McIlroy out to prove he can shake curse of world’s best at PGA
Published:Rory McIlroy is in the form of his life, as the Northern Irishman added the WGC Bridgestone Invitational to his CV so soon after claiming the Claret Jug to move back to number one spot in the official world rankings.
Even a second-round 61 containing eight consecutive birdies from Sergio Garcia couldn’t prevent the 54-hole leader getting overhauled by the irresistible force that is McIlroy at present.
Just like at The Open a few weeks previously, the Spaniard finished two shots behind the Brit as Garcia couldn’t hold onto his three-shot lead on the final Sunday at Firestone.
McIlroy has since shrunk to just 5/1 in the betting to win the imminent PGA Championship at Valhalla, with Garcia set at tantalising odds of 16/1.
In winning the Bridgestone, the 25-year-old became the first player in history to claim a major and a WGC event back-to-back as he returned to the top spot in the rankings for the first time since March 2013.
“It’s awesome to be No 1 again,” McIlroy said. “It feels a long time since I lost that spot and hopefully this time I can keep it a while.”
Naturally, punters will be flocking to Rors in their droves and who could blame them? The Holywood golfer’s dominance of late looks poised to take the sport under its grasp in the same fashion Tiger Woods exerted in the noughties.
His price to claim the PGA is certainly reminiscent of the American’s as the slams began to pile up.
However, a slight note of caution should be observed in that no golfer other than Woods himself since Fred Couples way back in 1992, has claimed one of the big four as the official best golfer on the planet.
On this evidence though, McIlroy appears to be on the cusp of greatness and is looking far more Tiger-ish and than the likes of previous incumbents such as Luke Donald.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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