Video: This shot pretty much sums up Rory McIlroy’s first round of 2013

There wasn't a lot you could say about Rory McIlroy's first round of 2013 with his new clothes, his new clubs and his new, thicker wallet. The boy wonder was paired once again with Tiger Woods, his buddy and now coworker of sorts, and it was on live television and there was plenty of hype for a tournament that doesn't mean a lot in the big scheme of this season.

But off Rory went with his Nike gear and his Nike clubs and apparently without a golf swing. McIlroy stumbled to an opening round 75 that included two double-bogeys and basically not much positive (Woods finished at even-par, saying afterwards that the windy day at Abu Dhabi was basically a survival day, which seemed about right with the leaders only at 5-under).

The swing you see above is Rory's second shot on the par-5 18th, and well, yikes. The announcer there sums it up nicely when he says, "that's as ugly a shot as I've seen Rory hit in a long, long time, what happened there?!"

Not to get on Rory's back or anything, but I will simply say that this was a pretty big week in the young golfer's life. He announced a change that will be a big part of his career for the next decade and he did it with a pretty big splash. His golf game will show up once more, don't worry about that, and things will be fine before he leaves Abu Dhabi, but for now, there is Rory McIlroy hitting a snap-hook that even your dad would be disappointed with.

Darts in the dark: Humana pick, Robert Garrigus

Robert Garrigus — Getty ImagesThis year I was coerced by a hockey writing friend of mine to do a weekly one-and-done golf pool that allows you to pick one golfer never to use them again in 2013. Since I'm doing it for fun (and DEFINITELY not for money, no way, no how), I figured I'd post my weekly picks here, with who I've already used under it and my record for the year, and against the others in the pool. We're calling this Darts in the Dark.

Humana Challenge pick: Robert Garrigus

He's arguably one of the best ball-strikers in the game, and he ended his 2012 season on fire with two T-2 in his final three starts.

A year ago he started his season at PGA West and nearly won despite an opening round 73 (he still shot 22-under, insane at this tournament with such a poor start).

Garrigus is the type of player that can go SUPER low if he's making a few putts, and you must do that this week if you want to have a chance to win.

Season Stats
Wins - 0
Top-10s - 1
Top-20s - 0
Missed Cuts - 1

Current Pool Standing - T-11 out of 69 players

Already used - Steve Stricker (2nd at Hyundai), Mark Wilson (MC at Sony)

Rory McIlroy & Tiger Woods paired together; Abu Dhabi TV times

Getty ImagesGood news! Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are going to be Swooshing it up together for the first time rounds of Thursday's Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship. Yep, the two biggest stars in the game will be paired starting Thursday morning (Wednesday night Eastern Time).

The Golf Channel is all over it, and will be airing the event live as Tiger and Rory play. Here are the TV times below.

Airtimes (Eastern):
Wednesday 10:30 p.m.-8 a.m. (Live)
Thursday 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. / 11 p.m.-2:30 a.m. (Round One Replay)
Friday 2:30-8 a.m. (Live) / 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. / 1:30-4 a.m. (Replay)
Saturday 4-8 a.m. (Live) / 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. / 1:30-4 a.m. (Replay)
Sunday 4- 8 a.m. (Live) / 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. / 1:30-4 a.m. (Replay)

Tiger and Rory tee off at 7:40 AM local time (12:05 PM local time on Friday), which is 10:40 PM ET on Wednesday night (meaning Tiger and Rory will be hitting it right as the Golf Channel kicks off their coverage).

Other notable tee times:

11:55 a.m./7:40 a.m.: Peter Hanson, Padraig Harrington, Paul Lawrie
12:05 p.m./7:50 a.m.: Robert Rock, Justin Rose, Ernie Els
12:15 p.m./8:00 a.m.: Paul Casey, Darren Clarke, Thomas Bjorn

Tiger Woods lands two-shot penalty, misses cut along with Rory McIlroy

Tiger Woods lands two-shot penalty, misses cut along with Rory McIlroy

Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy — Getty ImagesThis week was supposed to be a big one for the top two players in the world. Rory McIlroy, set to announce to the world that he was in fact a Nike athlete, was paired with the one that put Nike Golf on the map in Tiger Woods for the first two rounds of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship. It was a perfect way to begin this new partnership with Rory, Tiger and Nike and at an event both have had success at in the past, it seemed that 2013 would once again be the year of Rory and Tiger.

