Rory Fires 64 on Old Course

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Rory McIlroy shot a 64 at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews on Saturday on the Old Course to finish 12 under alongside French duo Alexander Levy (68) and Raphael Jacquelin (69).

McIlroy found himself nine shots off the lead after struggling to an opening 73 at Carnoustie, one of the three courses used for the pro-am event.

But the four-time major winner bounced back with a 67 at Kingsbarns on Friday and carried on where he left off at St Andrews, a course he "hated" on his debut in 2005 but which is now a favourite and the place where he will defend the Open Championship next July.

McIlroy, who was an approximate eight under par in beating Rickie Fowler 5&4 in the singles in Europe's Ryder Cup victory last week, birdied five holes in a row from the third and also picked up a shot on the ninth to be out in 30 and move into the lead.

That lead did not last long as Wilson chipped in for an eagle on the fifth and also birdied the sixth, but McIlroy responded with birdies on the 11th, 12th and 14th before dropping his only shot of the day on the 16th, where he needed two attempts to play out sideways from a fairway bunker.

"I got off to a really fast start and was trying to keep it going, and I sort of did through the turn, but the last four holes weren't really what I wanted," said McIlroy, who has finished second twice, third and eighth in five appearances in this event.

"But any time you shoot a score like that around St Andrews, you have to be happy. I got myself into contention going into tomorrow and my dad (his amateur partner) and I are going to get to play St Andrews on his 55th birthday tomorrow which will be a huge treat for both of us.

"Shooting a 59 never really crossed my mind. What did cross my mind was wanting to beat my previous best score round here of 63 (in the first round of the 2010 Open)."

Oliver Wilson will take a three-shot lead into the final round of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews.

Wilson, who has finished runner-up nine times on the European Tour but lost his card in 2012, carded a third round of 65 at St Andrews to finish 15 under par.

Wilson is ranked 792nd in the world and a lowly 102nd on the Challenge Tour rankings, but a win on Sunday would be worth almost £500,000 and a two-year exemption on the European Tour.

"I'll be nervous," admitted Wilson, who played on the 2008 Ryder Cup team. "It's a big day for me. Last year I got off to a great start here and kind of fizzled out.

"But the way I played the last two days, I left so many putts out there and I'm still at the top. So that gives me a lot of belief, but tomorrow will be a very different day. But that's what we play golf for, to get in those situations and test yourself. I am looking forward to it.

"I've had the belief for a while, I've just needed a little bit of adrenaline to be honest. I've been flat all year for various reasons and to get the opportunity to come here and play is very nice and I guess I come to a tournament like this with a bit more dynamism."

McIlroy admitted to feeling "a little flat" on Thursday following his Ryder Cup heroics at Gleneagles, where he used a new driver but waited until this week to also switch his irons.

"I thought there might have been a bit of too much hoopla to put them in last week, along with the new driver, so I delayed those for a week," McIlroy added.

Fleetwood matched McIlroy's outward half of 30 and made it six birdies in a row on the 10th as he continued the excellent form which has produced three top-five finishes in his last five events.

"You didn't see any scores like that when we were waiting in the clubhouse to get out there when it was just so cold and damp and windy," Fleetwood said. "I just got on a really good spell in the middle of the round and I kept it going. My putting was just on fire really.

"They are courses that I love and I always like coming to Scotland. I'm always going to look forward to this event. It's never a guarantee that you're going to play well but it just so happens that I've had two good years in the last three.

"It's nice to put another good round in and be competing again on a Sunday here, especially around the Old Course. It's just brilliant."

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McIlroy Celebrates Incredible Year

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Rory McIlroy said Europe’s triumph in the Ryder Cup rounded off an excellent year for the world No 1 whose superb summer form included victories in The Open and PGA Championship.

Not for 37 years has anyone won two Majors and finished on the winning side in a Ryder Cup – all in the same season.

That player was American skipper Tom Watson and McIlroy is delighted with his work in recent months.

The 25-year-old said: "It's obviously a nice honour to have. It's the icing on the cake of what has been a very special summer for me.

“To win back-to-back Majors, The Open Championship and then the PGA, and then to be a part of this fantastic team led by a wonderful captain is fantastic.

