McIlroy shaking things up in pursuit of last leg of Slam

McIlroy shaking things up in pursuit of last leg of Slam

Rory McIlroy may have discovered the reason why he doesn’t yet have a green jacket, why he remains one leg shy of the career Grand Slam, why each year he leaves Augusta National – a course that so perfectly suits his game – scratching his head.

Because he needs to relax.

That’s not a word often associated with the Masters, but McIlroy sounded Tuesday like a man who is still trying to strike a balance between being prepared and being loose for his shot at history.

And so he is shaking things up this year at the Masters.

Just about everything, it seems.

He switched to a cross-handed putting grip last month.

He didn’t make a single scouting trip to Augusta in advance of the tournament.

He is using only one ball in practice rounds, instead of hitting multiple shots from the tee boxes, fairways and closely mown areas around the green.

Heck, he is even skipping the Par-3 Contest, out of superstition.

“I really feel like I play my best golf when I’m more relaxed, when I’m having fun out there and I’m not overdoing it or not overthinking it,” McIlroy said. “It’s a very special event, and obviously it’s different in its own way, but I don’t want to treat it any differently.”

But it’s not that simple. The Masters will always be the event on his calendar that is circled – it’s the only piece remaining for him to become just the sixth player to complete the career Grand Slam.

McIlroy’s wholesale changes are the product of what transpired last spring, when he arrived at Augusta with so much hype and hoopla following his banner year in 2014. Sure, he finished fourth last year, his best result in seven tries, but he got lapped by after going 3 over for his first 27 holes.

“I think part of that,” McIlroy said, “was having so much expectation and thinking of the Grand Slam and thinking of the Masters and thinking of all this where I needed to just take a step back and relax and go out and try and play my own game.”

That part creates pressure, too. He possesses an explosive game that many expect will produce multiple Masters victories. He can hit the ball high. He can land the ball softly. He has a good touch around the greens.

“He can emasculate a golf course,”

“You would think this was a golf course that I can definitely win on,” McIlroy said. “I know that. I just haven’t quite been able to get myself over the hurdle.

“Am I surprised that this is the last one left? Probably, yeah.”

So why hasn’t it happened?

The danger at the Masters, more so than any other tournament, is to over-prepare, to try every possible shot, lie and angle, to line up practice rounds with veterans and to ask too many questions. McIlroy played too tentatively his first few years, his focus more on where to avoid than where to aim. The information overload also conflicted with his carefree attitude on the course when he’s in top form.

who didn’t break through at Augusta until his 12^th attempt, said the temptation for players is to focus too much on the course and not enough on their own game.

“It’s much better to be ready with your game,” Mickelson said, “because you’ve got to execute no matter how well you know the golf course.”

Which is why to play his best, McIlroy says it’s imperative that he backs off, that he doesn’t overthink, that he doesn’t try too hard.

After heading to Augusta early each year to reacquaint himself with the course, he didn’t play his first round here this year until Monday, when he set up a match with Chris Wood. On Tuesday, he played a game with Andy Sullivan  and he used only one ball, even if it meant hitting out of pine straw or a fairway bunker.

“I’m just trying to play it more like it is a tournament round,” he said.

With so much pressure to complete the Slam, it would seem that McIlroy’s appearance at the Par-3 Contest would be a welcome reprieve, a chance to have a few laughs and fun before the most famous golf tournament on the most stressful course in the world commences.

But McIlroy has switched up his routine for that, too, saying that he wanted to “get away from the spotlight a little bit.”

That’s understandable, of course, but McIlroy also has the last tee time Thursday (2:01 p.m. ET). He’ll have to wait 24 hours after his last practice round to tee it up in the tournament proper, which is plenty of time to, well, sit around and think about the Slam and the Masters and that elusive green jacket.

“I feel like I’ve got everything I need to become a Masters champion,” he said, “but I think each and every year that passes that I don’t, it will become increasingly more difficult.”

Especially if he makes all of these changes and winds up with the same disappointing outcome.

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Blazer of glory: Spieth looking for second coat

At a place with more ceremonies than a Greek wedding it’s slightly anticlimactic that returning the most iconic symbol of major championship success is as unceremonial as hanging up a coat.

