The hunger still burns deeply for Rory McIlroy. And although he may be on the final leg of his year’s work, with this week’s CJ Cup tournament in South Carolina his lone outing on the PGA Tour’s new season and next month’s DP World Tour in Dubai the finale, the incentive in the coming days is to achieve the feat of becoming world number one for a ninth time in his career.
To do that, McIlroy, most likely, will need to successfully defend his CJ Cup title at Congaree Golf Club in Ridgeland, South Carolina. One other scenario, rather unlikely, would be for the 33-year-old Northern Irishman to finish solo runner-up with current world number one incumbent Scottie Scheffler finishing worse than 34th.
Still, the fact that the number one spot is again within reach speaks volumes for the year’s golf that McIlroy has produced, securing two wins – in the Canadian Open and the Tour Championship, which also earned him the FedEx Cup – in a hugely consistent campaign that saw him finish in the top-10 on 13 occasions in 20 outings worldwide.
His 21st appearance of the year comes after a two-week break, albeit with the second of those weeks seeing him working with coach Michael Bannon to “get in the best possible position” for this week’s tournament.
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“I’ve two events left [in 2022] and still I feel like I have a little bit to play for. I’ve put myself in a nice position to try to get back to number one in the world and trying to finish off the European Tour title,” said McIlroy, who first achieved the feat in March 2012 and last held the position in July 2020.
Of the possibility of again regaining the honorary top ranking and what it would mean, McIlroy said: “The cool thing about [getting] to number one, it feels great in the moment; and the bad thing is you work harder to stay there. I think the hard work is actually staying there.
“If I get back to number one this week, it’s like my ninth time getting back. It sort of illustrates you can have your runs and you can stay there, but I think the cool part is the journey and the journey getting back there. It’s sort of like a heavyweight boxer losing a world title and it’s a journey to get that title back. I feel like that’s the cool part of it and that’s the journey that I’ve sort of been through over the past 12 months.”
McIlroy has been grouped with rising South Korean star Tom Kim – only 20 but with 11 professional wins on his CV, including two this year on the PGA Tour – and Rickie Fowler for the opening two rounds and, rather quirkily, Kim asked a question of McIlroy during his pre-tournament press conference.
“What’s it like having so much success as a young player? Coming out and many years on tour, how do you manage all that?” wondered Kim.
To which McIlroy responded: “I didn’t have as much success as you’re having at such a young age. Like I think when you start to have success at a young age, you’re going to ... I think the biggest thing that I realised is managing your time. You’re going to be pulled in so many different directions.
“You’ve got one, two, three, four, I can see five sponsors on you at this point, right? So it’s just trying to manage your time to realise what got you to this position, right? Why are you a two-time PGA Tour winner, why are you such a great player? And it’s the time that you put into it and it’s the practice, it’s not losing sight of that.”
Golf lowdowns
The CJ Cup
Purse: €10.5 million (€1.9m to the winner).
Where: Ridgeland, South Carolina.
The course: Congaree Golf Club – 7,655 yards, par 71 – is a Tom Fazio design opened in 2018 and built on a 3,200 acre former rice plantation. The exclusive property in the South Carolina lowcountry offers design layouts based on Australia’s sandbelt terrain. It staged the Palmetto Championship last year (won by Garrick Higgo) on the PGA Tour. Two of the course’s par fives come inside the opening four holes, while the finish is a run of four par fours with the 18th presenting a closing approach shot over water to a narrow green.
The field: A standout field for the tournament which features 78 players, with world number one Scottie Scheffler and number two Rory McIlroy among 15 players from the world’s top-20 competing.
Quote-Unquote: “When you get a limited field, no cut, you can truly have a lot of players that maybe didn’t get the greatest start but you can show up there by Sunday. There’s multiple ways of winning, there’s very different ways of doing it.” – Jon Rahm.
Irish in the field: Shane Lowry is in a group with US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick and Jason Day (2.27pm Irish time); Rory McIlroy is in a group with Tom Kim and Rickie Fowler (3.20pm); and Séamus Power is grouped with KH Lee and Sebastian Munoz (5.13pm).
Betting: Rory McIlroy is the 13-2 favourite as he reverts back stateside in defence of a title he won in Las Vegas last year with Jon Rahm offered at odds of 9-1 as he seeks to continue the momentum of his Spanish Open three-timer. This is a course which favours strong iron play and both Shane Lowry and Collin Morikawa look tempting at 28s.
On TV: Live on Sky Sports, live coverage from 8pm.
Mallorca Open
Purse: €2 million (€340,000 to the winner).
Where: Palma, Spain.
The course: Son Muntaner Golf Club – 6,952 yards, par 71 – is a resort course designed by Kurt Rosknecht, which works through olive trees, lakes and heavily bunkered landscape. It is located between Son Vida and the regional capital, Palma, and boasts the island’s oldest olive tree, reputed to be over 1,000 years old.
The field: Coming to the back end of the season, a number of players will be eyeing places in next month’s DP World Tour Championship finale in Dubai while a large number are fighting to retain their tour cards which makes for a competitive field. Ryan Fox, currently third in the R2D standings, and last week’s winner Adrian Otaegui both tee it up.
Quote-Unquote: “The game is trending. I can see bits of the game that are on a solid path ... I’m trying to get some positives at the end of this year and build for a big 2023. I want to get to the final [the DP World Tour Championship]. At the moment, I’m just outside, so getting there is a goal” – Nicolai Hojgaard, currently 67th on the R2D standings and needing to break inside the top-50 to get to Dubai next month.
Irish in the field: Cormac Sharvin in a group with Benjamin Hebert and Aaron Cockerill (2pm Irish time); Jonny Caldwell in a group with Romain Langasque and Maverick Antcliff (2.50pm); Niall Kearney with Jack Singh Brar and Robin Roussel (3.20pm).
Betting: Rasmus Hojgaard heads the market at 10-1 with world number 25 Ryan Fox priced at 14-1 while Adrian Otaegui is a 16-1 shot to make it wins in back-to-back weeks. Sebastian Garcia Rodriguez is worth an each-way look at 55-1.
On TV: Live on Sky Sports, live coverage from 1pm).
