Blog Number 2 - 5/2/10

Oh, to be Young Again
Pro golf's young whipper-snappers showed the more experienced players in the field how to close a tournament today.

In Japan, 18-year-old Ryo Ishikawa shot an incredible twelve-under-par 58 at the Crowns Tournament in Nagoya to win his seventh Japan Tour event and, at the Quail Hollow Championship in South Carolina, Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy shot a ten-under 62 to win by four from Phil Mickelson.
What was remarkable about Ishikawa's score was that the 2009 Presidents Cup player had entered the final day tied for sixth after rounds of 68, 70 and 71. It's not as if he was in the form of his short life and running away with the tournament. Indeed, he was six strokes behind leader Shigeki Maruyama. So where on Earth did nine birdies in the first eleven holes, and three more in a row from the 14th come from? 'I can see the scores from my four rounds on the scoreboard,' he said after coming off the 18th green. 'It's just hard to believe I improved my score from yesterday by 13 strokes.' (I improved by 13 shots on successive days a few years ago. But I began with an 89!)
As for McIlroy's performance, it's astonishing the boy from Belfast, who turns 21 on Tuesday, made the cut on the number after a 72 and 73 then closed with six straight threes today to break the course record by two shots.
Apparently, experience is not required to win a tournament on a major professional golf tour nowadays. Just bags (stuffed, overflowing bags bursting at the seams) of talent.

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