The Zone Interactive Golf Magazine (UK) The Zone Issue 28 | Page 11

NEWS
Westwood, Darren Clarke, Louis
Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel,
ostensibly because he did not think
that the company could give him the
attention he felt his elevated status in
the game deserved.
I have to say that I was more than a
little surprised at that assertion. ISM
has done well enough for the players
named avove, not to mention Ernie Els,
and it does as well as it does because
Chandler employs a number of former
tour professionals who understand the
game.
Horizon is a smaller company, looking
after a few hand-picked individuals.
When Graeme McDowell won the US
Open at Pebble Beach, the first man
to run onto the green and embrace
him was Conor Ridge, Horizon's head
honcho.
Indeed, it is a safe bet that McDowell
played some part in persuading
McIlroy that Horizon would look after
his interests.
Instead of focusing on his game during
2013, there is little doubt that McIlroy
has been weighed down by his dispute
with Oakley, which has, thankfully,
now been settled.
He is taking action against Horizon
and they, in turn, are suing him for
breach of contract, but it is evident that
McIlroy has finally been able to put
it all to the back of his mind - it is all
expected to come to a head at around
the time of next year's Ryder Cup.

THEZONE / ISSUE 28

In the meantime, he is back to what
he does best - playing golf. Playing
attacking golf, hitting fairways
with 300-plus yard drives, crushing
towering iron shots into the heart of
greens, producing miraculous recovery
shots when called upon to do so; in
other words, playing like Rory McIlroy.
What he isn't doing is holing putts.
Anybody who witnessed his opening
round of 69 in the Australian Open
will marvel at the fact that he could
produce such a good score on such
a difficult course on a day when he
missed at least four putts of less than
three feet.
But that didn't stop him from looking
Adam Scott in the eye, going head
to head with the Australian on his
own turf and overcoming a four-shot
deficit to win the Aussie Open. The
only time McIlroy was in front was
when he holed for birdie on the 72nd
green - and afterwards he clearly felt
embarrassed at pooping Scott's party. It
was his first win of 2013, a year he will
want to forget but during which he still
managed nine top 10 finishes.
McIlroy is a confidence player,
and there is no doubt that he has
rediscovered his confidence and his
game. When he goes back to see Dave
Stockton, the putting guru who has
helped him out in the past, his recovery
will be complete. Make no mistake McIlroy will win at least one major
in 2014 and will soon be challenging
Tiger Woods and Scott at the top of the
world rankings.

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