Rory McIlroy has his eyes set on No.1 spot

Rory McIlroy is determined to once again become the No.1 golfer in the world.

29 Aug 2019

Rory McIlroy has enjoyed a phenomenal season so far and it got even better last week when he won the Tour Championship and became the 2019 FedEx Cup champion, but McIlroy is determined to once again be known as the No.1 golfer on the planet.

An incredible performance in the final round at East Lake saw McIlroy beat Brooks Koepka to win his second FedEx Cup and move the Northern Irishman into second in the world, making his way above Dustin Johnson who had a tournament to forget.

McIlroy, 30, has spent a total of 95 weeks as world No.1, but he hasn't held that position since 2015, when Jason Day ended McIlroy's seventh spell as the best in the world.

After missing the cut at the Valspar Championship in March 2018, McIlroy dropped outside of the world top 10, but since then he has made a steady comeback and climbed through the rankings. He is now Koepka's closest challenger for the No.1 spot after claiming his third title of the season.

Rory McIlroy has his eyes set on No.1 spot

"It's a goal to get closer, to keep playing well," said McIlroy, who is currently playing in the Omega European Masters on the European Tour in Switzerland. "I think I saw somewhere that there is more world ranking points on offer here than there has been for eight years.

"Wentworth is obviously big for world ranking points, and there's a WGC coming up as well, so there's still a lot to play for. But that's my focus for the rest of the year, getting closer to that No 1 spot."

The European Masters this week features a very exciting field, with the likes of Sergio Garcia, Tommy Fleetwood and two-time winner of the tournament Matthew Fitzpatrick all battling it out in Switzerland. McIlroy is making his first appearance in the event since 2008, where he blew a four-shot lead in the final round, eventually losing in a playoff to Jeff Lucquin.

McIlroy, who at the time was just 19 years of age, didn't have to wait long to secure his maiden title on the European Tour, as he won in Dubai just four months later, but he still holds the 2008 slip as one of the biggest regrets in his career.

"I had a wonderful opportunity to win my first event on Tour here," added McIlroy.

"I was leading going into the last day, had a one shot lead playing the last and wasn't able to make par from there. Was beaten in the play-off. It's still to this day the one event that I think of that I would like to re-do - get a mulligan!

"The first time I was here I fell in love with the place, the people, the atmosphere. I'm glad that it worked out this year that I could be here. I would like to give myself another chance at least."