"I couldn't have asked for the summer to end any better. I didn't know that it had not been done since 1977 but, you know, if it's not me in a couple years' time again, then I hope it's one of these guys (his team-mates) that gets two Majors and gets a Ryder Cup."

The Northern Irishman played in all five sessions earning three points, and he added: "I personally am just really proud of how I played.

"I was probably up for this match more than I was the final two rounds of the Majors I won this year.

"It just meant so much to be to be a part of this team and to win."

He also paid tribute to the European skipper Paul McGinley, saying: "He has just been the most wonderful captain and I can't speak highly enough of him.

"From the first day we got here, the speeches that he gave, the videos he showed us, the people that he got in to talk to us, the imagery in the team room, it all tied in together.

“All part of the plan, all for the cause of trying to win this Ryder Cup.

"He was meticulous in his planning. He left no stone unturned. I think I speak on behalf of all the 12 players up here and just say that he couldn't have done anything else. He was absolutely fantastic."

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McIlroy Finds Some Fizz in Atlanta

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Rory McIlroy's bid for a FedEx Cup title got off to a slow start at theTour Championship on Thursday before signing for a round of 69.

McIlroy is one of five players who know victory at East Lake would also see them secure the overall FedEx Cup title won by Sweden's Henrik Stenson last year, the others being Chris Kirk, Billy Horschel, Bubba Watson and Hunter Mahan.

And the world number one was just two off the lead after playing his first nine holes in one under par as the 29-strong field found scoring conditions unexpectedly difficult.

McIlroy pushed his drive on the first and saw his attempted recovery shot clip a tree and travel only 40 yards, but the 25-year-old's third shot grazed the side of the hole as it rolled past and he holed from eight feet for par.

A superb approach to two feet set up McIlroy's first birdie of the day on the third, but he promptly gave that shot back after a poor drive on the fourth and hit an even worse drive on the next.

Fortunately for the fourt-time major winner, his ball bounced out of the trees and allowed him to find the green with his approach and make par, while he holed from six feet on the sixth to get back into red figures.

That did not last long after two visits to sand on the seventh cost him a bogey, but McIlroy again rebounded immediately with a birdie from eight feet on the eighth.

Another birdie chance went begging from 10 feet on the par-five ninth, but at one under McIlroy was just two behind American duo Ryan Palmer and Patrick Reed, with playing partner Watson, Kirk and Cameron Tringale all on two under.

McIlroy's long and straight driving has been his major weapon this season, helping him win the Open Championship, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and US PGA in consecutive appearances.

However, the Northern Irishman was struggling to find the fairways at East Lake and another errant drive found a fairway bunker on the 10th, from where he had to settle for par.

McIlroy then bogeyed the 11th after duffing his second shot from the fringe and dropped back to level par, three behind Reed, former FedEx winner Bill Haas and Masters champion Watson, who had holed from eight feet on the 10th.

Ryan Palmer held the clubhouse lead on one under after a 69, while Justin Rose struggled to a two-over-par 72.

Tournament officials had already announced that Friday's tee times had been brought forward by three hours due to bad weather being forecast.

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Major McIlroy Wins Second PGA

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Rory McIlroy claimed his second major title in four weeks and a third win in succession in a thrilling, weather-affected climax to the US PGA Championship.

McIlroy carded a closing 68 at Valhalla to finish 16 under par, one shot ahead of Phil Mickelson after a remarkable final day which finished in near-darkness, with the lights blazing from the clubhouse behind the 18th green.

Rickie Fowler and Henrik Stenson had been part of a three-way tie for the lead with Mickelson on the back nine but dropped shots on the closing stretch to finish two behind McIlroy on 14 under.

A torrential downpour which flooded the course and caused a delay of almost two hours meant it was a race against time to get play finished, so much so that Mickelson and Fowler stood aside on the 18th to allow the final group to tee off.

McIlroy's drive finished dangerously close to the water to the right of the fairway, but a closing par was enough for the 25-year-old to become the first player since Padraig Harrington in 2008 to win back-to-back majors, his victories in the Open Championship and US PGA also sandwiched by a first World Golf Championship win in the Bridgestone Invitational last week.

