Rory McIlroy feels his game is ‘as sharp as it has ever been’ so early in the season, with a winning start to his PGA Tour campaign only fuelling belief that this could be the year he finally ends his major drought.
McIlroy secured an impressive victory at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, where he played a six-hole stretch in five under on his way to a final-round 66 and two-shot victory over Ryder Cup and Olympic team-mate Shane Lowry.
The world No 3’s victory is his 27th PGA Tour title and leaves him with six top-four finishes in his last seven worldwide starts, with an early-season win also giving him confidence going into the major season and a Ryder Cup year.
McIlroy’s bid to complete the career Grand Slam has dominated the build-up to The Masters – live from April 10-13 on Sky Sports – over the past decade, having registered 21 top-10s in majors without victory since his 2014 PGA Championship success.
The 35-year-old will once again be among the favourites for the opening major of the year, with the latest Sky Sports Golf podcast discussing McIlroy’s winning start to the year and his major hopes for the months ahead.
“That chip on his shoulder is never going to go away with The Masters until he wins it or ends his career, which is something that he lives with ahead of every April,” David Howell told the Sky Sports Golf podcast. “That’s Rory’s great difficulty though, because here we are talking about it already.
“He’s a wise boy and just look where he is now compared to where he was Sunday evening of the US Open, which was devastating for him when Bryson [DeChambeau] won and he let that one slip away.
He’s smiling again. He’s happy. He’s content and he’s swinging well. It always went by that last week there were no waggles, no practise back swings – he just hitting the ball just so beautifully from tee-to-green.
“If he can turn up at Augusta with that game, then he’s going to threaten. I think previous years, the last few, he hasn’t turned up with that in his locker.
“He’s trending well this time but only he can work out how to get across the finish line at Augusta National. I think he’ll win there one day and this is a nice start to his challenge this year.” (SkySports)