ERST LESEN! » k, Musas pace combined with Vardys relent

Gary Christian looks back at last week’s Northern Trust Open, picks out his West Coast swing highlights and predicts a big few weeks ahead for Rory McIlroy.It has been a spectacular West Coast swing, certainly living up to the billing with some great comeback stories and impressive rounds on some outstanding courses.Riviera is one of the top five courses on the PGA Tour and is one where you really need to have played it a handful of times to really get a good handle on it. Its just a very, very good golf course and you cant really spray it all over the place. Bubba Watson moved back to world No 4 with victory Bubba Watson had one of those weeks at the Northern Trust Open where his driving was straight, so that 320-yard average is a very dangerous weapon when youre hitting it like that.Its a pretty long course for a normal length hitter with a lot of 460-yard holes and a lot of difficult shots indeed, so to be going in with a nine-iron when the rest of the field is going in with the six gives you a big advantage.With as much golf as he has played at the quality he has performed, Jordan Spieth was always going to have tournament where he was just off. From his driver to his putter, everything just wasnt right and around a course with the quality of Riviera, theres always the potential of shooting something unexpected. McIlroy finished nine strokes adrift of Bubba Watson at Riviera We can say the same for Rory McIlroy in the final round, particularly with the putting which is obviously quite a concern. If theres a weakness in his game then its the consistency in his putting and its a little frustrating for him to get in a position and not close out the deal.As one of the worlds top three players you would have expected him to, but I think a lot it was just down to rustiness. Hes now starting to get ready for Augusta and starting to have a more regular playing schedule, so Im sure well see him do a lot better the next time hes in that position and probably win the tournament.When you start back in a different continent on a different tour it takes a little while to get everything fine-tuned for that last round, so I think thats all part of Rorys poor finish and I think hes going to be just fine. Hes familiar with all of those courses hes playing (on the Florida Swing) and I expect to see something special from McIlroy. Gary Christian Special performanceI sure weve already seen the round of the year in Brandt Snedeker at the Farmers Insurance Open. I cant see anything approaching that. For him to score that low in those conditions on that course was incredible.It was basically an unplayable golf course. When the best players in the world were in action and the average score was almost 80, it just goes to show there was something a little bit special about that 69.On possibly the hardest course on the PGA Tour where the rough was a thick as it was and the green as quick as they were, just keeping it anywhere near 76 or 77 would have been an achievement. Brandt Snedeker was the only player to shoot under par during the final round We know how brutally hard it can be playing links courses in Britain with the wind coming up, so I think Greg Owen described conditions in California quite nicely before the final round as having the potential for carnage.Snedekers achievements were amazing, but it was impressive to watch KJ Choi and Jimmy Walker try to chase him down. It was good to see they still had difficult conditions on the Monday and at least had a chance down the last few holes.Fowlers frustrationYou can frame the Phoenix Open as a tournament Rickie Fowler threw away, but you can also frame it as one where he holed countless putts to stay in contention. It just happens that Hideki Matsuyama was equal to him and hit more good shots, as Rickie hit one poor one to miss out. Fowler is a four-time winner over the past 12 months Fowler was clearly crushed in the press conference afterwards, as hes now in that position in golf where if he gets into a play-off then he expects to win. He expects to be a better player than the guy hes going to be playing against, but it wasnt a shock that Matsuyama was able to hold him off.Weve got to realise that Matsuyama is one of those players that has the total game, so we shouldnt be surprised to see him bouncing around the worlds top five or six in two or three years time.He may have kept hitting the shots he wanted to and almost always pulled them off, but Fowler will certainly be kicking himself for finding the lake at 17. Saying that, hell also look back at the quality of drives at the 18th and feel his game is going from strength to strength. Butch Harmon takes Tim Barter through the changes hes made to Rickie Fowlers game, which Harmon believes will make him a great. It seems like his focus, driving and long game all get better when the pressure is on. Rickie used to have the tendency to spray a little bit with his driver under pressure, but thats now gone. His driving is now an incredible weapon.Maybe his next thing to work on is how he can hold and extend a lead, much like he did in Abu Dhabi. We saw his ability to chase down leads last year and come from behind, but we need to see him control things from the start a few more times. Some people make it look easy like Spieth and McIlroy, but there are very few who can do that on a consistent basis.Blast from the pastFor me, the West Coast Swing highlight was Vaughn Taylors victory at Pebble Beach. The feel-good factor of the whole story was just tremendous. Vaughn Taylor secured his first victory since 2005 Taylor had such a solid career, playing in the Ryder Cup and being a multiple PGA Tour winner, but saw his career go off the rails and was barely getting in to Web.com Tour events. Thats the great thing though when youre a PGA Tour player; even if you havent made a cut for years youre still good enough for it to be your week.He pulled it all together brilliantly and more than anything handled the emotions and the chance to win a tournament. As someone who would certainly be considered a journeyman, the feeling of watching a player like him take on the big boys and prevail was very much a heart-warming story.Exciting times aheadMcIlroy now has a busy schedule, but hes full of energy and more importantly needs to get a win under his belt. Regaining the that he has the ability to close out a win is important to him, so obviously the more tournaments hes in the better the chance of him doing that. McIlroy is looking for his first win of 2016 At least there isnt a huge amount of travel with it all being based in Florida, so there are no