Rory McIlroy is itching to get back into the winner’s circle at a World Golf Championships event as he prepares to tee it up at this week’s WGC-HSBC Champions.
The Northern Irishman won his second and latest WGC event in 2015 and since then has had nine top 10s in the tournaments, including a fourth top five at Sheshan International Golf Club in 2016.
After an excellent season worldwide, McIlroy is preparing for a break over the festive period, but not before he has another tilt at some of the biggest prizes in the game.
‘WGCs are some of the biggest tournaments we play,’ he said. ‘It’s always the strongest fields. You’re playing against the best players in the world.
‘To win those events, it means that you’ve done something very well.
‘I played well in WGCs this year. I had a good chance to win in Mexico, finished second. Had a chance to win in Memphis, didn’t quite get over the line there, Brooks [Koepka] played very well on that last day.
‘And actually played OK on the matchplay, ended up being beaten by Tiger [Woods].
‘I’ve always enjoyed WGCs. I think it was a real thrill to get into those fields for the first time and then to progress and to win a couple of them and be in contention in some of them.
‘You’re going up against some of the best players in the world. I think as a competitor that’s what I want to do. I want to go up against the best players in the world more often and you really get a chance to do that at these events.’
McIlroy has won three times on the PGA Tour this season and moved up to No 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking but has not yet added to his impressive tally of European Tour wins.
Having spent 95 weeks of his career ranked as the world’s best, he is eager to get back to that position and to continue his climb this week.
‘I feel like this year’s gone very well,’ he said. ‘I played very consistently. I think last week in Japan was my 17th top 10 of the year, so I’ve played consistent golf and I’ve won a few times as well.
‘I started this year maybe eighth or ninth in the world . If I play well the next few weeks I’ll have a great platform going into next year.’
