McIlroy proves he’s fit and ready for US PGA
McILROY ON RETURN FROM INJURY
Any lingering doubts that Rory McIlroy is fit and ready for the season’s final major were removed here in Wisconsin yesterday. On treacherous terrain, he bounced off tees and skipped down hills. On the 18th hole he played a bunker shot from a lie so precarious only a man with complete trust in his left ankle would even have attempted it, let alone pull off the stroke with aplomb.
‘If anything, my ankle feels even better when I swing hard at the ball,’ he said.
Monday mornings at the PGA Championship are usually quiet affairs but a couple of thousand people came out to welcome back the world no 1 in the soft summer rain on this beastly beauty of a course along the shore of Lake Michigan.
‘ Great to see you, Rory, ’ shouted one, and indeed it is. now the rivalry with world no 2 Jordan Spieth, with whom he will be playing for the first two rounds, can begin in earnest.
McIlroy hasn’t been seen since the US Open in June. On the eve of The Open at St Andrews l ast month he ruptured his left ankle playing football with his mates. Given he was the defending champion and the event was being played on his favourite course you might have thought it would be devastating to spend it sitting on the sidelines.
But, underlining his growing maturity, the 26-year-old gave a surprising answer. ‘I didn’t miss it as much as you probably think,’ he told in between practice strokes. ‘yes, of course, it would have been lovely to be there. But you go to the gym each morning and you see people going about their daily lives and it does give you a sense of perspective. you realise it’s a long way from being the end of the world.’ It was on the Monday that Zach Johnson was taking his Open crown that McIlroy started hitting golf balls once more. ‘I’ve played a lot of golf since then, just finding the middle of the clubface again,’ he said. ‘And I’ve been chipping and putting basically since it happened, with my protective boot on.’ When he starts on Thursday afternoon it will be 53 days s i nce he last played competiti vel y and McIlroy acknowledged the difficulties in trying to play his best. ‘I took seven weeks off at the end of last year and came back and finished second in Abu Dhabi but this is obviously a world of difference,’ he said. ‘It’s one thing coming back at a regular event in the Middle East but here it’s a major and I’m the defending champion.
‘That’s why I have been playing just one ball in practice, and keeping a score. I played 722 holes in Portugal last week, and then I played here on Saturday and Sunday.’
Asked what scores he was s hooting, McIlroy (left) couldn’t t keep the smile off hisis face. ‘yeah, they wereere pretty good,’ he said, with-without showing any inclination to elaborate.
After the accident happened, McIlroy said on social media he wouldn’t return until he felt 100 per cent fit and it is patently clear from the way he’s moving this is no rush job. ‘I did think about coming back last week at the Bridgestone but Steve (McGregor, his fitness coach) held me back,’ he explained. ‘He thought it important for me to basically play a tournament behind closed doors and after I completed that successfully, it felt the right time to come.’ He mamay l ack competitive sharpsharpness but McIlroy made it clclear he doesn’t expect ththat to be a factor. ‘ I’m reready to play and I eexpect to do well,’ said tthe northern Irishman, who has finished first, first, fourth and ninth iin his last four majors. In his favour is the fafact the event is being stastaged on the Whistling StraStraits course where, at the PGAPG in 2010 aged just 21, he finished just one shot off the winning score. ‘I do think it helps when you come back to a place where you’ve played well,’ he said. ‘I like the course. It fits my eye.’
It’s no bad thing for McIlroy, with his length off the tee and high ballflight, that this remote part of Wisconsin has seen above-average amounts of rainfall in the last few days. When I remarked that his howitzer of a drive had rolled no more than a couple of yards off the 18th tee, he turned and smiled. ‘A soft golf course is never a bad thing, Derek,’ he said.
McIlroy will complete his preparations with nine holes today and tomorrow, before his date with Spieth on Thursday. ‘Of course I’m pleased I’ve hung on to the world no 1 spot,’ he said. ‘It was a year ago that I regained it and it’s important to me. But at the end of the day it’s all about getting in contention and winning tournaments, and that’s my main focus this week.’
It marks the start of a busy end of season for McIlroy, who will then move on to trying to win the FedEx Cup on the PGA Tour for the first time before seeking to hold on to t he Race t o Dubai on t he European circuit.
‘I’ve let the guys get a lot closer to me but at least I’m going into this stretch feeling really fresh,’ he said. ‘I’m ready to go.’