McIlroy Treble Probable at Valhalla

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Rory McIlroy admits he is in the best form of his life at present, but he is not ready to launch the ‘Rory era’ just yet.

The 25-year-old from Northern Ireland continued his superb run by winning the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Akron on Sunday to overtake Adam Scott at the top of the world rankings.

That victory followed on from his third major success in the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool last month and he now goes for another major crown in the 96th US PGA Championship at Valhalla this week. 

"I've had a great run and I've played well over the past few months," said McIlroy, who has claimed eight top-eight finishes this season.

“I said at the start of the year that golf was looking for someone to put their hand up and become one of the dominant players in the game.

"I felt like I had the ability to do that and it's just nice to be able to win a few tournaments and get back to where I feel like I should be, which is near the top of the world rankings and competing in majors and winning golf tournaments.

"I'm not necessarily sure you can call that an era or the start of an era, but I'm just really happy with where my golf game is at the minute and I just want to try and continue that for as long as possible.

"People can say what they want to say, that's fine. But I can't read too much into it.

"Sometimes I feel that people are too quick to jump to conclusions and jump on the bandwagon and jump on certain things.” 

McIlroy is the 9/2 favourite with Sky Bet to win in Kentucky this week, but he has played down the hype as he prepares to tee up at a course he is seeing in person for the first time. 

"If you read everything that's being written, I would turn up at the first tee on Thursday thinking I had already won the tournament," he said.

McIlroy took a day off Monday to make sure his mind is as ready as his body for the challenges Valhalla poses.

"I needed just to recharge a little bit," he said. "Emotionally and mentally it's more fatiguing after you win tournaments than physically. So just to give your brain a rest is a good thing. 

"People can talk about my driving or how I'm swinging the club but mentally I just feel like I'm in a really good place and that's what I'm really happy about."

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McIlroy Takes Charge in Dublin

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Rory McIlroy picked up seven birdies and two eagles to storm to the top of the leaderboard on the first day of Jack Nicklaus' Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio.

But the Northern Irishman, who won the BMW PGA Championship on Sunday, might have been five strokes clear of the field had he not spoiled his remarkable run over the back nine with a double bogey on the par four 14th hole.

He rallied to card an impressive nine under 63, while England's Paul Casey shot a six under 66 earlier on Thursday to take a share of second place with Americans Bubba Watson and Chris Kirk.

McIlroy continued his winning momentum from Wentworth Club to Muirfield Village.

Birdies on the second, fourth and seventh holes followed a run of two birdies and an eagle over the turn before he picked up a sixth shot on 13.

At eight under he was two strokes clear of the three men who had already carded 66, but briefly joined Casey and the American duo in a tie for the lead after finding the rear bunker on 14 and needing a total of six shots to hole out.

McIlroy remedied that situation immediately by draining a 15 foot putt to claim his second eagle of the day before adding one final birdie on the 16th.

Casey started with a bogey but reached the turn four under having drained an eagle on the par five seventh.

He mixed three more birdies with a bogey between 14 and 17 while Kirk's seven birdies and a bogey kept him in sight of the lead.

Reigning Masters Tournament champion Watson might well have finished on eight under but dropped shots on 16 and 17.

With Adam Scott recently rising to the World No. 1 ranking, all eyes are on the Aussie to see if he can cement his position well into the 2014 season.

However the prominent victory of a young Northern Irishman last week sent a warning that there may be a new contender on the block, aside from Scott, World No. 2 Henrik Stenson and the injured Tiger Woods.

This week Rory McIlroy jumped up into the World No. 6 position and the move also sparked speculation that he and Scott may be the next Woods / Mickelson style rivalry.

Certainly, Rory hasn’t held back heading into this week’s The Memorial tournament. After Round 1 McIlroy has a two shot lead over the field, a 9-under 63 a clear indication that his game is as strong as it has ever been.

Scott’s opening round was solid but certainly not as showy; a 3-under 69 placing him in the top 15.

The Queenslander is the first Australian to reach World No. 1 since Greg Norman relinquished the position in January 1998, the importance of the achievement not lost of the Aussie.

The Memorial tournament continues over the weekend with McIlroy and Scott partnering Aussie Jason Day for the opening two rounds.

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Rory McIlroy Moves to Sixth

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Rory McIlroy has risen to sixth in the world rankings after his victory in the BMW PGA Championship.

McIlroy moved up from 10th following a one-shot win over Shane Lowry at Wentworth that saw him only move into the lead on the 71st hole of the tournament.

The Northern Irishman came from seven shots behind to win The European Tour's most prestigious event, carding the lowest round of the final day with a six under par 66.

