McIlroy strives to reignite unforgettable fire of magical 2014 season

RORY McIlROY hopes to start rolling back the years in the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.

McIlroy, 28, revelled in the 2014 season when he won four top tournaments, including the Open at Hoylake, and the US PGA title at Valhalla, which was his fourth Major victory in three years.

At the time, he could see nothing but bigger and brighter successes to come, and thought in terms of winning multiple Major championships.

Today, McIlroy (above) is stalled on four Majors, has missed the cut in the Irish and Scottish Opens in successive weeks, and goes into action uncertain of his form.

“When I won those three tournaments in ‘14 and I was where I was in the game, yeah, of course, I thought, ‘Okay, I really can keep this going’.

“I was going into the Masters the next year thinking I can win the Grand Slam, I can do this, I can do that, and some things just come along that you don’t expect, well, that’s really been a couple of injuries the last couple of years, and that sort of stops me in my tracks. “But I’ve still got plenty of time to, I guess, rekindle those feelings and that sort of play. And I really don’t feel I’m that far away from it right now, even if the results don’t suggest it,” he said.

McIlroy, who tees off at 2.48pm today alongside fellow Major champions Dustin Johnson and Charl Schwartzel, is rated at 20/1 to win this week.

That’s not so far behind joint favourites Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler and Dustin Johnson, all on 14/1, but it was enough to cause McIlroy to pause for thought when informed of the betting patterns.

“A good time to back me, I think. 20/1?

“If I was a betting company and I saw my form over the past few weeks, you would say, yeah, that’s probably a fair enough price.

“But, again, all it takes is one week for those odds to go back to, I don’t know, 7/1, 8/1 at Quail Hollow,” he added.