The coveted green jacket that golfers grow up wanting to win has never been far from the last 12 months. He’s traveled with it, he’s glanced at it, daily, in his closet, he’s even entertained friends and grilled with it on.

But Spieth’s run as Masters champion ends this week and with that passing goes the green jacket, which can now be worn only when he is on property at Augusta National unless he becomes the first player since in 2002 to win back-to-back Masters.

Two weeks ago as he prepared to travel to the WGC-Dell Match Play, that reality sank in for Spieth.

“When I packed it to go down to Austin [Texas], I was like, wow, there's a possibility that I don't have this back at my house anymore when I was leaving home,” said Spieth, who has shown a refreshing amount of sentimentality in his young career. “It kind of fired me up a little bit. Just the jacket itself provides a little motivation, which is cool but at the same time, it's not easy.”

It’s not easy parting with his green jacket and it won’t be easy bringing it back home to Dallas, not if the oddsmakers are to be trusted.

who unseated Spieth atop the Official World Golf Ranking two weeks ago, is the favorite, which Spieth said was fine by him.

Inasmuch as a defending champion who blitzed Augusta National with an 18-under total for a wire-to-wire victory last spring can, Spieth is happy to be under the proverbial radar.

Spieth has, after all, not been his dominant self the past few months after opening his year.

Since Maui, his best Tour finish is a tie for ninth at the Match Play. After making an early run last Sunday at the that included four birdies in his first five holes, he faded into a tie for 13th place.

Against that backdrop Spieth begins his title defense with something less than his best stuff to those watching from outside the green punchbowl.

Just don’t tell the 22-year-old that.

“We know we're capable of playing this place. We have proven it to ourselves the last two years. So the focus is on this week, and we feel as confident as probably ever leading into at least on Tuesday,” Spieth said. “So my game actually feels better right now than I think it did last year on Tuesday.”

The record would suggest that Spieth is at least on par with his performances through the first six months of last season.

Heading down Magnolia Lane last year he had won once, a playoff victory at the and had just one missed cut, the same as this year.

Statistically, he is 62nd in driving distance this year (55th at this point last year), 79th in driving accuracy (101st in 2015) and fourth in birdie average (sixth).

Beyond the nuts and bolts of his season it’s the unquantifiable elements of Spieth’s game that seem to give him confidence going into this week’s event.

After winning the first two majors last year and coming within a stroke of adding the claret jug to his growing Grand Slam collection, Spieth has largely quieted the outside noise that comes with such success and focused his energies on the inside voices. 

“It's more the internal stuff that is trickier for me,” he said. “The only way it affects my golf is if I'm on the course and I feel like I'm giving strokes away and, therefore, I make an aggressive play that's unnecessary.”

Spieth also has history on his side.

Despite having played the Masters just twice he’s appeared to have the moves of a savvy veteran, avoiding the pitfalls both on and off the golf course the last two years and not allowing the enormity of the event to overcome him.

For Spieth, the familiarity is the byproduct of his early success when he finished runner-up to in 2014.

“I think I was lucky that the first try, I wasn't trying as hard, and I think now I can just go back to the past couple years and draw off of that,” he said.

It’s that confidence, born from on-the-job experience, that helped temper his green jacket’s return to Augusta National this week, and why despite a chorus of concern over his recent form the moment was far from melancholy.

“I didn't take it for granted whatsoever,” Spieth said. “I think that I could have taken advantage of having it in my possession more than I did. But you learn and next time I'll do a little bit better.”

Hillsborough jury retires to consider verdicts

Jurors at the inquests into the deaths of 96 Liverpool fans at the 1989 Hillsborough disaster retired to consider their verdicts on Wednesday, over two years since the hearings began.

The jury of seven women and three men, which has been sitting since March 2014 at a purpose-built courtroom in Warrington, northwest England, will consider 14 key questions set out by coroner John Goldring.

One question concerns whether senior police officer David Duckenfield is responsible for the unlawful killing of the fans by gross negligence manslaughter, in what remains Britain's worst sporting disaster.

Addressing the jury, in front of dozens of relatives of the victims, Goldring said: "You decide the case only on the evidence you heard in court.