Sweden's Henrik Stenson has climbed to second after finishing joint seventh behind McIlroy, but that was not enough to overtake world No 1 Adam Scott who won the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.

Latest leading positions and points averages:

1 Adam Scott (Aus) 8.94

2 Henrik Stenson (Swe) 7.78

3 Tiger Woods (USA) 7.64

4 Matt Kuchar (USA) 7.03

5 Bubba Watson (USA) 6.96

6 Rory McIlroy (NIrl) 6.91

7 Jason Day (Aus) 6.50

8 Sergio Garcia (Spa) 6.16

9 Justin Rose (Eng) 6.05

10 Jordan Spieth (USA) 6.00

11 Phil Mickelson (USA) 5.64

12 Jim Furyk (USA) 5.42

13 Zach Johnson (USA) 5.24

14 Dustin Johnson (USA) 4.84

15 Jason Dufner (USA) 4.50

16 Luke Donald (Eng) 4.37

17 Jimmy Walker (USA) 4.28 

18 Graeme McDowell (NIrl) 4.25

19 Steve Stricker (USA) 4.16

20 Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 4.11

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Mixed Day for McIlroy, GMAC and Clarke

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Rory McIlroy battled Augusta National to finish one under par 71 after his first round at the 78th US Masters,

Pre-tournament favourite McIlroy had been in danger of dropping a shot on the first after spinning his approach back off the green, but almost holed his pitch and was left with a tap-in to save par.

The 24-year-old also made par on the second after finding the same bunker as Scott, but holed from five feet for birdie on the third and also birdied the fifth.

McIlroy fell back to level par after a bogey on the eighth and three-putt bogey on the 12th, but birdied the 13th to get back under par.

A birdie on the par 5 15th brought McIlroy to -2 and he parred his next two.

A poor drive on 18 saw McIlroy find the sand and he couldn't recover to save par to leave a little bit of a bitter taste after a decent opening effort.

"I feel okay about today. I think the golf course setup today was very difficult for a Thursday," he told Sky Sports.

"Some of the pin placements were pins that you would expect to see at the weekend. To shoot under par today I thought was a good effort.

"It got a little windier, and the wind was swirling all over the place. I think you've seen w lot of guys struggle on 12 today.

"I think you have to be really patient out there.

"I feel like I'm better prepared than I ever have been. I feel like that each and every year I come back because experience counts for so much on this golf course.

"I felt like I did a good job today in putting the ball in the right places for uphill putts or easy two-putts."

McIlroy is two shots behind the clubhouse leader, American Bill Haas.

Haas carded an opening 68 to finish four under par, to lie one shot ahead of Australian Adam Scott.

Defending champion Scott had been four under par after a flawless opening 11 holes, with one of his birdies coming on the par-four 10th where he sealed victory on the second hole of a play-off with Angel Cabrera last year.

He suffered a double bogey on the notorious 12th but managed to recover one shot on 14.

Graeme McDowell carded an opening level par 72 after making the turn on level par. However he then bogeyed 10 and 11 before battling back.

Darren Clarke was two over on Thursday.

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Rory Undecided About Rio

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Rory McIlroy says he is still undecided about which country to represent at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

The decision has caused a huge amount of debate, but the golfer says he has plenty of time to mull it over before deciding to choose either Ireland or Britain.

“I haven’t made a decision yet,” McIlroy told the US PGA Tour website.

”There’s no real urgency at the moment, and I couldn’t even imagine planning my schedule that far ahead. I will have to decide, however, and take into consideration many sensibilities.” 

For the first time since 1904, golfers will compete for Olympic gold but that brings the tricky question of nationality into play because Northern Ireland does not field its own team.

For fellow Northern Ireland native Graeme McDowell, the decision is already been made.

McDowell played for Ireland at last year’s World Cup of Golf which locked him into representing Ireland in Rio de Janeiro in two years time. 

The world number eight also admitted he spent more time dealing with lawyers last year than he hopes to for the rest of his career, but feels he was right to leave both of his previous management companies.

"I'm not sure if regret is the right term for management changes," added McIlroy, who is still embroiled in a legal dispute with Horizon Sports. "I saw my future differently in each case and decided accordingly.

"Management teams often have to consider other players in their camp when decisions are being made, and I think I outgrew that. I won't pretend everything in the future will be smooth sailing because obstacles will always present themselves and there will be highs and lows.

"Now that the decisions rest with me, though, I'll have to take the poor ones on the chin."

Seven of the world's top 10 are in the field at PGA National, with Tiger Woods, Adam Scott and Phil Mickelson returned to action after opting to miss last week's match play event in Arizona.

