The Open Championship, golf’s final major championship of the season, starts today at Royal Troon Golf Course on Scotland’s west coast.
Superstar Scottie Scheffler is the odds of favorite to take home the Claret Jug, but all eyes will be on Rory McIlroy.
It’s been 10 years since McIlroy won a major championship, and will be trying to bounce back from heartache in the final three holes of last month’s U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 when he missed two short putts and lost to Bryson DeChambeau by one shot.
Despite the devastating loss, McIlroy is upbeat about his chances this week.
“Game’s in really good shape,” McIlroy said. “Had a nice reset after Pinehurst that was needed and felt like I shook off a little bit of the rust last week and played OK. Felt like I probably could have given myself more of a chance to win the tournament. I thought it was a solid week. Again, it’s like one eye on preparing for this week, but another eye on trying to get into contention as well.”
“I know that I’m in a good spot,” McIlroy said. “If I think about 2015 through 2020, that five-year stretch, I seldom had a realistic chance to win a major championship in that five-year period. So I’d much rather have these close calls. It means that I’m getting closer.
“But yeah, absolutely, I’d love to be able to play the golf and get one over the line, but as soon as I do that, people are going to say, ‘Well, when are you going to win your sixth?’ So it’s never-ending.”
It’s also been one month since McIlroy and his wife Erica Stoll called off their divorce.
Will this be McIlroy’s week for redemption?
Coverage begins Thursday morning and continues through the weekend.