Mcilroy poised to boost British Masters

Rory Mcilroy is ready to hand a huge boost to the British Masters and North-east golf by accepting an invitation to play in next week’s tournament in Newcastle.

Officials at Close House are hoping that the four-time major winner confirms his intention to appear, following his failure to qualify for this week’s Tour Championship in Atlanta. The PGA Tour’s loss looks likely to be the European Tour’s gain as the 28-year-old plays his final few events before a long break.

Lee Westwood is promoting the British Masters and would be thrilled by his Ryder Cup teammate’s presence. It would bring a marked increase in ticket sales, despite Mcilroy failing to win in 2017.

Mcilroy has already committed to the Dunhill Links Championship in Fife in two weeks’ time. Adding the British Masters – which was revived three years ago thanks to the efforts of the Tour and Sky Sports – would allow him to reach the minimum of five events he requires to

Late entrant: Rory Mcilroy qualifies for the Dunhill Links by playing in Newcastle play the Dunhill Links as a member. However, Mcilroy would then skip the Race to Dubai run-in and take a 3½-month break after the Dunhill. He has suffered with a rib injury all year and is determined to give it time to make a full recovery.

He is evidently in need of the break, both physically and mentally. Last year’s Fedex champion could finish only 58th in attempting to qualify in Chicago on Sunday. He needed a top-four finish to make it into the 30-man field that will contest the Fedex bonus. That latest setback meant he fell to eighth in the world, his lowest ranking in more than three years.

Mcilroy is not in Georgia, but Justin Rose is and he believes a win at the Tour Championship will be sufficient for him to collect £8.5million, which would be the biggestever payout in English golf.

The 37-year-old has risen to eighth in the Fedex Cup. Only the top five in the standings are guaranteed to scoop the $10million bonus if they win the East Lake tournament, but Rose thinks his first win of the year would be enough.

“I feel good about eighth,” Rose said. “I’ve given myself a chance.”