European Tour takes shorts in its stride

Jordan Spieth is apparently a little too slow for the liking of the European Tour.

He could hardly credit being within two of McIlroy, who regularly out-drove him by 40 yards and more. The first victim? Jordan Spieth.

The competitiveness between the superstar trio started in earnest this week when they “raced” into Abu Dhabi and took part in the GolfBoarding “Rider Cup” challenge at the emirate’s ocean-front Saadiyat Beach Golf Club.

“It was a masterclass, the Rory that I have seen win major championships”, Spieth said after a birdie on the last ensured he finished just two shots behind McIlroy and four behind fellow American Bryson DeChambeau, a 22-year-old amateur who topped the leaderboard. It left him within two shots of McIlroy, which was astonishing given how well the world No 3 performed with the big stick in his hands.

He refers to himself as a pro golf “intern”, and has taken the opportunity to play with Jordan Spieth, “Just for the chance to watch how he prepares”. He [Paramor] just came up and said you have got this and I said ‘okay, I’ll just move on with the hole’.

“So look at Tiger (Woods), Phil (Mickelson), Rory, these guys that have done more in the game of golf than I have, and I want to strive to get to what they have done”.

“The players have embraced it”, said the tour’s chief executive, Keith Pelley, said before the opening tournament of the “Desert Swing” through Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Qatar. This, however, was an unnecessary intervention and you can bet your bottom dollar that blatant examples of slow play were evident here yesterday yet went unnoticed because, unless every group has a walking official with it, slow play can’t be monitored properly.

“It’s a great way to start the year”, said the third-ranked McIlroy, who has been runner-up four times in Abu Dhabi.

GolfBoarding has taken golf by storm in the U.S. over the past year, and McIlroy, partnered by Stenson for “Team Europe” quickly shifted into gear after the holiday season against the Americans.

“This is the way I’ve been hitting it in practice”. So then I called Michael [Greller, Spieth’s caddie] over and said “We’ve got time, let’s try and nail this thing down” because we had been on the clock for a number of holes.

Stenson, 39, had missed the cut in Abu Dhabi in each of the previous two years and was returning to competitive golf after knee surgery, but the amiable Swede showed few ill effects as he sank eight birdies between his fourth and 17th holes before bogeying the last. Not bad for an amateur making only his seventh start in a professional tournament, and his first on the regular European Tour – through a sponsor’s invitation. “This time it was closer to the latter”.

Two three-putts for birdies were the only negatives for McIlroy, whose longest birdie was from 25 feet on No. 13.