Rory McIlroy ended his PGA Tour career last month when he placed fourth in the Tour Championship by himself. Rory McIlroy’s PGA Tour season ended last month in Atlanta, where he finished fourth at the Tour Championship.
The Northern Irishman, despite his struggles with health, took home a bonus of $4 million at the FedEx Cup Final.
McIlroy ended his season with 10 top-10 finishes in a row, including the Scottish Open win.
This week, he returns in fine form to the Horizon Irish Open and returns to a course that he dominated in 2016, The K Club.
McIlroy won his 13th DP World Tour title in 2007, beating Bradley Dredge by just three shots and Russell Knox.
McIlroy said to the media in Kildare on Wednesday that it was good to be back. He also tried to reacquaint himself with the course. “A lot has happened over the past seven years. I struggled with a number of holes this morning. But it is starting to come back.” McIlroy told the media in Kildare, Ireland.
“Nice to be back, I have good memories and am just happy to see you and to try and keep up with the good play that I was on for the past couple of months.”
This week, it’s great to be back in at thekclub with the Horizon @IrishOpen_. Brings back a lot of memories of 2016 especially when standing in the fairway on 16 pic.twitter.com/z6v931GZXC
Rory McIlroy 5 September 2023 HTML0
It sounds like the doctor prescribed a few extra weeks of rest to help his back.
He said, “It’s fine.” “I’d say it’s 90, 95 percent.” It’s still not 100 percent better. It’s not stopping me from doing what I want. I just took care of it a bit. “Just being mindful, I suppose.”
It will be a challenge to balance not pushing too hard on his body and trying to win the Ryder Cup this week, especially since the Ryder Cup is just around the corner.
McIlroy, who will be the undisputed leader at the Rome Open on Sept. 29, is the only European golfer to remain in the mix.
He sounds very excited about the 12-man team that will be ready to battle in the biennial competition.
“You can see Viktor at the end of the year, what Jon Rahm has done in this season; me; Tommy Fleetwood playing his best golf since he was a kid; Tyrrell, Shane and Rosey.
He said, “I think your team has a good mix of youth and experience.” “I believe that everyone who followed golf in the past few months knew the potential of someone like Ludvig. Just watch him hitting balls at a PGA Tour tournament on the practice range. He’s really special. He is an incredible ball striker.
(Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/Getty Images) On September 3, 2023, Sweden’s Ludvig berg poses with his trophy after winning the European Tour’s European Masters Golf Tournament in Crans Montana in western Switzerland. (Photo: Fabrice Cofrini/Getty Images).
“I don’t think people from this part may have recognized it, because he played all his golf at college and in the States. He then played a great deal of PGA Tour stuff. He came here, finished fourth in Czech Republic, and won in Switzerland. He showed a lot people that he was worthy of being picked. I honestly believe Luke would have picked him anyway, but it made his job much easier when he beat him on Sunday.”
He reflected, with his sights still on The K Club on the importance of his win in 2016 to him and his family.
Since I was a kid, my mother has always wanted to watch the Irish Open. For her to be at the Irish Open and for me win, it obviously means a great deal to her and to our family.
Just two and a half hours from Holywood, the town where he grew up, he might be able to add another memorable moment for his family.
