Rory McIlroy hoping to travel well in Connecticut as The Open looms
Rory McIlroy hopes this week's Travelers Championship proves less of a grind as the Masters champion looks to get back into the groove ahead of The Open.
It has not been the smoothest of returns to action for the Northern Irishman following his Augusta triumph in April, which completed a long-awaited career Grand Slam.
The 36-year-old saw his driver ruled as 'non-conforming' ahead of last month's PGA Championship before he missed the cut at the Canadian Open.
It was also tough going for McIlroy at the US Open over a punishing Oakmont course, where he battled to make it into the weekend before eventually tying for 19th.
McIlroy, though, played his best golf of the week during Sunday's final round, where his three-under-par 67 was the joint best of the day.
After playing at the Travelers Championship in Hartford, Connecticut, McIlroy will head back to the UK for a break before the Scottish Open and then mount his challenge for another Open crown at Royal Portrush in County Antrim.
With plenty of background noise having again followed him at Oakmont, McIlroy hopes to be able to stay focused on the job in hand at the the final PGA Tour Signature Event of the season.
'I think the weeks after major championships in these events sometimes when you are in contention and you are trying to win them, it can feel quite difficult to go play the next week,' McIlroy told a press conference at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell.
'After a week like I had at Oakmont, where you are not quite in the mix but you might feel you find something in your game, you are excited to come back and play again.
'This is the perfect sort of chaser for what Oakmont was last week, and nice to get out on a golf course where you feel you can make quite a few birdies.'
McIlroy added: 'There's a lot of guys in the field this week where this is their fourth tournament in a row, so they have been put through the wringer the last few weeks.
'This is a welcome set-up where they feel like they can relax a little bit and not have to grind so much for your score.'
World number two McIlroy is set to head out to India for the new DP Tour event during October as well as back to Melbourne for the Australian Open at the start of December.
As to whether Manchester United fan McIlroy will get the chance to bring the Green Jacket to Old Trafford any time soon, that remains to be seen.
'Probably not. I don't know if I will have the opportunity. If I do have the opportunity, I would like to. Yeah, we will see,' McIlroy said.
McIlroy will tee off alongside American Keegan Bradley on Thursday morning.
World number one Scottie Scheffler will defend his Travelers Championship title and has been paired with newly-crowned US Open champion JJ Spaun for the opening round.
'I didn't have my best stuff last week but was still able to get a decent finish,' said Scheffler, who tied for seventh at Oakmont.
'I have felt good about my prep work so far this week and I'm excited to get the tournament started.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
17 minutes ago
- BBC News
Bunting wins first Players Championship title since 2021
Stephen Bunting produced a dazzling display to beat Jermaine Wattimena and win the 18th Players Championship of world number four hit six 180s and averaged 104.84 as he dominated the final against his Dutch opponent in broke to win the first leg before Bunting reeled off six legs in a row - with checkouts of 164 and 156 along the way - to take complete Wattimena getting it back to 7-5, Bunting would not be denied and took out 94 for an 11-darter that secured his first Players Championship title for nearly four the Liverpudlian averaged 106.43 as he beat Alan Soutar 6-4 in the last 16 before coming through last-leg deciders in both the quarter and beat Karel Sedlacek of the Czech Republic 6-5 - again averaging over 100 - and then edged past former World Championship semi-finalist Dave Chisnall 7-6 in the last had gone two better as he won four one-leg shootouts in a row - beating Josh Rock, Ryan Searle, Mike de Decker and Niels Zonneveld - before coming unstuck against Bunting in the Chris Dobey won the 17th event on Tuesday, the triple-header in Leicester concludes with Players Championship 20 on are 34 Players Championship events across the year, with the competition's finals held in Minehead in November.
