Can it really be TEN years since Rory McIlroy last won a major?
This week in Kentucky, the Northern Irishman seeks to end his growing hoodoo, returning to the Bluegrass State, as Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville hosts the 106th PGA Championship.
And having tasted that winning feeling once again this past weekend, the signs are promising for McIlroy.
Double-figure drought
August 10 2014. A typically steamy Kentuckian summer day on which Rory McIlroy claimed his fourth major and second Wanamaker Trophy.
Just a month on from winning the Claret Jug at Royal Liverpool, the tally looked guaranteed to be ticking over rapidly.
Since the late summer of 2014 and this week, the Briton has won three World Golf Championships, one Players Championship and no less than three Tour Championships.
However, one of just three players to have won four majors by the age of 25, somewhere along the route, McIlroy has become lost in the clouds of the modern day game.
A total of 37 majors have come and gone; could number 38 finally be his time again?
Perfect McIlroy prep
For his many fans looking for hope, Valhalla 2014 could be a different tale and what better way to warm up than with a fourth Wells Fargo title this past weekend.
By five strokes.
His win in Charlotte was the biggest margin of victory in the tournament since he won in 2015, and his odds have since tumbled from 12/1.
I love coming to Quail Hollow. I love the people, the golf course and of course the winning😁 Thank you to the staff and fans for all the support this week and over the years. pic.twitter.com/1xVVgr8CGI
— Rory McIlroy (@McIlroyRory) May 13, 2024
Since The Masters, McIlroy also won the Zurich Classic with fellow Irishman Shane Lowry.
For those seeking further ammunition for McIlroy hope, this past month has been the first time since the 2014/15 campaign he has won two separate PGA recognised events between majors.
McIlroy has been longer odds of late, but 15/2 for 7 places with Unibet could still look very smart come Sunday evening.
But can he overcome the mental battle?
Stopping Scottie
Like in any one of the more recent majors, McIlroy’s task has been made more difficult as the game – or rather the calibre of opposition – has skyrocketed.
And right now, his biggest obstacle is the near-impenetrable Scottie Scheffler.
Having won a second Green Jacket at Augusta, the New Jersey native won a tenth PGA Tour crown with the RBC Heritage just a week later.
Topping the stats and breaking records across the board this term, it is hard to make a case against Scheffler winning a third major but a first away from the Butler Cabin.
Like pre-Masters, you wont get much value, but punters will still flock to Scheffler at 9/2 for 7 places with BetUK.
Defending Koepka
If Scheffler were not to lift the Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday evening, who can we look to from the form pack to challenge?
As a roller-coaster PGA season winds on, there have been no less than seven first-time PGA Tour winners, the most recent of which, was Chris Gotterup.
Whilst McIlroy was victorious in North Carolina last Sunday, the American had his first win in Myrtle Beach.
From the LIV Golf League, LIV Adelaide crowned the competition’s latest winner in Brendan Steele.
Meanwhile, the defending PGA Champ, Brooks Koepka comes here in fine fettle from winning his fourth LIV event in Singapore.
Koepka has won the Wanamaker a total of three times now, but this will be his first trip to Valhalla.
Nevertheless, the 34-year-old Floridian – despite finishing a lowly T45 at the Masters – is in good shape to tie Tiger Woods for number four and for the second time in his career, retain the trophy.
If we look back to the first major of the year last month, both Lucas Aberg and Max Homa can figure over the weekend.
The latter recorded by far his best result in a major in finishing T3, but will have to erase memories of last year where the Californian barely scraped past the cut.
However, Homa looks a more rounded player this term and the numbers prove it, at a very decent bigger price value of 33/1 for 7 places with Unibet.
The 106th PGA Championship begins on Thursday at Valhalla Golf Club, Louisville, Kentucky.