Problem was, neither brought their golf games on the private flight to the United Arab Emirates.

Rory struggled as much as we've seen him since the weekend at Augusta National a year ago, shooting consecutive 75s that left him well outside the cut line and had him so confused with his game that he switched from a Nike putter back to his old Scotty Cameron after just one round with the new product.

Tiger's week was a little more perplexing. After a three-putt on his final hole on Thursday kept him out of red numbers, his start to his second round was about as dreadful as they come. Woods made bogey on three of his first four holes on Friday at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club, a course he co-lead at just a season ago after three rounds, and then came the crazy part.

On the par-4 5th hole, Tiger hit his drive well right into what appeared to be a bushel of vines set in the middle of a bunker. Woods called over playing partner Martin Kaymer to inform him that his ball was embedded in the vines (shocker that Kaymer is part of another "sandy area" incident), and after taking a drop, hacked his ball back into the fairway, eventually making his fourth bogey in his first five holes.

Problem was, the drop wasn't legal because the vines were set in what was considered a "sandy area," and after a spectator mentioned something to a rules official, Woods was approached on the 11th hole and told he would be given a two-shot penalty (Tiger had just made another bogey on No. 11 but to his credit played great after the news, making three birdies in a row on holes 14-16 before a bogey-par finish).

The two-shot penalty left Tiger at 3-over for the week, outside the cut line of +2 which he would have been inside of if not for the breach of the "sandy area" rule. It's a strange rule but in this game of golf there are plenty of strange rules and you have to do your best to abide by them.

Missing the cut in the first event of the year isn't that big of a deal, but it does show that even the top two players in the world can have some offseason rust.

Tiger tees it up next week at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, where he has had a little success at over the years.

Tigers Woods (left) was penalized two shots for an illegal drop.

AHMED JADALLAH/REUTERS

Tigers Woods (left) was penalized two shots for an illegal drop.

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy missed the cut at the Abu Dhabi Championship in the United Arab Emirates Friday, a woeful start to the season for the world’s top two golfers.

Woods missed it after he was penalized two shots for wrongly taking a free drop, while top-ranked McIlroy was frustrated trying to adjust to his new Nike clubs, even though he used his old Titleist putter in the second round. Both finished with 3-over-par 75s.

Justin Rose shot a 69 for a 136 total and a one-shot lead over Jamie Donaldson (70), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (67), and Thorbjorn Olesen (69).

Woods thought he was safe in finishing his second round at 73. But he was advised by European Tour chief referee Andy McFee of the penalty, giving him a 75 and 3-over total of 147. The cut for the top 60 plus ties was 2 over.

McFee warned Woods on the 11th tee of the penalty, which was a result of his taking a free drop when his ball was embedded in sand. It’s not allowed.

‘‘I called Martin [Kaymer] over to verify the ball was embedded. We both agreed it was embedded and evidently it was in sand,’’ Woods said of the infraction that happened when his drive on 5 landed in a bed of vines. ‘‘Andy ruled I broke an infraction, consequently got a two-shot penalty. Andy feels the way he feels about it and I broke the rules.’’

McFee said Woods didn’t challenge him on the ruling. It came to light when a spectator alerted officials to the infraction, he said. After the drop, a reporter heard some spectators questioning whether the drop was appropriate.

McIlroy posted a second straight 75 for a 6-over total of 150.

PGA — James Hahn and Roberto Castro remained atop the Humana Challenge leaderboard in La Quinta, Calif., both shooting 5-under 67 in the pro-am tournament.

Hahn and Castro were 14 under after another day of perfect conditions. Darron Stiles, Scott Stallings, and Richard H. Lee were 13 under, all shooting 65.

Phil Mickelson shot a 67 on the Nicklaus course after opening with a 72 at La Quinta.

