US PGA Championship: Rory McIlroy bounces into Valhalla in perfect step with his game

Rory McIlroy’s mojo is well and truly back, that swagger, that aura. Just like that. Or, maybe, not quite just like that. Because the Northern Irishman’s return to winning ways, backing up that Zurich Classic win with yet another success at the Wells Fargo in Quail Hollow for consecutive victories on the PGA Tour, had been simmering, waiting for a spark.

As the world number two acknowledged time and time again, that teaming-up with Shane Lowry in New Orleans provided the spark that was needed. To McIlroy’s credit, though, he has used those good vibes to find a release so that the driver once again has provided the armoury to inflict his will on golf courses ... and on opponents, as Xander Schauffele discovered in Sunday’s final round.

McIlroy’s driving statistics demonstrated just what a great advantage it can give him on all-comers, where he hit six drives over 350 yards in length and another 32 over 325 yards in the 72 holes. In terms of timing, heading into this week’s PGA Championship at Valhalla, where again driving will be a key barometer of a player’s chances, that feelgood factor with the big stick is worth its weight in gold.

Momentum – a word so often spoken wistfully by those seeking it on tour – is huge in golf, as in most professional and elite sport. McIlroy has got it. And, in the past, he has used it to good effect, most notably perhaps in how he won the US PGA Championship at, yes, Valhalla in 2014 where he completed a winning streak of three tournaments having won The Open at Hoylake and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Akron in his previous two events.

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“It’s really funny, so going into Valhalla in 2014 I had won my last two starts, and going into [the PGA] this year I’ve won my last two starts. I just need to try to replicate whatever I did in 2014, just try to do that all over again.

“I’m feeling really good with my game. I need to stay in my own little world and not get too far ahead of myself, but if you can step on to the first tee at Valhalla on Thursday and feel as good about my game as I did [on Sunday], I think I’ll have a good chance,” said McIlroy.

This 26th win of his PGA Tour career coming so soon after the 25th has provided that momentum. What’s more, McIlroy – just like Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus in their heydays – is also a player who likes returning to venues where they have achieved multiple wins. For McIlroy, Quail Hollow (four) and East Lake (three) on the PGA Tour and The Emirates in Dubai (three) on the DP World Tour fall into that category.

Can he add Valhalla to such a list? Of course he can. Will he? That’s another question.

As Nicklaus observed prior to last year’s Memorial tournament when asked why McIlroy hadn’t won another Major since his 2014 PGA: “It’s kind of a mystery to a lot of people, because he is so good.”

McIlroy, for one, will tell you that he is actually a better player now than he was 10 years ago when that fourth career Major was won in Valhalla.

“I’ve been sort of banging this drum for the last few years, but I’m a way better player now than I was back then. I haven’t had the Major record to back that up, but I’ve had the wins, I’ve done everything else there is to do in the game since 2014. The only thing I need to do is get another Major. You know, a win like this going into the PGA Championship next week is a good way to prep for that,” said McIlroy.

What’s for sure is that McIlroy – having got that bounce of old back in tandem with Lowry in New Orleans and then by himself in Charlotte – has managed to right the wrongs that were holding him away from the winner’s circle for much of the early PGA Tour season.

“I don’t know,” he mused when asked about those months of searching to get back to winning ways. “I think part of it was technical, I was missing a lot of shots left. I think that was really it. Then missing those shots left, not having full confidence in what I was doing with my swing, and that sort of bleeds into the rest of your game.

“I’ve always said whenever I’m driving the ball well and hitting the ball well it feeds into my short game and my putting and I can get confidence from that. So it just needed like a little spark. There was signs of life, San Antonio, Augusta, but getting that little spark in New Orleans and getting the win there with Shane definitely gave me a lot of confidence.”

“I just went through a bit of a quiet spell there for a couple of months at the start of this year, but I feel like I’m back where I need to be.”

McIlroy’s win in the Wells Fargo with a brilliant final round that included two eagles to ultimately have a five-shot winning margin over Schauffele was the 14th time in his career on the PGA Tour that he entered the closing round playing catch-up but go on to win.

That’s all more fuel to add to the momentum of winning, headed into the PGA Championship. No wonder there’s a swagger of old about him.

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