Golf Tips

British Open champion Darren Clarke has appointed Phil “Wobbly” Morbey, who used to caddie for former world number one Ian Woosnam, as his new bagman.

ISM, Clarke’s management team, said that Morbey would launch his partnership with the 43yearold at next week’s WGCAccenture Match Play Championship in Marana, Arizona.

The world number 54 announced in January that he had split up with John Mulrooney, the caddie who helped him land his first major championship at the Open in July.

Northern Irishman Clarke has been out of sorts since his victory at Sandwich, his best result a 20thplace finish at the Volvo Golf Champions tournament in South Africa last month.

He and Mulrooney parted company after the player slumped to rounds of 72 and 81 to miss the cut at the Abu Dhabi Championship two and a half weeks ago.

Morbey spent 14 years as caddie for Woosnam and was with the Welshman when he won the 1991 US Masters.

RORY McIlroy had seven birdies in his last 10 holes to finish the opening round of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic only three behind Spain’s Rafael Cabrera-Bello today.

It could have been even better for both of them, however.

Cabrera-Bello had the chance to achieve the European Tour’s first-ever 59 when he stood on his 12th tee nine under par.

It left him needing four more birdies to achieve the magic figure, but the 27-year-old Canary Islander parred in for a 63 and a two-stroke lead over German Marcel Siem and Scotland’s Scott Jamieson.

World number two McIlroy was deep in the pack at one over after eight, but a birdie on the difficult ninth sparked him into life and by the time he almost holed-in-one on the 15th – Scot Stephen Gallacher did make an ace there – he was up to five under.

Two glorious shots to the 564-yard 18th gave him an opportunity to close with an eagle, but the 2009 winner – it was his first professional victory – had to be content with two-putting for another birdie.

Cabrera-Bello told European Tour Radio: “Just for a second after the birdie on number two (his 11th hole) I tried to do the maths on what I needed for 59.

“Then I told myself to stop being foolish and don’t be too greedy.

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Packing light is essential if you are traveling on an Ireland golf tour vacation. Many golf tour groups will only spend a night or 2 in a single hotel before traveling to the next golfing destination. If you over-pack you may get stressed with having to carry all the excess luggage around.

Although you need to pack lightly, you still need to take all of your essentials including golf clubs. You can rent or buy golf clubs in Ireland, but it will cost a lot more than other places. If you travel to Ireland to golf on some of the famous courses, then you might as well take any advantages you can get by golfing with your own clubs. Read more info…

Tiger Woods says he will start this season fitter than he has in at least the past eight as he prepares for the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship.

The 14-time major winner will compete at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club for the first time, choosing to play the European Tour event instead of the PGA Tour’s Farmers Insurance Open, which he has won six times.

Speaking ahead of Thursday’s start to the tournament in the United Arab Emirates, Woods said he was entering this season the fittest he has been in a while.

‘It’s been quite a few years since I’ve been physically fit,’ Woods said on Tuesday, as he prepares to ‘give it a full season’ in his bid to regain the world number one ranking.

When asked when he last felt this fit during January, Woods said: ‘I don’t know, probably eight, 10, 12 years ago.’

Woods, the world number 25, broke a two-year drought without a win when he took out the Chevron World Challenge in December last year.

A win against a strong field at Abu Dhabi could lift him into the world’s top 10, and he said the quality of opposition excited him.

‘The guys who have played here have said these wonderful things,’ Woods said, preparing to take on the likes of Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy and Martin Kaymer.

‘This is a new event for me.

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TORONTO – The buzz in the golf world this past weekend was not on the golf course, actually it was a completely different kind of buzz people are talking about.

Saturdays post-round interview of PGA newcomer Matt Every by the Golf Channels Kelly Tilghman sparked a controversy after the discussion veered toward Everys 2010 arrest for marijuana possession and his ensuing three-month PGA Tour suspension. A suspension that cost him a chance to retain his PGA card, sending him to the Nationwide Tour last season.

In a scene that was more awkward than combative, the 28-year-old Every sat across from Tilghman and said exactly what was on his mind.

Asked about the suspension, he answered: It was all right.

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