The Guardian
37 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Jack Draper digs deep to beat Alexei Popyrin and reach Queen's Club quarter-finals
In the final throes of a tense, uneasy tussle with one of the bigger servers in his sport, Jack Draper was fading. The British No 1, and second seed, had started poorly: he had struggled to find his range on his groundstrokes for much of the occasion and then two match points passed him by. Deep in the third-set tie break, he trailed 2-4. Over the past year, though, a period during which he has established himself as one of the best players in the world, Draper has continually shown his ability to find a path to victory no matter what. In the first week of his grass-court homecoming, the 23-year-old offered a forceful demonstration of his supreme competitive spirit as he recovered to defeat Australia's Alexei Popyrin, the world No 21, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5) to reach the quarter-finals at Queen's Club. 'I have always been a really good competitor,' Draper said. 'That's something I pride myself on: trying my absolute best for every point whenever I play. I think that comes from when I was younger. I think I have an older brother that helps with that. I was lucky enough to have coaches who made me very competitive as well. 'I played up as well, so I was always quite small, and I had to fight hard for every point if I wanted to make any headway in the match. I think I have always had that, and I think that's one of my biggest strengths, to be honest. Especially on a day like today where I wasn't my best, wasn't feeling my best, but I came through and I gave myself another chance.' Having started last year's grass-court season ranked No 40, Draper returned to London, his home city, at a career-high ranking of No 4. An underdog for so long, he is now a title contender in every tournament he enters. The next four weeks mark another significant moment in his career as he takes a step into the unknown and tries to navigate the pressure that will continue to grow as Wimbledon approaches. That extra tension was evident early on as Draper was punished for a sloppy service game at 3-4 and quickly found himself down a set. He gradually found his range, building rhythm on his serve and returning with greater depth and consistency as he forced a final set. Although his forehand was erratic and he was tentative behind his backhand, Draper served well in set three and it seemed as if he might be rewarded for his patience when he generated two match points on Popyrin's serve. Instead, the Australian saved both before forcing a tiebreak. In the most tense moment of the match, in that tiebreak, Draper gave a full demonstration of his toughness. From 2-4, Draper won five of the six points with a flurry of clutch winners, including a winning forehand down the line, an ace, a searing backhand down-the-line winner and then another ace on match point. He took the match into his own hands with courage and character, producing his best level when he most needed it. It was the mark of a player who continues to grow into a champion. In addition to remaining in the equation for his first Queen's Club title and potentially securing a top-four seeding at Wimbledon, which he would acquire with one more win, perhaps the most important part of this victory is that Draper will have another match on grass before Wimbledon. He will face Brandon Nakashima in the quarter-finals on Friday after the American defeated Britain's Dan Evans 7-5, 7-6 (4). Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion Elsewhere, Mika Stojsavljevic, Hannah Klugman and Mimi Xu, Great Britain's trio of talented teenagers, will make their Wimbledon main-draw debuts this year after being handed wildcards. Stojsavljevic, the US Open girls' champion, and Klugman, who reached the French Open girls final this month, are both 16 years old and Xu is 17. They will be joined in the women's draw by Heather Watson, Harriet Dart, Jodie Burrage and Fran Jones. Petra Kvitova, the two-time Wimbledon champion, was also granted a wildcard as she continues her return from maternity leave. In the men's draw, Evans, Jack Pinnington Jones, Johannus Munday, Henry Searle, Jay Clarke, Oliver Crawford and George Loffhagen have all received wildcards.
BBC News
38 minutes ago
- BBC News
Park heads up St Mirren recruitment as Foyle departs
St Mirren have appointed John Park as head of recruitment and emerging talent after Martin Foyle left to join Carlisle was most recently head of recruitment at Blackburn Rovers and has also worked for clubs including Celtic, Rangers, Birmingham City, Maccabi Haifa and Vancouver Mirren CEO Keith Lasley said: "We are sorry to see Martin moving on and wish him the best of luck in his new challenge."His contributions have been key in the club's progression over the past few seasons and we thank him for all his efforts."We have, however, moved quickly to bring John to the club and we are excited to welcome him to St Mirren."John's experiences across the world, significantly in player trading and youth development, make him the ideal person to build upon the relative success at the club over the past few years in line with our club strategy."Manager Stephen Robinson says the exit of "close friend" Foyle is a "sad loss for the club".He added: "Martin has been an integral part of what we've done over the past three-and-a-half years and he's been an integral part of what I've done as a manager over 10 years now."The club have appointed John and it's important that we get working together quickly, build a relationship and I look forward to that."
