RORY MCILROY has told golf fans to put their money on him as he looks to put his injury worries behind him and win the Open this week. The Northern Irishman has been struggling with form and a rib problem that has seen him drift down the list of favourites ahead of the tournament that gets underway at Royal Birkdale today.

With McIlroy available at around 20/1 with most bookmakers, the 2014 champion reckoned that would be a solid investment for anyone willing to shell out a few quid.

He said: “At that price I’d say it’s a good time to back me. If I was a betting company and I saw my form over the past few weeks you would say, yeah, that's probably a fair enough price. But, again, all it takes is one week for those odds to go back to, I don't know 7/1 for the USPGA at Quail Hollow. So it’s a good week to back me.

“Obviously it's been hard to get any sort of momentum with an injury and not being able to practise as much as you'd like. But I'm in good spirits. I feel like it's all coming together. I'm just waiting for that round or that moment or that week where it sort of clicks and I'll be off and running.

“I've had little periods like this before in my career, and I've been able to bounce back from them. I've done some good work over the past few days, and I’m just looking forward to getting out there and getting going.

“I want to win this week. I don't NEED to win. A second Open Championship isn't going to change my life. But I want to win. I hope it's me at the end of the week that's standing on the 18th green and getting the Claret Jug.”

McIlroy was excited about returning to Birkdale, a course he felt might well be the best out of all those that host the Open.

He added: “It's been a while since I have been back here. I played the British Amateur Championship back in 2005. But what a fantastic golf course. I'd definitely rate it among the top three in The Open rotation, if not the best course that we play out of the rotation. It tests all aspects of your game. You have to drive it well. You have to be smart. Everything sort of challenges every aspect of your game.”

This year marks the tenth anniversary of McIlroy’s Open debut at Carnoustie when he won the Silver Medal as the leading amateur shortly before he turned professional. He still has fond memories of those days and believes his achievements since then have surpassed anything his teenage self could have wished for.

He added: “Last week at the Scottish Open we played at Dundonald but across the railway was Western Gailes where in 2007 I had played for Ireland in the European team championships and then went to Carnoustie. So I had some good memories seeing Western Gailes last week.

“If someone told me back then that you're going to be a four-time major winner, would have won The Open, be one leg away from the career Grand Slam, would have played on three winning Ryder Cup teams, won the Order of Merit three times in Europe and the FedExCup in the States I'd be, like, ‘yeah, I'll take that!’

“I'm still as ambitious now as I was starting off my career, if not more so because I know what I've achieved and I know what I CAN achieve. It only makes you want to do it even more.”