"Put out of your mind anything you may have read, heard or discussed about the disaster. Decide the case dispassionately on the evidence.

"Put emotion to one side. Do not make critical findings unless the facts justify them. On the other hand, do not shrink from making such findings if they do.

"You decide what evidence you accept and what evidence you reject."

The tragedy occurred on April 15, 1989 during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough stadium in northern England.

Seeking to alleviate a crush that had developed outside the ground at the Leppings Lane End shortly before kick-off, match commander Duckenfield opened an exit gate.

It enabled 2,000 fans to stream into the ground and they piled into the already over-full pens behind the goal at that end of the ground, causing a fatal crush.

In March last year at the hearings, Duckenfield apologised to the families of the victims after admitting to lying that fans had forced the gate open themselves.

- 'Conflicts' -
Under English law, an inquest exists solely to determine the cause of death. It cannot impose criminal sentences.

The original coroner's verdicts of accidental death were quashed in 2012 after a campaign by victims' families led to the publication of a new report into the disaster.

At the beginning of the new inquests, Goldring said that none of the victims should be blamed for their deaths.

Family members then paid emotional tributes to each of the 96 victims.

The jurors heard evidence from more than 800 witnesses on subjects including stadium safety, match planning, the events of the day, the emergency response and evidence gathering by police after the disaster.

The court then looked at each victim's final movements before medical experts and pathologists gave evidence about the circumstances of their deaths.

Goldring also told the jurors that they would have to resolve "conflicts" between the accounts of Liverpool supporters and police officers present on the day.

"As you will recall, it was suggested to many witnesses that senior officers collectively sought to present a 'false narrative' of the disaster," he said.

"The senior officers from whom we heard strongly denied that suggestion. You will need to consider this evidence because if you were to take the view there was some deliberate decision, you might think it reflected a view of the facts of the

disaster taken by the senior officers. That, of course, is a matter for you."

There is no limit on how long the jury may take to reach their conclusions.

The first report into the disaster, published by leading judge Peter Taylor in 1990, led to all-seater stadiums becoming compulsory in the English Premier League.

Alibaba plans global e-sports tournament this month

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba will kick off a global e-sports tournament this month, with big prize money up for grabs, as the Internet powerhouse makes a play for the fast-growing industry.
Alibaba signed an agreement this week with Singapore-based social networking firm YuuZoo to run the firm’s e-sports events in China, including the AliSports World Electronic Sport Games (WESG) kicking off at the end of April and which will offer a total of $5.5 million in prize money.
Formed in September, AliSports is spearheading Alibaba’s bid to boost its share of China’s lucrative sports industry, which is forecast to grow to $814 billion by 2025.
“Sports is a multi-billion dollar business in China, with massive growth potential. That is why Alibaba is investing heavily in this vertical,” AliSports chief executive Zhang Dazhong said, according to a statement on the YuuZoo website.
Marking its entry into the e-sports arena, AliSports will spend $15.4 million alone for the WESG—which will be run by YuuZoo’s Chinese venture YuuGames—that will see players from across the world compete in games like Dota 2, CSGO, StarCraft 2 and Hearthstone.
E-sports generally refers to video game competitions, which like athletic sporting events can be played before live audiences and broadcast over the Internet.
It dates back to video games played in arcades in the 1980s, gradually growing into bigger tournaments as faster Internet connections allowed players to compete with each other wherever they are in the world.
“We are confident that we can make Alibaba’s World Electronic Sport Games a hugely successful and leading event in China’s massive gaming market,” said YuuZoo and YuuGames chairman Thomas Zilliacus.
A YuuZoo spokesman confirmed to AFP Friday the games will start in the third or fourth week of this month, with the finals set for November 11.
YuuGames, founded in October 2014, is a leading organiser of e-sport events in China. It plans to launch 1,200 e-sports events this year across 15 cities in China in partnership with AliSports.
SuperData, which provides statistics on the global computer games market, said the e-sport market worldwide was valued at an estimated $747.5 million last year.
Brand advertising accounts for 77 percent of the market, with the rest made up by e-sports betting, prize pools, amateur and micro-tournaments as well as merchandise and ticket sales, SuperData said.
The market is expected to grow to $1.9 billion by 2018, driven by growth in direct revenue sources like betting sites and amateur tournament platforms, it added.
Viewership was expected to have grown to 188 million in 2015, turning players and teams into celebrities, it said.
Alibaba and YuuZoo announced the agreement Wednesday in Shanghai, the Singapore-listed firm said in a statement posted on its website.
Alibaba is China’s top e-commerce firm founded by billionaire Internet entrepreneur Jack Ma.

