I WILL LOSE ‘RINGO’ TAG

RORy McILROy has quit Twitter following his spat with Steve elkington at the US Open and is now looking to get rid of an unwanted nickname at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open this week.

Asked about slipping from world No 1 to No 4, the Ulsterman recalled last summer. Then, all the talk was of golf’s Fab Four — and McIlroy was likened by one scribe to being the fourth Beatle.

‘Back to being Ringo,’ grinned McIlroy (right). But, speaking at Portstewart’s fabulous links, he was quick to bang the drum about his chances of changing all that. ‘It doesn’t sit well with me being fourth in the world,’ he said. ‘But I feel I’m now playing well enough to take care of that.’

As for his Twitter tussle with elkington — prompted when the Australian said McIlroy looked bored and was content to sit on his millions — he said: ‘At the end of it I handed my phone to (wife) erica and told her to change my Twitter password and don’t tell me the new one. How long will I stay off it? Hopefully, I have the willpower that it will last for ever.’ McIlroy, the defending champion, goes out today with young hotshots Jon Rahm of Spain and world No 2 Hideki Matsuyama. Meanwhile, the winner of the 2017 Open at Royal Birkdale will be paid in US dollars rather than sterling, taking home $1.845million (£1.4m) from a total fund of $10.25m (£7.9m).