The Players: After coming close to winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational and regaining the top spot in the world, Rory McIlroy thinks his game is improving ahead of The Players.
The Northern Irishman fired a thrilling final-round 70 at Bay Hill, where a plethora of players was vying for victory on a star-studded leaderboard, mixing seven birdies with five bogeys, leaving him tied for second and a stroke behind the winner Kurt Kitayama.
At TPC Sawgrass, where he will play alongside Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler, and the Spaniard for the opening two days, McIlroy has another opportunity to surpass Rahm as the world’s top player. The four-time major champion is delighted with his form going into the PGA Tour’s signature event.
McIlroy remarked, “I still wish I could have taken a few more shots today, but I assume everyone would say the same thing. It’s one of those days and courses where you’ll look back on wasted chances and a few errant putts here and there.
“I must focus on the many benefits that it has to offer. A next week is a big event, and I need to try to carry that energy over to Sawgrass. This week, I think I’ve gained a little more understanding of the driver. Yes, it is progressing.
“The week went well. I noticed some promising indicators. For the majority of the season, games are starting to take shape. So even though I didn’t win, I’m still satisfied with how this week went overall.”
How McIlroy failed in the suspenseful Bay Hill case?
After bogeying his first two holes of the day, McIlroy made back-to-back birdies from the fourth. He then surged into contention by scoring four birdies in a five-hole run starting at the ninth to make up for a missed shot at the seventh.
The 2018 Bay Hill champion missed a 10-foot chance on the penultimate green and finished the week on eight under despite making consecutive bogeys from the 14th. He did, however, make a two-putt birdie at the par-five 16th to maintain his hopes.
The tee shot on hole 14 is the one thing McIlroy will regret about today, he said. “I made a birdie on hole 13 and went to the 14th tee thinking I was still one or two back.
“I noticed that I was ahead by one when I glanced back at the scoreboard as I made my way to the 14th green. That would have prevented me from trying to play the shot I did on 14, which was bad.
“I ended up making a bogey there, followed by a poor tee shot on hole 15 and another bogey. Although it was a wonderful week, I had a chance at the last hole when I hit a solid putt that just missed on the low side.”
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