‘Motivated’ McIlroy headlines loaded WGC field in Shanghai
SHANGHAI: World No.2 Rory McIlroy said his strongest season in years has motivated him to recapture golf’s top
Asia’s biggest event tees off Thursday without world number one Brooks Koepka, out with a knee strain, nor a rejuvenated
with a record- tying 82nd PGA Tour win in Japan on Monday.
But an event dubbed “Asia’s Major” still features of plenty of star power including 15 past Major champions such as Justin Rose, Bubba Watson, Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed, and Adam Scott.
But few are playing as well as McIlroy, the 2019 FedEx Cup champion and PGA Tour Player of the Year, who won the Tour Championship event in August and tied for third behind Woods at the Zozo Championship in Japan two days ago.
The 30- year- old Northern Irishman’s stellar season has propelled him up the world golf rankings, and although a victory in Shanghai won’t push him past the absent Koepka, McIlroy said
“I want to get as many world ranking points as I possibly can and try to close that gap on number one,” he said at Sheshan International Golf Club.
“So you know, pretty motivated coming into the week.”
‘ Strong finish’
That motivation might have been juiced by Koepka, who this month dismissed the notion of a burgeoning rivalry with McIlroy by pointing out that the Northern Irishman hadn’t won a Major
McIlroy, who last sat on golf’s pinnacle four years ago, subsequently played down the comments, saying that Koepka had a point, and that the two were “good friends”.
The Northern Irishman had staked his claim to be among the world’s best with four Majors before the age of 25, until younger stars eclipsed him.
“But if I play well the next few weeks, you know, I’ll have a great platform going into next year. I’ve achieved most things that I’ve wanted to this year,” he said in Shanghai.
“I’m happy with where everything is, and yeah, just want to finish the year off strongly because I feel the year that I’ve
The $10.25 million Shanghai event, with a winner’s prize of $ 1.7 million, is the third and
swing, after the Zozo Championship and the CJ Cup in South Korea the week before.
serve him well on the lengthy Sheshan course, widely considered one of the toughest on the Tour.
Also in the mix are a slew of past HSBC winners including
Xander Schauffele, who beat current PGA Tour driving distance leader Tony Finau in an exciting play-off last year.
Rose, Watson, Garcia, Francesco Molinari and Mickelson also have tasted success in Shanghai.
Another to watch is 2016 winner Hideki Matsuyama, whose mojo is working after finishing second to Woods on home soil in Japan at the weekend, and third in Korea the week before.
SHANGHAI SHANGHAI: Ror Rory McIlro McIlroy saidWednesda said Wednesday thatTiger that Tiger Woods is reaping the benefits of a more “mellow” approach to life after the American secured a historic 82nd US PGA Tour win this week.
The 43-year- old Woods reached another milestone with victory on Monday at the Zozo Championship in Japan, equalling Sam Snead’s 54-year- old record of Tour triumphs.
McIlroy, who finished tied third, said he had seen up close how Woods has changed as a person during a brilliant career punctuated by some high-profile personal problems.
“He’s opened up a lot the last few years,” the Northern Irishman and current world number two, said on the eve of the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai.
“I think I’m in a fortunate position that I live quite close to him and we’ve been able to develop quite a good relationship.
“I’ve seen in the private moments who he is as a person and what a great dad he is, how seriously he takes that side of his life as well. It’s been great to see.”
That more open and approachable manner has been noted by Woods’s fellow professionals, said McIlroy.
“I think pre previously io sl in his career he didn’t take the camaraderie or the being one of the guys as seriously as he does now as he transitions to this latter part of his career,” said McIlroy.
“He’s definitely mellowed as a person and probably sees the bigger picture a little more than he used to.”
Woods, who will not play in Shanghai, has taken his fellow Americans Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler under his wing and become something like a mentor to them, McIlroy said.
The 30-year-old, a four-time Major winner, believes that a roaring Tiger can only be good for golf.
“If Tiger’s doing well, the game of golf in general thrives so it’s good for everyone involved and I think we’re happy for him,” he said, referring to Woods’s rivals on the course.
“He’s been through a lot in terms of injuries and some of the breaks that he’s had to take.
“I think because he has opened up a little bit, people know what he’s been through and are happy that he’s got through the other side of it and is playing great again.”
Tiger Woods of the US (left) receives a victory trophy from Yusaku Maezawa, the founder of Zozo, during the awarding ceremony of the PGA ZOZO Championship golf tournament at the Narashino Country Club in Inzai, Chiba prefecture on October 28, 2019.