Suarez tells of battle to adapt to Messi game

Uruguayan star Luis Suarez believes his success in turning around Barcelona’s fortunes in the past two seasons has been thanks to adapting his game to strike partners Lionel Messi and Neymar.

Heading into Saturday’s Classico game against Real Madrid, Suarez is Barca’s top scorer with 43 goals in as many games this season. The Catalan giants remain on course to repeat the La Liga, Champions League and Copa del Rey triumph they won in Suarez’s debut campaign last season.

“La Liga is very different to the Premier League,” said the former Liverpool star who moved to Spain in 2014 in an 82 million euro ($93 million, £65 million) deal on the back of Barca’s first trophyless season for six years.

“Everyone knows that it’s completely different and what you need to do is always be yourself, don’t change, just adapt your movements and a few things FC Barcelona dictate, but the thing I cared about was being a good teammate,” he added.

“I think this is something I achieved from the beginning and one can see all the things we’ve achieved so far,” he declared at the launch of playful animations of Barcelona players, including himself, as part of an official partnership with the appliances company Beko.

Barca lead Real Madrid by 10 points with just eight games remaining ahead of Saturday’s clash, with a Champions League quarter-final against Atletico Madrid and Cup final versus Sevilla to come.

Barca head into El Clasico on a 39-game unbeaten run stretching back to October.
Turkish international Arda Turan has yet to taste defeat in a Barca jersey as he was only cleared to play in January after Barca had served a 12-month ban on registering new players.

And Turan has no doubt that Barca will wrap up a sixth La Liga title in eight seasons in the coming weeks.
“We feel great. We believe we’ll be the champions so we work harder every day; we fight more! I believe we’ll be the champions. We are the best team.

Celtic break Hearts

Celtic break Hearts

Patrick Roberts scored a double as Celtic came from behind to claim a thrilling 3-1 win over Hearts on Saturday that extends their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership to seven points.

Jamie Walker had fired Hearts in front after just five minutes but Celtic soon responded as Gary Mackay-Steven drilled home a 15th-minute equaliser.

On-loan Manchester City winger Roberts, making just his second start for Celtic, had the Hoops ahead with his first senior goal in the 35th minute before curling home his second of the match three minutes after the break.

Hearts’ Juwon Oshaniwa was then ordered off in stoppage time after receiving his second yellow for a foul on Nir Bitton.

The result hands the Hoops an impressive advantage over Aberdeen, who play Hamilton Academical on Sunday, as they chase a fifth league title in a row, while Hearts remain on course to finish third despite a second straight defeat.

“It was a tough game and Hearts were good today,” Celtic manager Ronny Deila said.
“The longer the game went on the more control we had and in the end we deserved to win.”

Hearts manager Robbie Neilson took some positives from the defeat.
“I thought we played really well and were the better team in the first half,” Neilson said.
“We had good periods of play in good areas but just couldn’t get a finish.”

The visitors made a bright start at Celtic Park and were rewarded when Walker fired them into the lead.
The Hearts midfielder took advantage of some dithering Celtic defending to collect the ball before rifling an unstoppable shot beyond Craig Gordon and into the top corner.

Celtic’s response was quick and the Hoops came close to an equaliser when Leigh Griffiths’ ferocious free-kick looked to be flying in but Neil Alexander produced a superb save to push it round the post.

However, Hearts failure to deal with the resultant corner saw Celtic draw level.
The ball pinged about the box but when Juanma’s header landed at Mackay-Steven’s feet at the edge of the box the winger arrowed a low left-foot shot into the bottom corner.

Frantic -
The frantic pace of the match continued with Griffiths denied by an excellent block from Alexander before Arnaud Djoum dragged a shot wide for the Jambos.

