‘You are the number one player in the world, but do you think you are the best player in the world right now?’ To this question, Rory McIlroy (34, Northern Ireland) answered right away without hesitation. “yes.”
McIlroy said at a press conference held at TPC in Scottsdale, Arizona on the 9th (Korean time), the day before the opening of the PGA Tour Phoenix Open (total prize money of 20 million dollars), “It is a really good position for my golf. I feel that I am in a state where there is no shortage in terms of consistent play and the ability to continue such play.”
McIlroy, who regained the world No. 1 title in two years and three months by winning The CJ Cup held in South Carolina in October last year and winning the tournament for the second time in a row, also won the DP World T안전놀이터our (European Tour) Dubai Desert Classic at the end of last month. He has picked up 4 wins in his last 7 appearances. He said, “(The fact that I am the best at the moment) the results also tell me. What I see is the performance of the last 18 months beyond the last 6 months. He has been in really good form for 18 months after the Ryder Cup,” he said. I am working hard to play golf without weaknesses, and I want to become a strong player in every way.”
McIlroy, who won two tournaments in a row by winning the Tour Championship in August and The CJ Cup in October last year, will challenge to win three consecutive PGA Tour tournaments at the Phoenix Open. This is a record that has not been released since Dustin Johnson (USA) in the 2016-2017 season. McIlroy had three consecutive wins in the 2013-2014 season. This is my second appearance at the Phoenix Open. The 2021 tournament, which tied for 13th place, had limited daily visitors to 5,000 due to Corona 19. This year, up to 200,000 galleries are expected to gather daily.
Meanwhile, McIlroy is expected to appear in the ‘in-round interview’, which has recently become a hot topic in PGA Tour broadcasts. He said, “I enjoyed the in-round interview with Max Horma and Keith Mitchell (USA). I have no reason to refuse.” The in-round interview is a method in which a player uses AirPods, a wireless earphone, to communicate with the broadcaster and directly explain the play during the game.