups behind.
Taking a very ambitious line, he found water twice before eventually taking a far more conservative line with his third ball. That he then hit a 244-yard approach with a long-iron to four feet and made the putt for “eagle” was typical McIlroy but it was also too little too late.
With his tournament over, he bogeyed the eighth, then played the back nine in one-over and ranked 46th for strokes gained off the tee for the week, compared to 30th for Pádraig Harrington.
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays a second shot on the 12th hole during the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by MasterCard at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge on March 04, 2021 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
There was an exchange of wan smiles with his caddie at the finish with Diamond consoling his man with a gentle puck of the knuckles on the bicep.
“I don't know what the word is or how to describe it, but just a little dejected,” McIlroy said of his feelings about his game heading to The Players at TPC Sawgrass this week
“Maybe looking to go in a different direction. I don't know. I need something, I need a spark, I need something and I just don't seem to have it. Some days it's good, some days it's not.”
While there has been talk about the performances of all McIlroy’s caddies since he turned professional — Gordon Faulkner, JP Fitzgerald and now Harry Diamond — that chatter will only heighten in intensity now and one wonders if McIlroy would make much difference.
Having asked Butch Harmon to look at his swing last winter, there will also be talk about Michael Bannon but one wonders if McIlroy really has the hunger to make vast changes when he is clearly not that far away from his best.
Course management and distance control with his irons, especially his wedges, remain his biggest challenges but it remains to be seen how he resolves these issues as he approaches the seventh anniversary of his most recent Major win having fallen from eighth to 11th in the world, his worst world ranking since March 2018.
Brooks Koepka (four times), Jordan Spieth (three times), Dustin Johnson (twice) as well as DeChambeau, Collin Morikawa, Shane Lowry, Tiger Woods, Francesco Molinari, Patrick Reed, Justin Thomas, Sergio García, Henrik Stenson, Jimmy Walker, Danny Willett, Zach Johnson and Jason Day have split 22 majors between them since McIlroy won the 2014 US PGA.
With Spieth coming back to form, Johnson still a big threat, Morikawa one of golf’s big new names and DeChambeau on track to win even more majors, it will require McIlroy at his best to get back into that Major winning club.
DeChambeau certainly laid down another marker when he combined incredible power and a delicate touch to clinch the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
The massive-hitting Californian thrilled the limited crowds at Bay Hill with his long-driving exploits before knocking in a six-footer for par at the last for a one-under 71 to the impressive Lee Westwood’s 73 to win by one stroke on 11-under par.
One behind the English veteran overnight, DeChambeau turned for home one ahead as he followed a bogey off a wild drive at the first with birdies at the par-five fourth and sixth where both men made birdie fours.
DeChambeau again captured the imagination of fans, biting off so much of the lake with his 377-yard drive that he had 88 yards to the green from a fairway bunker as Westwood was left with 256 yards following his 306-yard drive.
For all his length, his putter was key to his victory as he finished sixth for strokes gained on Sunday.
But there were also some huge par putts — a nine footer at the third, a 38 footer at the fourth, a 50 footer at the 11th and that closing six-footer for victory,
“I think that it's a very underrated aspect of my game,” DeChambeau said. “I thought I made the putt on 18 and then it rolled out a lot. I was not expecting it to roll out that much -- and it did on 17, so the greens got really, really fast, late in the day.
“But certainly there are moments in time where making that putt on 11, massive. Making the putt on 2, massive. Making the putt on 3, huge. 4, the 40-footer, huge. Those are just moments in time that I think people forget that's very, very important and instrumental in winning a golf tournament.”
Westwood played magnificently and he clearly has no problem with DeChambeau’s power and no interest in a rollback of the equipment or the introduction of heavy rough to combat him
“Well I think that would lead to very slow tournaments,” Westwood said. “He would be stood on the tee waiting for the green to clear on most par-4, wouldn't he? So, no, I don't think that's the answer. I think golf's in a good place, I don't know where everybody is panicking about it, I think it's exciting to watch right now, there's a lot of different combinations.
“You've got Bryson, obviously and then I suppose myself who is nearly 48 can still contend, with people like Dustin Johnson and Colin Morikawa winning last week, young lad, he hits it a long way but you wouldn't say he hits it miles. Then you got Rory and people like that. Rory's game's great to watch.
“So golf's in a healthy place if you ask me, I don't see the big problem, the big issue that everybody he's making it out.”
If it was a bad day for McIlroy, it was also a disappointing one for European Ryder Cup captain Pádraig Harrington (49) who triple-bogeyed the 18th to close a 76 to finish tied 31st on one-over par.
Hospitalised in Puerto Rico last week with kidney stones, the Dubliner bogeyed the eighth and ninth to turn in two-over and while he birdied the 16th, he drove out of bounds at the last and took seven.