Lifting the Wanamaker Trophy for the second time also makes the Irishman the third youngest player after Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus to win four majors, just one less than the total won by the late Seve Ballesteros and two behind Nick Faldo.

It was the fourth time McIlroy had held the 54-hole lead in a major, the first leading to heartache in the 2011 Masters when he was four ahead entering the final round at Augusta only to collapse to a closing 80.

Two months later he bounced back in spectacular style to win the US Open by eight shots at Congressional before winning the 2012 US PGA by the same margin at Kiawah Island.

Last month he led from start to finish at Royal Liverpool, taking a six-shot lead into the final round before going on to win by two from Sergio Garcia and Rickie Fowler.

This time he started the day with a one-shot lead but dropped two shots in his first six holes and trailed Fowler by three as he reached the turn, Fowler having recovered from a bogey on the second with four birdies in his next five holes.

The par-five 10th had cost McIlroy a double-bogey seven on Thursday but three days later he hit a fairway wood to seven feet and holed the eagle putt to get back into contention in stunning fashion.

Mickelson then birdied the 11th to join his playing partner Fowler in the lead, the pair exchanging fist-bumps as they walked to the 12th tee, and Stenson made it a three-way tie with a birdie on the 13th.

Stenson had offered a prayer of thanks to the golfing Gods when his approach had just carried the water, only to three-putt the next to drop out of the lead and effectively end his chances of a first major title.

McIlroy missed good birdie chances on the 11th and 12th, the latter after seeing Mickelson in the group ahead hole from 30 feet across the green for an unlikely par.

But the world number one made no mistake from eight feet on the 13th to get back into a share of the lead with five holes remaining.

Fowler was the first to crack under the pressure after a wayward tee shot led to a bogey on the 14th, and when Mickelson bogeyed the 16th, McIlroy was back in the outright lead for the first time since the third hole.

As the light quickly faded, McIlroy delivered the killer blow with a birdie from nine feet on the 17th to enjoy a two-shot lead playing the last.

Mickelson did not seem happy with being asked to make way for McIlroy on the 18th but almost holed his pitch shot for an eagle, the birdie forcing McIlroy to make par for the win.

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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 Posts PGA Target

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Rory McIlroy described his second round in the US PGA Championship at Valhalla as “a job well done”.

The 25-year-old Northern Irishman followed up his opening 66 with a four-under 67 to move to nine under at the halfway stage.

World number one Rory McIlroy shot 67 to lead the US PGA Championship after round two.

McIlroy, who is bidding to complete a hat-trick of victories after his wins in The Open and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, made a slow start in torrential rain in Louisville.

He bogeyed the 12th, after starting at the 10th, but got back on track with birdies at the 13th and 15th and missed from six feet for another on the 16th.

But he made amends by holing from 30 feet for an eagle on the 18th and could have had another eagle on the seventh, missing from eight feet after a stunning five-wood approach.

That birdie took him to eight under and another birdie at the ninth left him two shots clear of the field when he completed his round.

“I think it was a job well done,” McIlroy told Sky Sports. “The conditions were very tricky whenever the rain was coming down, obviously, and you sort of just had to wait for the moment when you had a break in the weather and you could sort of take advantage of the soft conditions.

“But I would have taken 67 going out this morning so yes it’s a job well done.

"The golf course was pretty wet so the ball is not running anywhere and whenever it's like that and no rain coming down it is very playable and you could make a score."

The world No 1 insists he is not thinking about lifting the trophy at this stage and is just concentrating on his game.

“Honestly, I am not thinking about winning,” added McIlroy. “I am just trying to think about trying to play solid golf and every shot at a time.

“I am sticking to my couple of little thoughts I have out there, a couple of little sort of trigger words that I have, and it has been working well. So I just need to keep doing that for the next two days.”

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McIlroy Remains in PGA Mix

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Rory McIlroy overcame a mid-round wobble to put himself firmly in contention after the opening round of the US PGA Championship at Valhalla.

The new world No 1, who is bidding for a hat-trick of victories following his wins in the Open Championship and WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, continued his fine form with three birdies on the front nine.

However, the wheels came off at the par-five 10th when he hooked his second shot out of bounds from the centre of the fairway and ran up a double-bogey seven.

He followed that up by three-putting the par-three 11th to slip back to level par and six shots off the lead.

