Rory: My game is on the up
He hasn’t quite reached his best form, yet Rory McIlroy claimed “another solid week, another back-door top 10” at the Players Championship.
TPC Sawgrass hasn’t always been kind to the man from Northern Ireland and the bad habits reappeared during the second round as he slumped to a two-over-par 74.
However, he hit back with a 69 on the Saturday and then finished with a six-under-par 66 to jump the leaderboard and into a tie for sixth – four strokes behind winner Martin Kaymer.
After starting with a bogey, he had a run of four consecutive birdies at the turn and also finished with three birdies in a row.
“I obviously finished the round off well. I feel very comfortable on the back nine here. I just played the front nine a little better today and it ended up in shooting a lower score,” he said.
“Overall, it’s been another solid week, another back-door top 10 as I like to call them. It’s getting close. I’m playing really well, I’m playing solid. Things are heading in the right direction.”
McIlroy is yet to win this season, but he is hoping to end that duck at the US Open at Pinehurst in North Carolina from June 12-15.
Asked what he needs to do in order to stand a chance to win, he replied: “Just keep the real big numbers off the card and these bogey runs that I seem to be getting on. Just kind of keep it a little tighter, whenever I don’t quite have my ‘A’ game and that’s really it.
“But as I’ve been saying the last few weeks, I’m seeing enough really good golf in there to be really positive going into the sort of main stretch of the season.”
Latest
-
NewsSteve Stricker makes Padraig Harrington sweat as Irishman wins US Senior Open
The pair were rival captains in last year’s Ryder Cup in Wisconsin.
-
NewsGolfers warned of further sanctions if they continue to play in LIV breakaway
The DP World Tour has issued fines of £100,000 and tournament bans to its members who played in the inaugural LIV Golf event earlier this month
-
European TourDP World Tour hits members who played inaugural LIV series with £100,000 fines
They have also been banned from several forthcoming tournaments including the Scottish Open.
-
NewsRory McIlroy not impressed as Brooks Koepka becomes latest big name to join LIV
The world number two labelled the players who have joined the new series as “duplicitous” for the way they have handled their breakaway.
-
The OpenR&A confirms LIV Golf Series players will be allowed to compete at Open
The 150th Open Championship will get underway at St Andrews in three weeks’ time.
-
US OpenMatt Fitzpatrick turns to other major winners for advice on dealing with fame
Fitzpatrick won the US Open on Sunday.
-
NewsBrooks Koepka set to join Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series
Koepka’s brother Chase played in the opening event at Centurion Club earlier this month.
-
US OpenGary Player urges Matt Fitzpatrick to avoid ‘poison’ of modern-day coaching
Player tells US Open champion Fitzpatrick to learn from mistakes of recent major winners, saying: “The teaching today is the worst it has ever been.”
-
US OpenMatt Fitzpatrick’s caddie Billy Foster ready for ‘long party’ after US Open win
Foster won his first major after a 40-year career which includes spells working for the likes of Seve Ballesteros, Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke.
-
US OpenMatt Fitzpatrick backed to become a dominant force after winning first major
The Englishman claimed his first major title at Brookline.