DPA/Kohler, Wisconsin
Rory McIlroy has returned from injury to set up an enticing showdown with Jordan Spieth at the PGA Championship, golf’s fourth and final major of the season.
McIlroy insists his left ankle is “100 per cent” as the world’s top-ranked player looks to defend his title and avoid finishing the season without one of the majors.
McIlroy’s quick recovery provides a delicious storyline alongside Spieth, the world number two who is looking to become just the third player to win the American Slam of major titles—including the Masters and US Open—in one season. Only Ben Hogan (1953) and Tiger Woods (2000) have previously accomplished the feat.
McIlroy and Spieth tee off tomorrow alongside Zach Johnson, who heads to Whistling Straits following his unlikely British Open victory last month.
McIlroy was coy in announcing his return, using social media to tease followers about whether he would play the rugged, windswept course set on the banks of Lake Michigan.
But McIlroy, who won the Wanamaker Trophy in 2012, has showed no signs of aftereffects in practice from the ankle ligament tear he sustained playing football with friends on July 5 and which sidelined him from The Open.
He won last season’s event in dramatic fashion, rallying from a three-stroke deficit after the turn to edge Phil Mickelson with dusk settling into darkness.
But after his spectacular 2014 win, the 26-year-old Northern Irishman hasn’t been able to keep up with Spieth in 2015.
The 22-year-old Spieth, who is enjoying a career season thanks to Masters and US Open triumphs, looks ready to claim the 1.8-million dollar prize money after a strong closing round at the Bridgestone Invitational on Sunday. Spieth can also take McIlroy’s top ranking in Wisconsin.
“I think it helps a lot,” Spieth, who finished one shot back of Johnson at the British Open, said of his momentum. “We seem to have nice timing with where we’re trending upward this year. Whether that’s the plan we put in place or it’s dumb luck, one of the two, I’ll take it.”
Johnson, who finished 33rd at Bridgestone, won a three-hole playoff with Marc Leishman and Louis Oosthuizen to lift the Claret Jug at St Andrews last month.
If the Irish links-inspired highland course is to provide an inaugural major champion, it could come from a group that includes Dustin Johnson, Jason Day and Rickie Fowler.
Day and Fowler always seem to be in the mix at the majors but Johnson may be the most eager to break through at a course where the 2010 edition provided him with a nightmare finale.
The 31-year-old American missed out on a play-off after being handed a two-stroke penalty for grounding his club in a sand trap on the final hole. That same patch of dirt has reportedly been covered up by a corporate tent this year.
Johnson could use a boost following a US Open meltdown where a 3-putt finish handed Spieth victory.
Fowler, meanwhile, is looking to rebound from last season’s PGA Championship disappointment when the 26-year-old American faded much like the daylight down the stretch.
Whistling Straits’ punishing layout, with its fescue fairways and massive bunkers, will offer few liberties to a number of players who could use them.
Fourteen-time champion Tiger Woods comes in having missed the cut at back-to-back majors for the first time in his career. Meanwhile, Phil Mickelson has also struggled of late since a second place finish at the Masters in April.
Canada’s DeLaet withdraws from PGA with sore thumb
Canada’s Graham DeLaet has withdrawn from the 97th PGA Championship because of a left thumb injury, tournament officials announced yesterday. DeLaet suffered the injury at the Canadian Open last month and missed last week’s World Golf Championships event as a result.
“So disappointed that I can’t tee it up at the PGA,” DeLaet said in a Twitter posting. “Need some time for my body to heal. I plan on being back and ready for a playoff run.”
The season-ending US PGA Tour playoffs begin two weeks after the year’s final major tournament, which begins tomorrow at Whistling Straits.
DeLaet pulling out opened the door for American Sean O’Hair to enter the field. It will be O’Hair’s first major start since the 2012 PGA Championship and his ninth appearance in the event.
O’Hair last won at the 2011 Canadian Open although he was in a playoff last March at the Valspar Championship but lost to reigning Masters and US Open champion Jordan Spieth.
