The short 17th was the first of the extra holes. Woosnam, who had the honour, had no problem with his clubbing. He took his seven-iron (with its strengthened lie, was akin to a six) and knocked his ball to 12 feet. When Hallet opted for his seven-iron, he finished in a bunker short of the green and ended up with a trouble-strewn four to Woosnam’s winning three. To this day, Woosnam remains convinced that the American had glanced into his bag.
In digressing to talk about McIlroy’s change of equipment, Woosnam said he disagreed, totally, with the general view that the switch had had anything to do with the player’s angst. (This was in the week after McIlroy had walked from the course in mid-round at the Honda Classic).
It was because he felt so strongly on this score that he had gone out of his way to study the young Ulsterman’s swing on TV. Straightaway, he concurred with Graeme McDowell’s view that the problems were technical.
"Last year," he began, “Rory was dripping with confidence and hitting the ball monstrous distances. For now, he’s lost his confidence and he’s lost a yard or so with it.
"I can see exactly where he’s going wrong only I’d sooner not spell out what it is.”
Woosnam was sure that McIlroy would rediscover his habitual groove for himself, maybe even in time for the Masters. The last thing he wanted to do was to encourage a situation in which everyone was chipping in with advice.
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