Don’t need to prove myself: McIlroy
CHARLOTTE: Rory McIlroy says he has nothing to prove this week as he chases his first major title in three years on a Quail Hollow layout where he has two wins and the course record.
The world number four will be a favourite when the 99th PGA Championship tees off Thursday even though the 28-year-old hasn’t won since last September’s US PGA Tour Championship.
“I’m not putting that much pressure on myself. I don’t feel like I need to prove anything to anyone,” McIlroy said Tuesday. “I never lost faith. I’ve always believed in my own abilities. I still do.”
It was a contrast from how McIlroy felt in 2015, when he fired a third-round 71 to break his own course record on way to victory while world number one, saying he needed to show how well he could play.
“I definitely don’t want to be in the mind-set this week of wanting to make any type of statement or go out and prove myself. I’m past that point,” McIlroy said.
“I’ve proven myself enough over the last nine years of my career.
“Obviously I wouldn’t have won as much as I would have liked this year, and there’s been a few components to that, injury wise, changing equipment and stuff. It has been a bit of a transitional year.
“But I feel like everything has settled. I just want to go out and play my game and hopefully that will be good enough.”
McIlroy, the 2012 and 2014 PGA Championship winner who also took the 2011 US Open and 2014 British Open, could become only the third player to win five majors before turning 30, joining Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.
It won’t hurt that he has played well in Majors in wet conditions, which are expected this week, and that he has a comfort zone with Quail Hollow despite changes to toughen the opening third of the course.
“For the most part, 15 of the 18 holes are the same. I just feel good around here. I don’t know what it is. I’ve got some great memories.
“Once you go back to a place where you have great memories, all that starts to come flooding back to you and it makes you feel good about yourself. That’s sort of how I feel around here,” said McIlroy.