Rory McIlroy will attract on the reminiscences of the greatest golfing of his existence as he defends his Wells Fargo Championship title.
ith the typical location of Quail Hollow web hosting the Presidents Cup later on this year, the tournament is using location at TPC Potomac in Maryland, a go which would not look to be to McIlroy’s gain.
On the other hand, the course is just two miles from Congressional Region Club, where McIlroy gained the 2011 US Open by eight photographs to declare his to start with Big title.
“Any time you can defend a title it is a nice detail to do,” said McIlroy, who celebrated his 33rd birthday yesterday.
“Obviously my achievements at this tournament’s been at Quail Hollow and not right here. I have hardly ever played right here just before, hardly ever seen the venue, (but) as a substitute for Quail Hollow, it’s a really great a person.
“From what I’ve witnessed the last couple times, I actually like it. It’s just a stable golfing program. You cannot actually phony it about listed here. You’ve got to strike the ball definitely very well, the environmentally friendly complexes are challenging, pretty compact targets.
“The tough probably isn’t up as significantly as they commonly have it below mainly because of the time of calendar year, but all round a seriously sound test.”
McIlroy’s runaway victory at Congressional was all the a lot more outstanding given that it came just two months soon after he dropped a 4-shot direct in the final round of the Masters right after taking pictures a closing 80 at Augusta Countrywide.
“Yeah, 11 yrs ago does look like a prolonged time ago,” the entire world selection seven said. “It is a distant memory. I feel I have viewed it back so lots of periods, I don’t seriously bear in mind the practical experience of it. I remember extra just from seeing on a laptop computer or a Tv display screen.
“I even now to this day imagine it is the ideal week of golfing I have ever performed in my everyday living. The ball was on a string that 7 days and you desire you could bottle that each and every solitary 7 days that you engage in.
“Unfortunately, that is not the case, but I imagine which is still the benchmark of how I can engage in. That’s as very good as I could perform that 7 days.”
Requested if there was a individual minute of the 7 days which stands out, McIlroy added: “Not necessarily. Just type of how cost-free-flowing it was and how at relieve I seemed. I was coming off the back again of a rough reduction at Augusta and that was nevertheless fresh new in my memory.
“I assume I was just so hyper-concentrated that 7 days that I realized I was participating in well, and I feel just the classes of Augusta, they stayed with me the total way during the week and I didn’t get in advance of myself and mentally I was just in a genuinely fantastic location.”
McIlroy tees off his opening spherical in Maryland these days at 12.34pm Uk time along with Webb Simpson and Francesco Molinari.
Somewhere else, Jonathan Caldwell (8.50am) and Cormac Sharvin (12.30pm) are in motion at the Betfred British Masters at the Belfry, while Olivia Mehaffey (7.52am) tees it up at the Comunidad de Madrid Women Open on the Ladies European Tour.
In the meantime, Knock’s Philip Davidson is the foremost Ulsterman at the halfway phase of the Munster Men’s Senior Beginner Open up at Dungarvan, his two-about 74 leaving him three photographs off leader John O’Brien (Castlemartyr).