Back on familiar ground

Golf Correspondent

Thursday 24 May 2012

He may only be 23 but Rory McIlroy likes nothing better than a chat about the good old days.

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Nick Rodger at Wentworth

On the eve of the opening round of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, the young Northern Irishman came over all nostalgic.

"This is a course I love, a course that I used to come to every year since I was 10 to watch the World Matchplay," reflected McIlroy. "I remember when I was 12, I came over to stay with Sam Torrance and the family and I played this course every day for a week. When the matchplay was on, I'd run 36 holes a day. I just had endless amounts of energy. So, yes, great memories."

The good times continue to roll for McIlroy, of course and the reigning US Open champion will tee-up in his first event in Europe since last October's Dunhill Links Championship in purposeful mood. Apart from the anti-climax of a lowly 40th place at The Masters and a missed cut in The Players' Championship, McIlroy remains a model of consistency. From competition on both sides of the Atalantic this year, he has posted a victory, two seconds, a third and a fifth. In the seemingly constant parrying and jousting that goes on in the upper echelons of the world rankings, with Luke Donald, Lee Westwood and McIlroy all trading blows, it is the latter who has assumed command of the global order. Now, the former Walker Cup player is determined, not only to hold on to that lofty status, but to prove to all and sundry that he is the best player on the planet. He certainly believes it himself."I think that you have to believe that you're better than anyone else," said McIlroy without any arrogance but just a realisation of where his huge talents have taken him. "On my day I believe I can beat anyone in the world. It's just finding that capability of when you're not playing your best to still come out on top. That's the thing that I'm trying to learn how to do because I've proved in the past that when I'm on my game, I'm pretty hard to beat. It's hard to sort of walk around saying 'I'm the best' but you have to be quietly confident. You have to believe you're the best and I certainly do believe that. And it's just a matter of going out there and showing everyone else that."Despite his happy memories of Wentworth from his formative years, the West course has not been the happiest of hunting grounds and McIlroy has yet to stamp his authority on this captivating piece of golfing terrain. He did manage a fifth-place finish in 2009 but, in four appearances, he has missed the cut once and posted a 48th and a 24th in 2010 and 2011 respectively.A number of tweaks have been made with the 12th reverting to a par five while there is added fringe rough around the final green, making it much less likely that balls will spin back into the water, as happened to Westwood during the play-off that he lost to Donald in last year's event."I really like the changes," added McIlroy, who could lose top spot in the world rankings if Donald becomes only the third player to defend the title successfully. "They've really improved the playability of the course and I think you'll see the winning score into the double digits. That's what people want to see."While McIlroy will command centre stage when he strides on to the first tee this morning, Glasgow's Martin Laird will be hoping to grab himself a considerable chunk of the limelight. The 29-year-old, who is making his debut at Wentworth and his first appearance in Europe this year, will join McIlroy and former Open champion Ernie Els in an intriguing three-ball and the Scot is eager to make an impression amid the distinguished company. A highly impressive and increasingly respected campaigner on the US circuit, with two PGA Tour titles as well as a joint-second-place finish in The Players' Championship a fortnight ago on his burgeoning cv, Laird certainly knows how to make his presence felt. With his Ryder Cup ambitions still burning, the former Scottish Youths' champion is looking at this event as a chance to prove he can become a truly global perfomer. "You know, you don't ever want to be labelled one of those players that can only play in a certain country or a certain type of golf," said Laird. "Golf is such a worldwide game. If you want to get to the top of the rankings and be considered one of the best in the world, then you have to play all over. You can't just hide out and play well in one country. It's about doing it on all types of courses and in all types of climates."With the sun beating down yesterday, and the forecast for the week set to be for much of the same, the outlook for Laird continues to look promising.

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Back on familiar ground

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