McIlroy quickly steadied the ship, though, and stormed back up the leaderboard with four successive birdies from the 12th.

He then closed his round with another birdie at the 18th when his eagle putt shaved the hole to deny him a share of the lead.

"Things like 10 happen, you hit bad shots every now and again," he told Sky Sports. "I was really annoyed with myself to bogey the next hole as well, not to shake that off.

"But, after I hit the second shot at 12, I gave myself a little 'come on, that was better' and that sort of kick-started things.

"Thirteen was a good yardage for me. I knew it was just a good sand wedge, and that I could pitch it past the hole and that the slope and the spin would help it come back.

"It nearly went in but you settle for a birdie there and that was one of the good birdie opportunities on the back nine."

The 25-year-old admitted he was proud of the way he fought back.

"Three-putting after making double on 10, my response after that was really good, and it shows mentally where I am at with my game," he said.

"I'm really happy with the five-under start."

The Northern Irishman also believes he is driving the ball better than he has ever done in his career.

He said: "Yes, just look at the stats (average driving distance 327.8, driving accuracy 85.71%). I am driving the ball fantastically well, I'm really confident with it and the fairways this week are a little more generous than they were last week at Firestone.

"I feel like I can step up on these tees and hit it hard and hit the fairways so, if I can keep stats like that up for the next few days, I will be happy."

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McIlroy Opens Bridgestone with 69

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Rory McIlroy signed for a one-under par round of 69 at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone on Thursday.trailing the leader by five strokes.

Marc Leishman set the target on six-under in round one 

McIlroy carded a double-bogey on his penultimate hole which was come0nted for with a superb shot on the last hole, an eight iron stitched pinned to the fag that that got him back into red figures. 

“I drove the ball for the most part well, I got myself into trouble a couple of times which led to a double bogey and a bogey on my back nine – which was the front nine – but apart from that I felt I played really solid golf without doing anything too special,” he said afterwards.

Starting from the 10th, McIlroy opened with three pars before splitting the fairway on the 13th with a drive of 318 yards and hitting his approach to 10 feet to set up his first birdie.

The 25-year-old, who could reclaim top spot in the world rankings from Adam Scott this week, then holed from twice the distance on the 17th to reach the turn in 33 and almost chipped in for another birdie on the first.

McIlroy reached three under par with a two-putt birdie on the par-five second, only to promptly give that shot back on the next after three-putting from long range. Worse was to follow on the eighth when he pushed a drive miles right into heavy rough, finding the greenside bunker with his second and not exactly covering himself in glory before walking off with a six.

But a 340-plus drive straight down the middle of the ninth led to that closing birdie and while there was plenty of room for improvement, McIlroy felt his goal of kicking on from his win at Liverpool was still very much on track.

“I didn’t want any let down,” he explained. “And not just these two weeks, basically for the rest of the season. I’ve got myself in a good position in the FedEx Cup, I can try and get to number one again in the world rankings and there’s a Major still left to play. There’s a lot of golf still left this year, it’s great to win another Major, the Open Championship but I just want to keep going forward.”

Top nine

Ryan Moore and Charl Schwartzel are both one behind the leader on five under. The American Ryder Cup hopeful, Moore, carded a flawless five-under-par 65 as he followed up a good finish at Royal Liverpool with another eye-catching performance.

Moore is currently 14th in the US Ryder Cup points standings, with the top nine after next week’s US PGA Championship sealing a place on Tom Watson’s team for Gleneagles in September.

He was joined on five under by South African Charl Schwartzel, the former US Masters champion carding five birdies in his last eight holes, including four in a row from the fourth. Italian Francesco Molinari dropped his only shot of the day on the 17th to be round in 67, while Wales’s Jamie Donaldson was a shot behind on two under as he looked to cement his place on the Ryder Cup team.

Speaking about his run of birdies, Schwartzel said: “I think it’s the sort of golf course that maybe lends you to going on a run like that. The golf course is in such good shape, there are not many blades of grass out of place. This course can really frustrate you or you can be really happy with the way you played because there is no forgiveness.”

iger Woods was one under par after 14 holes of his opening round.

Graeme McDowell finished one over in a share of 46th place after a round of 71.

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