The Open 2017: Rory McIlroy urges golf fans to bet on him to win at Royal Birkdale… and upset odds of 20/1
Northern Irish star insists he still has to game to claim another Claret Jug - despite run of missed cuts
RORY McILROY has urged golf fans: Bet on me to win The Open.
Bookies have made the four-time Major winner and former world No 1 a 20/1 shot to land the Claret Jug at Royal Birkdale.
But the Northern Irishman, 28, insisted: “So I’m 20/1 — good time to back me, I think.
“If I was a betting company and saw my form over the past few weeks, you would say, yeah, that’s probably a fair price.
“But all it takes is one week for those odds to go back to 7/1 for this year’s USPGA at Quail Hollow. So, as I say, good week to back me.”
McIlroy has missed the cut in three of his last four starts, struggled with a rib injury, and has not looked like adding to his Major haul since winning the 2014 USPGA.
But the world No 4 was in bullish form as he talked up his chances of repeating his 2014 Open victory.
He said: “It’s been a very stop/start year for me.
“It hasn’t been the year I had planned, going back to January when I felt like I was in a good place.
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“But these runs sort of crop up out of nowhere and they challenge us.
“I’m sticking to what I know, which is working hard on my game and trying to do the right things, just trying to stay as patient as possible.
“It hasn’t quite happened for me over the past couple of weeks.
“But as I keep saying, it doesn’t feel that far away.
“Because I haven’t played that much, the only thing I can really do is take some sort of confidence from what I’m seeing in practice.
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“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.”
McIlroy emerged from a similar slump at the end of last year, winning two of the four FedEx Cup events in America to carry off a near-£8million bonus.
He almost added another victory at the start of this year, losing out to Graeme Storm in a play-off at the South African Open.
But that recurring rib injury has restricted him to just nine appearances since then, and his best finish was a tie for seventh at The Masters in April.
His chances were helped by the thunderstorm that forced organisers to abandon practice rounds mid-afternoon yesterday — he has often played well on rain-drenched courses.
There are five players ahead of McIlroy in the betting market, led by double Major winner Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler, who look set to go off as favourites today at 16/1.
World No 1 Dustin Johnson and Irish Open winner Jon Rahm are both 18/1, while Masters champion Sergio Garcia is an inviting 20/1 shot.