PGA Championship: Top 10 power rankings at Bethpage Black

Rory can lay claim to being the most consistent player thus far in 2019. He won the Players Championship and has six top-10s in nine starts.

The Northern Irishman was also runner up at the WGC-Mexico Championship and was T8 at his PGA Championship tuneup at a former PGA venue, Quail Hollow, two weeks ago.

You know things are going well when a T21 at the Masters seems like a big disappointment.

He’s seen Bethpage Black three times competitively.

“It’s sort of fair, it’s right in front of you. I think (PGA offier) Kerry Haigh does a really good job, so somewhere in the region of 8 to 12 under par will probably win,” McIlroy said after the Wells Fargo. “It’s a big golf course. You’ve got to hit it well off the tee, hit it in play, hit your irons good, and then obviously roll a couple of putts in. But it’s a really good course. It’s been one of my favorite venues for a while.”

McIlroy finished T10 at the 2009 U.S. Open (72-70-72-68) as a curly-haired 20-year-old. At the Barclays, he finished T24 in 2012 (69-73-69-72) and in 2016 T31 (71-69-71-73).

He leads the Tour in total strokes gained (2.681 per round), which is largely a product of his elite ball striking. He’s first in SG tee to green and sixth in SG approach.

He’s top 15 in proximity from the fairway or rough and second in driving distance, so he’ll have as short of clubs as any this week.

McIlroy would have loved to complete the career grand slam last month at Augusta, but he should be raring to go for his first major since the 2014 PGA Championship.

Since then he’s got six top-10s in majors. All time at the PGA, McIlroy missed just one cut and has five top-10s in 10 starts.