worries about jet-lag and he can just turn up on the Tuesday night and play in the following days Pro-Am. Hes familiar with all of the courses he will be playing and I expect to see something special from McIlroy.I think people, especially in the second half of last year, were talking about Jason Day, while the first part of 2015 was all about Jordan Spieth. With McIlroys injury and him not winning as much as he would like, I think theres a little part of him that will want to prove theres a stubborn fella from Northern Ireland who is still quite good as well.When Rory gets the bit between his teeth and is a man on a mission, well see some very impressive stuff from him. We cant wait for the Florida swing now!Watch all four Florida Swing tournaments live on Sky Sports 4 - your home of golfAlso See:Honda Classic: Ways to watchHarrington ready for defencePGA National betting previewGolf live on Sky Sports 4Joe Gilliam Womens Jersey . The showiest items on Calgarys lot were forwards Mike Cammalleri and Lee Stempniak. Both will be unrestricted free agents this summer. Rocky Bleier Womens Jersey . Numbers Game looks into the Canadiens securing the services of Thomas Vanek in a trade with the New York Islanders. The Canadiens Get: LW Thomas Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick. http://www.steelerspronfl.com/Youth-John-Stallworth-Elite-Jersey/ . Thats about all he can do right now, so hes trying not to think about when he might be able to play again for the Los Angeles Lakers. Franco Harris Womens Jersey . Robredo, ranked No. 16, bounced back from an upset loss to Leonardo Mayer in the second round of the Royal Guard Open in Chile last week to down Carreno Busta in 1 hour, 25 minutes. On a day filled mostly with qualifying matches, fifth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain also entered the second with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, while Guido Pella of Argentina defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4 to advance. Justin Layne Youth Jersey . -- Brandon Jennings made the most of his first game with the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night.Its an unveiling fit for the champions.Liverpool will make their long-awaited season debut at Anfield against titleholders Leicester City on Saturday, when the already-historic cauldron will sit even more fans in the newly expanded Main Stand.The Reds (1-1-1) were nomads in the early part of the season before the international break, making two successful trips to London with a season-opening victory at Arsenal and a draw at White Hart Lane versus Tottenham Hotspur around a flat 2-0 defeat at Burnley.Jurgen Klopps team also advanced in the League Cup with an easy 5-0 win at Burton Albion, but the time has finally come to take the pitch at Anfield -- 122 days since their last match there -- where 8,500 new seats in the Main Stand have been added to give an imposing home venue even more energy and volume with a capacity of 54,000.What they did there… outstanding job, Klopp told Liverpools official website Thursday. Ive got no idea how somebody could do something like this, but when you stand in front of it, its really amazing.This is a good place, a good opponent, with the champions coming. It was really well deserved what (Leicester City) did last season. Theyre still good, but its now another season. Its our first home game and with 8,000 more in the stadium -- thats more power and we should use this.Though it is a new season, Liverpool are still experiencing growing pains at the back. The Reds have still yet to post a clean sheet in league play, conceding six goals, and they will be sternly tested by a Foxes side continuing to evolve past their championship campaign of 2015-16.One player who will not be able to help Liverpool is midfielder Emre Can, who has been ruled out with an ankle injury. Defender Mamadou Sakho, whose ban for using a fat burner was overturned in July, is practising with the team and available for selection.The offence is expected to continue to flow through Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana, with the latter having scored Englands match winner at Slovakia to open World Cup qualifying earlier last weekend. Coutinho appeared as a reserve in both of Brazils qualifier wins.Theres also the on-going matter of Daniel Sturridges availability, having made an eight-minute cameo off the bench for the Three Lions last Saturday. He has played jusst 93 minutes over three matches for Liverpool thus far, and his two goals came in the League Cup rout of Burton Albion.ddddddddddddAs Liverpool try to get comfortable in their renovated dwellings -- they took just 32 points from 19 home matches last season -- the Foxes are trying to avoid consecutive league road defeats for the first time since losing at Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur on March 4 and 21, 2015, a span of 23 matches (13-7-3).Prior to the break, Leicester City broke their duck with a 2-1 victory over Swansea City on Aug. 27 as Jamie Vardy and Wes Morgan scored on either side of halftime before conceding a late goal.Though goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel had to leave that victory in the second half with a groin injury, manager Claudio Ranieri expects his No. 1 to be available despite undergoing minor surgery for a sports hernia during the break.He is ready, Ranieri told the teams official website Thursday. I said it was a very little operation, it was good, the surgery was fantastic and he is ready to play.The area of concern for him and the Foxes, though, will be in the midfield and attack. New signing Nampalys Mendy and Jeffrey Schlupp will be held out of this match due to their respective injuries, meaning Demarai Gray likely will get the call in the midfield and Ranieri will choose between Shinji Okazaki and Ahmed Musa to partner up front with Vardy.Given Liverpools shakiness at the back, Musas pace combined with Vardys relentness high pressure could cause all sorts of issues for the Reds.This match also kicks off a busy stretch of schedule for Leicester City, who will play seven matches over the next 22 days as Ranieri will attempt to juggle his roster amid Champions League, League Cup and league matches.We are ready to play these seven matches ... It is good, it is exciting, we go from Premier League to Champions League to EFL Cup and its good, the manager said.One of those three aforementioned road losses came at Anfield last Boxing Day, with the since-departed Christian Benteke providing the winner just after the hour. Liverpool are unbeaten in five league matches (4-1-0) at home versus Leicester City. ' ' '