2024 Open Championship: Top 10 power rankings at Royal Troon
2024BritishOpen/PowerRank/4. 4. OWGR: 2nd. Best Open Championship finish: 1st (2014). Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy is seeking his second Open Championship victory a decade after claiming his first.
He won in wire-to-wire fashion at Royal Liverpool. McIlroy was up six shots through 54 holes. Rickie Fowler and Sergio Garcia applied some pressure early on, but McIlroy was able to fight back and claim a two-shot victory over the duo. McIlroy was four clear of fourth place and five up on fifth.
For his career at The Open, he’s made 12 of 14 cuts.
He took T-6th last year and had his heart ripped out in 2022 at St. Andrews where he led for a majority of the final round prior to settling for solo third.
McIlroy has made six straight cuts at the majors. All were T-22nd or better and five were in the top seven.
He took T-5th the last time the Open came to Royal Troon in 2016. McIlroy carded 69-71-73-67 to finish T-5th. This was the year Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson ran away and hid from the rest of the field. McIlroy finished 16 back of champion Stenson but was within two of third place.
“I think the golf course is pretty self-explanatory,” McIlroy was transcribed by ASAP Sports in 2016. “The greens are quite flat. One of the big things here, you just have to keep it out of the bunkers. There's not a whole lot of learning to do of the golf course. Just make sure you're comfortable with the clubs you're hitting off the tees. Once you put it in play, you've got a chance to make some birdies.”
McIlroy just made his first appearance since the heartbreak at Pinehurst. Last week at the Genesis Scottish Open, the 35-year-old posted four rounds in the 60s at The Renaissance Club to post T-4th.
It was just about what you wanted to see out of him. A strong showing without the exhaustion of contending down to the end and a chance to finally meet the media and put the U.S. Open behind him.
Through July 7, McIlroy ranks third on the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained: Total (1.869). A soft golf course this week will allow his propensity to carry the ball a mile to shine even more. He’s first in driving distance (318.9 yards) and third in SG: Off-the-Tee (.883)