INJURY WON’T HOLD ME BACK
Rory’s hectic run to stay at No 1
Rory mcilroy brushed off fears he will need to play a restricted schedule for the foreseeable future by announcing a hectic run of events over the next three months as he seeks to hold on to the coveted world No 1 spot.
The Northern irishman is playing in Boston today in the Deutsche Bank Championship, one of three Fedex Cup play-off tournaments he will play on the PGA Tour over the next four weeks. Thereafter, following a fortnight’s break, he will play no fewer than five tournaments over a sevenweek spell.
‘i won’t be playing football any time soon but as far as running in a straight line or walking up and down hills, my ankle is good enough to do what i need to do to play golf,’ said the 26-year-old.
mcilroy’s comments came just 24 hours after he was given a special exemption by the european Tour to play in their version of the Fedex — the Final Series — in November. He needed this despite the fact he leads the race to Dubai as he would fall one event short of the required quota of 13 tournaments after rupturing ankle ligaments during the summer and missing three eligible events.
in explaining the decision to award an exemption, new european Tour chief executive Keith Pelley pointed to a rather gloomy prognosis from the tour’s chief medical officer, Dr roger Hawes.
‘From the evidence presented to me, this is a potentially serious and significant injury,’ said Dr Hawes. ‘There is a risk of permanent instability of the ankle which could seriously affect his golf swing... he will need close attention for about a year and the suggestion of a reduced schedule, wherever possible... is sensible.’ Now mcilroy is playing in Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, California, Shanghai, Dubai and the Bahamas before the second week in December as he looks to stay one step ahead of the other members of golf’s Big Three: American Jordan Spieth and Australian Jason Day.
Between them, the trio have won five of the last six majors and mcilroy said: ‘of course i’m excited to be part of this conversation. it’s a good narrative for you guys and it’s great motivation for myself. i know they’re behind me and they’re very close but i’m looking forward to a good run of events now and i want to stay ahead.’
mcilroy, who went back to world No 1 last week without playing, admitted: ‘obviously if you judged it just on this year Jordan would be No 1 with his two majors and Jason would be ahead of me after his record-breaking score at the PGA and his big win last week.
‘we’re going to be pushing one another hard and it will bring out the best in us.’