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Happy New Year for Rory

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Rory McIlroy has denied Adam Scott Australian golf's Triple Crown with a tense and dramatic one-stroke Australian Open victory at Royal Sydney

McIlroy birdied the 18th hole to close with a final-round six-under-par 66 to steal the Stonehaven Cup from Scott, who bogeyed the last after leading the tournament from the first morning on Thursday.

Scott had started the day with a four-stroke buffer and never trailed until making a meal of the 72nd hole of the championship.

After driving into the middle of the fairway, he overcooked his approach then blasted his recovery shot long and was unable to save par.

McIlroy, meanwhile, drained his 15-foot birdie attempt to end a 12-month winless streak for the one-time world No.1.

McIlroy finished at 18-under-par, one ahead of Scott, who closed with a one-under-71.

The former world No 1 made a big move on the seventh with an eagle and drew level with Scott when he birdied the eighth.

Scott edged ahead again but made a series of mistakes down the stretch, leaving McIlroy the chance to stay in touch.

And he made a club selection error at the last, hitting his approach way over the green and failing to make par, leaving McIlroy with the chance to win a second Australian Open, a chance he took with aplomb.

"I am gutted, I felt like I never had a better chance to win the Australian Open," Scott said. "It was going to be a tough day, Rory made his move and I just couldn't get my putts in."

"Adam congratulated me on the green. It was hard not to feel some guilt in the way that I won it," said McIlroy.

"To be able to play your best golf when you need to, when you're under pressure, you can't ask for more. The perfect scenario was to achieve a win before the end of the season and thankfully I have done that."

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GMAC Lowry Team 11th

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Graeme McDowell carded a level par second round at the ISPS Handa World Cup of Golf in Australia with team mate Shane Lowry signing for one stroke more for a 72.

Ireland are in 11th ahead of the weekend on +6 and thirteen strokes off the leader Thomas Bjorn.

On day two Bjorn continued his love affair with the Royal Melbourne Golf Course shooting a a 3-under 68 to take a one stroke lead into the weekend.

Bjorn leads the tournament at 8-under par, one ahead of American Kevin Streelman.

Portugal’s Ricardo Santos shot a third round of 4-under 67 to sit in a tie for third alongside Australia’s Jason Day, the Australians fighting hard in both the team and individual components of the tournament with help from a revitalised Adam Scott.

Despite being tested on numerous occasions by the course, leader Bjorn’s affection for Royal Melbourne continued to shine.

“I love this course,” said Bjorn who leads despite three putting the first.

“There were a couple of things that happened on the golf course today that really tested me.”

“I just want to play 72 holes, stay focussed, stay concentrated, knowing that this is a golf course that a lot of people are going to find difficult.”

Bjorn’s admiration also extended to local hero Adam Scott.

“You have got the greatest ambassador in golf, the nicest guy you will ever meet and what he is doing for Australian golf at the moment is just remarkable. Most other golfers would have chased a bit of cash around the world and done other things and, you know, Australia should be proud of what he does these four weeks that’s for sure.”

Out this morning Streelman got out to an early lead over the field of 60, the 35-year-old starting with four consecutive birdies.

However disaster struck towards the end of the American’s front nine, Streelman carding a bogey and double bogey on holes eight and nine.

“I just hit it in the wrong part of the golf course, No.8 and No.9, and Royal Melbourne will bite you when you do that which is what makes it such an awesome golf course,” he said.

Signing for a 1-under 70 an unlucky Jason Day was rueing a round that saw a number of putts lip out.

“I had three lip outs, pretty harsh ones, but I’m definitely happy with shooting one under today, especially being out here at Royal Melbourne with how hard and fast the greens are - it can definitely go south pretty quick.”

Finishing at 4-under for the tournament, Day said he was motivated by the home-crowd support around Royal Melbourne that included a number of The Fanatics in full sing.

“It just kind of takes your mind away from what has happened. When you are play in a different sport like football and you are not kicking that great, you can kind of take your aggression out on someone else.”

“We can’t really go and tackle someone across the green so to have the fanatics there to take our minds of mental errors is a good thing.”

Starting at the opposite end of the leaderboard fellow Aussie Adam Scott wasted no time in trying to make amends for yesterday’s disappointing round.

The Queenslander birdied both the first and second hole on his way to a second round 3-under par 68 total.

“I needed to have a decent score today and it was hard out there. I do not think there were too many great scores to be had because Royal Melbourne is playing tricky so it felt like a hard working 68,” said Scott.

“It would be nice if I could play my way up there to the top few individually tomorrow and tee off around Jason as well. We both just have to play well over the weekend but the teams competition is well within our reach and six shots between two people can change very quickly so I think we are looking in good shape for a good weekend.”

In the teams component, the United States leads at 247 (-10), followed by Denmark at 277(-7) with Japan and Australia tied for third at 281 (-3).

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