Hearts skipper Alim Ozturk clipped the bar with a free-kick, Sam Nicholson fired wide and Juanma blazed a shot over the bar from close range as the visitors impressed.

They were left to rue those missed chances, however, as Roberts gave Celtic the lead.
Socceroo star Tom Rogic robbed Oshaniwa on the right wing and slid the ball through for Roberts, who dinked the ball over the advancing Alexander.

Tempers spilled over in the 40th minute after a clash of heads between Oshaniwa and Rogic, which resulted in the Hearts player being booked and left the Australian midfielder unable to continue.

In the resulting melee Griffiths and Prince Buaben were also given yellow cards for clashing on the half-way line.

Celtic started the second half in determined fashion and soon extended their advantage. Stefan Johansen teed up the winger, who cut in from the right before curling a left-foot effort round Alexander and into the bottom corner.

Alexander then nearly handed Celtic another as his dithering on the ball allowed Griffiths to charge down his attempted clearance but the ball squirmed narrowly wide, much to the keeper’s relief.

Oshaniwa’s rash challenge on Bitton three minutes into stoppage time earned the Hearts player his second booking as the Jambos finished with 10 men.

Chelsea rout abject Villa

Interim manager Hiddink was without Diego Costa, Eden Hazard, Willian, Gary Cahill and John Terry, but they were not missed as his side romped to an emphatic win at an angry Villa Park.

Youngster Ruben Loftus-Cheek scored his first Premier League goal for the club, while a well-taken double from Pedro Rodriguez put the seal on their triumph in the second half.

To make matters worse, Villa had defender Alan Hutton sent off in the closing stages for a second bookable offence to end a miserable week in which the Midlands club parted company with manager Remi Garde.

The victory for Chelsea kept alive their faint hopes of Europa League qualification, after a disappointing month in which they lost ground in the league and also crashed out of both the Champions League and FA Cup.

When the game eventually stirred to life after a lacklustre opening 10 minutes, Chelsea went close to gaining an early advantage as Pedro curled narrowly wide.

In response, Rudy Gestede gave Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois something to think about with an effort from distance.
Chelsea were denied the opener by an offside flag after Pedro neatly controlled a Cesc Fabregas pass before lobbing the advancing Brad Guzan.

The writing was on the wall for Villa though, and the visitors duly went in front with a well-worked move in the 26th minute.

After some neat footwork by John Mikel Obi, Fabegras picked out the overlapping Cesar Azpilicueta and his low cross was swept past Guzan by Loftus-Cheek via a crucial deflection off Joleon Lescott.
Wretched luck

As if to sum up Villa’s wretched luck, Chelsea then benefited from a moment of good fortune when Baba Rahman’s attempted clearance cannoned off Jordan Ayew, only to land in the grateful arms of Courtois.

Chelsea looked increasingly menacing and Loftus-Cheek was only fractionally off-target with a curling shot from just inside the box after catching Carlos Sanchez in possession.

A second goal seemed on the cards as Guzan came to Villa’s rescue with a last-gasp save to deny Rahman after he had been released by Fabregas.

Chelsea’s second goal arrived in first-half injury time when Aly Cissokho was penalised for hauling down Pato as the Brazilian-a replacement for the injured Loic Remy-tried to get his head to Fabregas’s cross.

The one-time Brazil star, a January loan signing from Corinthians, was not going to let the opportunity to make his mark at long last slip by and neatly tucked the spot-kick beyond the diving Guzan.

Villa were dealt another blow immediately after the restart and it was another Brazilian substitute, Oscar, who made an instant impact after being introduced in place of Kenedy.

Oscar burst down the left and played a neat one-two with Pato before providing a cut-back that enabled Pedro to score from close range.

Against a backdrop of Villa fans chanting “You’re not fit to wear the shirt!”, Chelsea took an even firmer grip on the game.

The home fans must have feared a repeat of the 8-0 drubbing their side suffered at Chelsea in 2012 when Guzan could only push out a shot from Pato, allowing Pedro to squeeze home his second goal from a tight angle.

Villa’s long-suffering supporters were finally given something to cheer as the returning Jack Grealish provided a belated spark, firing in a cross that the stretching Gestede was inches away from tucking home.