Did McIlroy recover his body and mind?
Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), ranked third in the world in men’s golf, will participate in the Wells Fargo Championship (total prize money of 20 million dollars) of the PGA Tour for the first time since missing the cut in the Masters Tournament. Attention is focusing on whether McIlroy, who was heartbroken enough to leave without responding to media interviews after missing the cut in the Grand Slam challenge, will succeed in restoring his honor in this tournament, which he has won three times in the past.
McIlroy will compete in the Wells Fargo Championship, which will be held at the Quail Hallo Club (par 71, 7538 yards) in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA for four days from the 4th. This tournament is one of 17 special tournaments designated by the PGA Tour starting this year with the advent of rival tour LIV golf.
High-ranking players are obliged to participate in special competitions with one exception, but McIlroy spent time healing the wounds in his heart by not participating in the RBC Heritage, a special competition, after being eliminated from the Masters cut. McIlroy has already been criticized for not appearing in RBC Heritage without a special explanation because he was absent from the Sentry Tournament of Champions, the first tournament of the year and a special tournament. The intensity of the criticism was greater because McIlroy broke the rules introduced by participating as a player representative.
McIlroy has a special connection to the Wells Fargo Championship. In 2010, which was held as the Quail Harlow Championship, he won his first PGA Tour debut, and in 2015 and 2021, he won 3 of his 23 career victories at this golf course. Last year, it hosted the 2022 Presidents Cup here, which was exceptionally held on a different course (TPC Potomac, Maryland) and returned to the Quail Harlow Club this year. The Quail Hollow Club 18-hole minimum stroke (61 strokes) and 72-hole record (267 strokes) are all his records.크크크벳
It has been a month since the Masters, but McIlroy is still silent enough not to schedule an official interview before the opening of the tournament. On Tuesday local time, defending champion Max Homa (USA), last week’s Mexico Open winner Tony Finau, Xander Chopley, and Justin Thomas (both US) were interviewed, and on Wednesday, Rickie Fowler (USA) and Jason Day (Australia) were scheduled. , but as of the 2nd, McIlroy is not on the list of scheduled interviews.
As for Korean players, Seong-jae Lim, Joo-hyung Kim, Si-woo Kim, and Gyeong-hoon Lee, the ‘Big 4’, and Byeong-hun Ahn and Seong-hyun Kim, the top performers of last season’s Korn Ferry Tour, will participate. Four players, including Lim Seong-jae, will try to win the championship by making use of the good memories that led the international team to a blast at the Presidents Cup last year. Kim Joo-hyung was ranked 11th in the power rankings of the favorites predicted by the PGA Tour website. Jason Day, Max Homa, Xander Chopley, Rory McIlroy, and Viktor Hoblan (Norway) were ranked 1st to 5th.