Golf: Rory McIlroy Draws Junior Golf Partner Shane Lowry
By Les Bailey
The world’s number one golfer, Rory McIlroy opens his 2013 PGA Tour season at The WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship on Wednesday, and faces Junior Golf team mate Shane Lowry in the first round, who is also from Northern Ireland. McIlroy will tee it up for the first time at The Ritz_Carlton Dove Mountain Resort Golf Course since his much awaited start against Tiger Woods at Abu Dhabi, where neither made the cut. The 2012 money winner on both tours has been busy getting his new Nike equipment figured out.
Shane Lowry is seeded 16th in the Bobby Jones Division, and being ranked 68th in Official World Golf Rankings(OWGR), has made the tournament due to cancellations by Brandt Snedeker, and Phil Mickelson. Unfortunately for the 25 year old from Mullinger, Ireland, he has drawn the worlds best player, and his old friend Rory McIlroy. Lowery has three wins on the European Tour, but since a ninth place finish at The Volvo Golf Championships in January, did not make the cut at either the The Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, or the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.
Shane Lowry made the field of 64 at Dove Mountain, but will be taking an early flight back to Europe. He doesn’t have the game to compete with the two time major champion, unless McIlroy shows up totally off his game like he did at Abu Dhabi, but I’m not willing to make that bet. If Rory McIlroy gets his watch set correctly, and makes his tee time on Wednesday, he will win this match.
McIlroy made the finals here last year, and lost in the finale to Hunter Mahan. At the time, the young Irishman was worn out from playing so many tournaments to make the number one ranking, and getting taken to the mat in the semi-finals by Lee Westwood, he didn’t have a lot in the tank for the Sunday match-up. Even at that, he didn’t make it easy on Mahan.
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