Rory not one to rest on laurels as Tiger looks for big finish
AKRON: Rory McIlroy embellished his status as one of the game’s best players with his wire-to-wire win at the British Open nine days ago, but he has put that behind him as he strives to achieve further goals before the end of this year.
The Northern Irishman has made a habit of stringing together red-hot runs of form during his burgeoning career and has set his sights on clinching a maiden World Golf Championships crown at this week’s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio.
“I’ve obviously had a bit of time to reflect after the (British) Open and everything, but just decided I wanted to move on and move forward,” World No 2 McIlroy told reporters at Firestone Country Club.
“There’s a lot of big tournaments left this year, a lot of golf left to play and a lot of things I still want to achieve. So I definitely wasn’t going to dwell on what I’d done at Hoylake (venue for the British Open).
“I want to move on and start by playing well again this week. I’ve never won a World Golf Championship.
“I’ve got three majors but never won one of these, so there’s a lot of stuff still to play for.”
Though McIlroy has suffered a few lapses in form, most notably last year when he struggled to adapt after chang- ing his equipment manufacturer in January and having to cope with legal distractions, he has already achieved more than most of his peers.
Victories at the 2011 US Open and the 2012 PGA Championship gave him two major trophies to cherish by the age of 24 and he followed up on both successes with a stirring run of form.
Meanwhile, Tiger Woods, battling back from a back injury, still drives fan interest and TV ratings and PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem is as keen as the former World No 1 himself that he has a big 2014 finish.
Finchem said there would be no medical exemptions made for the elite season-ending FedExCup playoffs, where the starting field is determined by points earned during the regular season.
However, he was not counting Woods out of the PGA Tour finale, even though he languishes 215th on the list with only the top 125 qualifying for the playoffs and time fast running out.
Woods is a huge 358 points outside the cut line for the fourevent playoffs having played only five PGA Tour events this season, but he has two big chances to make up ground at venues where he has had great success.
This week, Woods will tee it up at Firestone, where he has won eight times.
Then comes the PGA Championship at Valhalla in Louisville, Kentucky, where Woods won the 2000 PGA crown.
“I’m looking forward to that player that you’re referring to (Woods) ... he’s got a couple tournaments coming up where he’s won on both golf courses and one on which he’s won a lot of times,” Finchem said.
“So I’m not one of those who are pessimistic about his immediate or long-term future in the sport.”
Woods matched Finchem’s optimism.
“The speed is developing. The speed is coming back, I continue to get stronger,” said Woods, who missed nearly four months after having back surgery and whose best finish this year was a tie for 25th at the WGC-Cadillac Championship in March.
“I’ve gotten stronger, but we’re just now introducing explosive training ... which is nice. I’m excited about that.”
It has not been all work for Woods.
“The past week I was with my kids, we were on a little vacation,” Woods said.
“We had a good little time. We toured a little bit and even played a little putt-putt, which I won every single time,” the ever competitive Woods said, drawing laughs from the press corps. – Reuters