RORY IS RIGHT ON TARGET
Venue suits McIlroy but Rose is wilting as back injury flares
THE sight of Justin Rose walking gingerly around Bellerive on the eve of the 100th US PGA Championship, unable to hit more than a pitch or a putt, was a desperate one for European golf.
Whether the flare-up of another back injury for the world No 3 has implications for the Ryder Cup next month can wait for another day, but the timing is crushing for the player himself.
Rose has been in the form of his life after a brilliant weekend at the Open, when he came from nowhere to finish joint runner-up behind Francesco Molinari.
Itching to tee it up at Firestone last week with a clear chance to become world No 1 for the first time, he felt something go in his back that led to a spasm and withdrawal from the tournament.
He hoped it was purely precautionary but the fact he was still clearly feeling the injury was obvious in his movements yesterday. Only his desperation to play in the final major was keeping him on the premises. ‘Would I be here if it wasn’t the PGA? Possibly not,’ he said, despondently.
‘I just don’t know what to say to you at this stage. I’ve been through it all before with my back and I’m just trying to manage it. It’s not a muscle problem, more a blip after all the golf I’ve played in the summer. But I’ve got to be careful with all the golf left to come.’
Two years ago, Rose (right) played on through the Olympics and Ryder Cup and paid the price when he had to take two months off. Now a Ryder Cup looms once more, and the last thing Europe needs is for its leading player to be worrying about his back.
Rose is not due to play until this afternoon alongside Jordan Spieth and Jon Rahm. If he makes it, he will play the course without hitting a full shot in practice. ‘I’m not overly concerned about that,’ he said. ‘I can see that it’s target golf, and you’ve just got to hit your numbers and find the right quadrants on the greens.’ If the picture surrounding Europe’s No 1 is bleak, it’s much brighter concerning the No 2. This PGA will mark four years since Rory McIlroy’s last victory in a major, and he surely couldn’t ask for a more perfect venue to end the drought. No-one loves target golf more than McIlroy and this place ought to be right up his alley. The fairways are soft, generous and ideal for someone with a high ball flight like the County Down man. He will surely be in contention and whether he takes home the trophy or not might well come down to how well he utilises the scoring clubs that have restricted him to just one win all year — his wedges and putter. People go on about his work on the greens but leading coach Butch Harmon was right to highlight his wedge play as the bigger culprit. McIlroy played a practice round yesterday alongside world No 1 Dustin Johnson and Rahm, and it would be no surprise if the winner came from those three. It will almost certainly be a big hitter, so others to consider are the likes of defending champion Justin Thomas, US Open champion Brooks Koepka or the com- ing man, Tony Finau.
One player it does not suit is the man with the career Grand Slam in his sights — Spieth. It did not happen for McIlroy at the Masters or Phil Mickelson at the US Open, and the Texan will surely have to wait a while as well.
Tommy Fleetwood is one contender who feels he is closing in on a first major title.
Fleetwood has been no worse than 17th in the year’s three major championships to date and famously carded a record-equalling final round of 63 in the US Open to finish just a shot behind defending champion Koepka.
But the 27-year-old from Southport was in that position at Shinnecock Hills because of a disappointing third round of 78, a situation which has occurred on other notable occasions.
‘I can’t really talk about my Friday nights, but I can talk about Saturdays,’ Fleetwood joked.
‘They were poor Saturdays, but without me feeling like I did too much wrong. Sometimes it just doesn’t go your way and your bad shots can get punished when on other days they don’t.
‘Without a doubt, the next step in my career is to win in America and win a major.
‘I feel like the tougher challenges, tougher courses have suited me this year whilst I’ve been on my game and I’ve been playing well.