Champions — David Frost had a 7-under 65 to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Mitsubishi Electric Championship in Kaupulehu-Kona, Hawaii.

Kirk Triplett bogeyed the last hole to fall into a six-way tie for second. He shares that spot with Tom Kite, Willie Wood, John Cook, Fred Couples, and Tom Lehman.

Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is a professional golfer on the PGA Tour

Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is a professional golfer on the PGA Tour. With 14 major championships and 74 PGA Tour victories, Woods is one of greatest golfers of all time. Woods has been awarded the PGA Player of the Year a record 10 times and has been on top of the money list nine times. In 2009, Woods became the first athlete to reach $1 billion in career earnings, according to Forbes.

Woods experience a downturn in his career following a tumultuous end to his 2009 season. A car accident the night after Thanksgiving led to revelations of infidelities in his marriage to Elin Nordegren. Woods took a leave of absence from the PGA Tour, eventually returning at the 2010 Masters. He went winless in the 2010 and 2011 seasons, before ending his drought with a victory at the 2012 Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Untidy finish no problem for Castro

Untidy finish no problem for Castro





Little-known Roberto Castro was delighted to hold a share of the second-round lead at the sun-splashed Humana Challenge today, despite suffering a late wobble with two bogeys in his last three holes.

While twice former champion Phil Mickelson made up some ground after an erratic start to the pro-am celebrity event in the California desert, Castro fired a sparkling five-under-par 67 to remain tied at the top.

Castro, a 27-year-old journeyman, took advantage of another near-perfect day for scoring at La Quinta, mixing seven birdies with two bogeys to finish at 14-under 130, level with fellow American and PGA Tour rookie James Hahn (67).

Compatriots Scott Stallings (65), Darron Stiles (65) and Richard Lee (65) were a further stroke back in a tie for third, with US Ryder Cup player Zach Johnson among a group of nine bunched at 12 under after shooting a 66.

Castro, joint leader overnight with compatriots Hahn and Jason Kokrak, played flawless golf with seven birdies in his first 15 holes to briefly lead the field by three strokes.

Though he limped home with bogeys at the seventh and ninth, where he three-putted, he was happy with his position going into the weekend in the third PGA Tour event of the season.

"I played good," a smiling Castro told reporters after his round on the Palmer Private course at PGA West, one of three venues hosting the tournament. "I played well all day.

"Some nice up-and-downs on the par-fives for birdies, a couple (of shots) slipped away there at the end, but yesterday I made a 50-footer on the last on a good putt.

"Today I felt like I hit a good putt there and three-putted. That's stuff over 72 holes that's going to even o

ut."
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Tough course set-up

Castro, whose best PGA Tour finish was seventh at the last year's Greenbrier Classic in his rookie season, was especially pleased with his score given the relatively tough course set-up on the Palmer layout.

"They had a lot of Sunday pins today," he said. "Palmer was playing pretty tough. There were a lot of tucked pins."

Hahn, who has played most of his golf on the minor circuits and this week is competing in a PGA Tour event for only the third time, soared into a tie for the lead with a birdie-eagle-birdie run on his back nine at La Quinta Country Club.

"Overall it was just a good day," said the 31-year-old, who was born in South Korea and came to the United States with his parents at the age of two.

"Started off slow, only had two birdies on my front nine ... and then I hit some good shots on the back nine. That stretch of birdie, eagle, birdie, was pretty much my round."

Hahn, who missed the cut at last year's US Open in his first PGA Tour appearance, birdied the fourth, his 13th hole of the day, chipped in from 30 feet to eagle the fifth and picked up his final shot of the round at the par-five sixth.

Left-hander Mickelson, who struggled with his putting on the way to a roller-coaster 72 on the La Quinta layout in the opening round, was a great deal happier after shooting a seven-birdie 67 on the Nicklaus Private course.

"I feel much better," said the four-times major winner, who had been battling flu-like symptoms coming into this week. "I was excited to get out and play.

"This was a great day to go low. I left a few shots out there, but the last couple of holes were very encouraging to me. They were the first time that my rhythm kind of set in. I expect to play a good round tomorrow and get some momentum."