Monday 5 August 2013

Rory Seeks Another Day at the Beach

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Rory McIlroy remains confident of putting up a strong defence of his USPGA Championship title at Oak Hill this week.

The world No 3 showed glimpses of his best at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, but he again struggled with his accuracy off the tee as he finished 17 shots behind runaway winner Tiger Woods after a final-day 72.

The defending champion has been working hard to correct flaws in his long game over the past fortnight, and he insists he still has the ability to turn his form around at the final major of the season.

"I definitely had a better week last year, coming out of Firestone with a lot of confidence going into the PGA, feeling good about my game," said McIlroy, who tied for fifth at Firestone last season before romping to a record eight-shot win at Kiawah Island.

"I keep saying my game doesn't feel too far away. It's obviously not where I want it to be, but it's not a million miles away.

"I thought I struck the ball much better in the final round than I did the previous three days, which was great, which was a good sign.

"Obviously I didn't score very well the first day, then I didn't hit it particularly well in the middle two rounds, but actually my short game was good and was able to keep myself around par.

"On Sunday I played nicely, just a couple of bad holes on the back nine. But I have put in a lot of work for the past couple of weeks and I definitely feel things are going in the right direction.

"Once I get my long game back on track, I feel like my short game is exactly where it needs to be. If I can start hitting some fairways, hopefully I can challenge for some tournaments."


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