This week’s PGA Championship is hosted at the Quail Hollow Club, the ideal place for Rory McIlroy to hunt for a second major crown this year given his superlati .
The Northern Irishman not only completed the career Grand Slam with that win at Augusta National, he also notched a first major win anywhere since 2014.
With an enormous weight lifted from his shoulders, he now heads to what is possibly his favourite golf course in the world -the regular host of the PGA Tour’s Truist (formerly Wells Fargo) Championship.
“I love this place,” McIlroy said of Quail Hollow in 2019. “I even feel like I don’t even have to play that good and I can still get it round.”
Off three wins this year and a top 10 last week, McIlroy is in fine form so he’ll fancy his chances of contending again.
“I feel like there’s great flow to this golf course,” he added of the layout. “It allows you to get out of your own way and I’ve got great memories here.”
Ahead of Thursday’s first round, here are five of the best memories from his four wins at Quail Hollow.
5. Third round 66 on debut in 2010
Before this lap America was beginning to doubt what all the fuss was about. 2010 was McIlroy’s rookie year on the PGA Tour and he’d failed to land one top 30. He’d also missed the cut at the Masters.
He only made the weekend on his Quail Hollow debut by the skin of his teeth, holing a nasty putt on the final green to squeeze in by one, and he trailed the leader by nine strokes. This Saturday, a 66 set up a Sunday victory bid that would transform his career.
4. Second round 66 to kickstart triumph in 2021
“I like trees,” he said at the tournament in 2019. “Seriously. I like tree-lined golf courses. I like that it gives you definition, I like that it frames holes for you. I love that.”
He hadn’t liked Quail Hollow’s tree-lined fairways in 2021’s first round, needing 72 blows which left him eight shots off the pace in T73rd.
But a Friday 66 got him into the top five and two weekend 68s sealed the deal.
3. Final round 65 to win in 2024
Heading into the final round last year McIlroy trailed Xander Schauffele by one. A final round battle seemed inevitable.
But, in truth, McIlroy blew his rival aside. Schauffele carded a level-par 71 while McIlroy powered his way to a 65 and wrapped up a five-shot victory.
“This course, more than maybe any other on Tour, I can hit driver pretty much on every hole,” he said. “It’s nice to have that advantage. It’s a big factor why I’ve been able to do so well here over the years.”
2. Third round 61 to set up victory in 2015
Heading into the weekend of the 2015 edition, McIlroy trailed the leaders by three. One of the pacesetters, Webb Simpson, carded a perfectly respectable 68 and yet found himself heading into the final round four shots behind McIlroy.
The Northern Irishman had carded his career-low Quail Hollow total of 61 to splay the field.
His total was four better than the next best effort and a Sunday 69 confirmed a seven-shot victory.
“I’ve probably birdied every hole on this golf course,” he said afterwards. “So I figure there’s no reason why I shouldn’t do it again. It’s a cool feeling.”
1. Final round 62 to win in 2010
After that 66 in round three (see above) he trailed the lead by four and, after thrashing this sensational 62, he won by four.
He had quite simply ripped the field apart and also blown away the previously sceptical onlookers. No-one could now doubt that McIlroy was not a special golfer.
“I flushed it,” he said and two days later celebrated his 21st birthday in style.
