Honda Classic: Rory can learn from humble Hunter

General / Ralph Ellis / 28 February 2012 / Leave a Comment

McIlroy congratulates Mahan at the Accenture

"McIlroy shares the top of the early market for the Masters with Woods and will be burning to erase the memory of last year’s final day meltdown."

Rory McIlroy's talent has never been in doubt but the Irishman shouldn't take success for granted, says Ralph Ellis ahead of this weekend's Honda Classic.

Between confidence and arrogance there's a very fine line. Believing in yourself is good. In fact for a sportsman it's essential. Go that bit further, however, and danger lurks.

I thought that on Saturday night, listening to Roy Hodgson telling a press conference, after his West Bromwich Albion team had beaten Sunderland, that he didn't need to answer questions about relegation any more. Brave when they are still on just 32 points.

But that was almost humble compared to Rory McIlroy after he'd lost the Accenture Match Play final to Hunter Mahan, and with it the chance to take over as world number one. "Getting to the top of the rankings is hopefully inevitable," he said.

If only life, and sport, was so simple. The talent isn't in doubt: a sublime swing, a feathery touch around the greens, a steady putting stroke. It seems every ingredient of greatness is there. But if he thinks he can just wait for the wins to follow then he and his fans might just be in for a disappointment.

The undeniable fact is that in 37 career PGA Tour starts now, McIlory has just two wins. It means that while you can happily back him at [2.7] for a top five finish for this week's Honda Classic, the [9.4] for him to be the winner is a different matter.

At the moment there's still a soft underbelly to his performances. He showed true grit in knocking out his big rival Lee Westwood, but then didn't have the mental steel to see off Mahan, whose previous biggest claim to worldwide fame was breaking down in tears when he'd lost the crucial last singles at Celtic Manor in the 2010 Ryder Cup.

It may be unkind making comparisons to a young Tiger Woods, but if McIlory believes he should be judged by those sort of standards then it probably has to be done. And I can't remember the early Tiger coming up with anything resembling Rory's seventh and eighth holes against Mahan, when the Irishman made double bogey from the middle of the fairway and then couldn't take advantage of Hunter's three-putt.

McIlroy shares the top of the early market for the Masters with Woods and will doubtless be burning to erase the memory of last year's final day meltdown. But to do that he still has to find what the football people call a "winning mentality." Since his injury scare at the PGA Championship last year he's finished out of the top ten just once in 11 tournaments, but finished first only in an unofficial event in Shanghai and the Hong Kong Open.

Getting to the top might well happen. But until McIlroy finds the mean streak that turns nearly-winning into winning, it's anything but inevitable.

Five things you might not know about Hunter Mahan

1. Born May 1982 in Orange, California, his dad Monte worked undercover in the drug squad for the LAPD. The family moved to Texas when he took early retirement because he'd been beaten up in a fight with a suspect.

2. Hunter's into fashion because mum Cindy was a buyer at the Nordstrom department store in Dallas and used her company discount to buy her son's clothes. When he was ten he had 20 pairs of shoes, all with matching outfits.

3. His wife Kandi (they married last year at Piazza in the Village, Dallas) is a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader.

4. He teamed up with other golfers Ben Crane, Bubba Watson and Rickie Fowler last year to make a "boy band" pop video for charity. Check it out on YouTube.

5. His hobby is restoring classic cars. He currently drives a 2007 Bentley, but has been working on a 1969 Chevrolet Nova truck to prepare for shows.

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