Rory McIlroy’s push for No 1 begins in assured fashion with an opening round of 66 at the CJ Cup in South Carolina as he sets targets on LIV foe Greg Norman’s tally of 331 weeks at the top of the world rankings
- Rory McIlroy can go to No 1 in the world standings for the ninth time in his career
- The FedEx Cup champion is pursuing Scottie Scheffler at the top of the rankings
- He has his targets set on Greg Norman’s 331 weeks spent at the top of the world
Rory McIlroy’s push to return to the top of the world rankings for the first time in more than two years is off to a fast start after an opening 66 at the CJ Cup in South Carolina.
The 33-year-old, who could leapfrog Scottie Scheffler by defending his title, built a strong base for his week by firing five birdies and no bogeys to sit one back of the early leaders Trey Mullinax and Gary Woodland.
His round gained momentum with a trio of birdies from the fourth before collecting a further two on the way in, which would indicate he has lost none of the momentum he took into his three-week break after returning from the Europe circuit.
Rory McIlroy got his week off to a solid start with a first round 66 including five birdies and no bogeys
He is certainly not lacking incentive, with the possibility of going No 1 in the standings for the ninth time in his career and closing the gap on a broader career goal that he revealed ahead of the tournament.
As with so much of McIlroy’s recent narrative, it centred on settling scores with LIV Golf, or in this instance their CEO Greg Norman, with whom McIlroy has crossed words in the past six months of turmoil in his sport.
For that reason there was some amusement when McIlroy, who has held top spot for a cumulative total of 106 weeks, declared it was his mission to get one week beyond the 331 achieved by Norman.
Asked for his target, McIlroy said: ‘332. I don’t know if I can, but that’s a number in my head.’ It carried echoes of his response to winning the Canadian Open earlier in the year, when he said: ‘This is my 21st PGA Tour win – one more than someone else (Norman) and that gave me some extra incentive to get it done.’
Matt Fitzpatrick shot a bogey-free 70, with Danny Willett one shot ahead. Tyrrell Hatton was making good progress at four under through 14.
The current world No 2 is pursuing Scottie Scheffler and could leapfrog him by defending his title in South Carolina
Advertisement
