Tour News

McIlroy returns to world No. 1. Can anyone stop him?

Published

12 years ago

Aug 4, 2014

Rory McIlroy has been red hot of late, and a new No. 1 ranking reflects his stellar play.

Adam Scott, who held the Official World Rankings No. 1 ranking for a total of 11 weeks, was knocked from his pedestal on Monday. He was replaced by McIlroy, who regained the No. 1 ranking for the first time since March 2013 (he previously held the No. 1 spot for a total of 32 weeks). Victories at The Open Championship and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational helped boost him back to the top spot.

Heading into the PGA Championship at Valhalla this week, McIlroy, who will be looking to win his second major of the year and fourth of his career, would be a prudent pick to raise the trophy. His fellow golfers are signing his praises, and McIlroy isn’t quite arguing with them either.

“Obviously, Rory is in incredible form at the moment,” said Scott, who is now ranked No. 2 in the OWGR. “He’ll be the man to beat next week by the look of things. And I’ll be gunning for him, for sure.”

Sergio Garcia (No. 3 in the OWGR) held the 54-hole lead at the WGC-Bridgestone, but realized he was in over his head trying to fend off the force of McIlroy.

“Everybody saw it,” Garcia said. “He played very, very well. He drove the ball miles and very, very straight for the most part. He gave himself a lot of birdie looks.”

Even from the rough, McIlroy is a formidable opponent, but when he’s driving it straight, few can compete.

“Whenever I drive the ball well, I always put myself in positions where I can attack flags and try and make birdies, but when I’m swinging it well with a driver, that sort of funnels through the rest of my game.” McIlroy said. “If I’m swinging well with a driver, more than likely, I’m swinging well with everything else…obviously I get a lot of confidence with that.”

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Stephen Staller

Stephen Staller is a Project Assistant at GolfWRX.com.

14 Comments

Rodan

Aug 16, 2014 at 1:34 pm

He will stop himself, just like all golfers do. He is a great player, but like all the other greats he is not great all of the time.

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MHendon

Aug 5, 2014 at 4:32 pm

The only person who can stop Rory is himself. So far his track record is streaky. He gets very hot for a few months the tends to cool off. But when he’s hot he’s as good as anyone who’s ever played the game.

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Neil

Aug 5, 2014 at 2:06 pm

That’s right 19 career wins worldwide so far is pretty good. 7 in the US but it is a worldwide game now with other tours of a great standard. Rory has won the two biggest competitions in the UK this year (The Open and the BMW Wentworth.)

I agree that maybe he is not fully unstoppable but he is certainly getting that way with his current form.

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slimeone

Aug 5, 2014 at 6:14 am

As an Aussie I was pretty disappointed with how meekly Scott surrendered the top ranking. I think he has the game to reclaim no. 1, but not sure if he has the mongrel, and there’s plenty of young assassins waiting in the shadows…

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Jim

Aug 4, 2014 at 8:38 pm

The only thing that slowed him down is located in between a girls legs if he keeps his main focus off the coochie and in the lil white ball ( not the same one as dustin ) with the nike logo i think he will be tough to beat when his game is clicking. Im sure at this point confidence is real high just judging by the way he is murdering every tee shot and draining putts

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Golfraven

Aug 4, 2014 at 8:28 pm

he is back after the Wozzilroy era. He will catch up on winning some majors now hopefully – next one is the Masters.

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- Rich
  
  Aug 4, 2014 at 8:37 pm
  
  So who’s your tip for the USPGA?
  
  Reply Report comment
Rich

Aug 4, 2014 at 6:08 pm

If people aren’t excited about Rory’s form, nothing will excite them. He’s back folks and better than before. I’m a huge Adam Scott fan but it never felt quite right with him at No.1. Equilibrium has been restored with Rory at the top and Adam at No.2

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Christosterone

Aug 4, 2014 at 6:06 pm

He is amazing but lets not get out the annointing oil just yet.
Rory misses alot of cuts…too many to be considered unstoppable imho..
I have always been bullish on him but it was a short time ago that pundits like Chamblee(whos job it is to be ridiculous) were calling him a streaky flashy player incapable of consistent form…
Again, McIlroy will have a very good career but his 7 wins(i think) are a far cry from an unstoppable player such as Woods who had like 25 wins by Rorys age.

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- Rich
  
  Aug 4, 2014 at 6:10 pm
  
  Again with Tiger Woods! Get lost!
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Christosterone
    
    Aug 4, 2014 at 7:09 pm
    
    Ok, I will use Nicklaus for the purposes of my point.
    “Unstoppable” means you dont miss cuts at Rory’s rate.
    “Unstoppable” players like Nelson, Nicklaus, and Woods are the benchmark.
    Rory is, at this point in his career, far from a “force” other than the half dozen or so times has won.
    
    Reply Report comment
    - Rich
      
      Aug 4, 2014 at 8:20 pm
      
      Let’s just enjoy his great play for what it is. Great play. If he misses a few cuts, so what. I’m pretty sure no one (except you maybe) measures success by how many cuts they miss. Winning is what matters (winning majors mostly) and Rory it’s well and truly back on the winning trail. Lets enjoy it and stop trying to make it about ANYONE else.
      
      Reply Report comment
    - Ben
      
      Aug 4, 2014 at 8:40 pm
      
      He’s got 19 wins world wide …… He’s not doing too bad.
      
      Reply Report comment
- TT
  
  Aug 5, 2014 at 10:21 am
  
  Rory has made the cut in each tournament he has played this season.
  
  Reply Report comment

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Photos from the 2026 PGA Championship

Published

2 days ago

May 11, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

GolfWRX is on site for the second major of 2026: The PGA Championship from Aronimink in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

The tournament’s location, just outside Philadelphia, and its status as a major championship mean GolfWRXers are in for a treat: WITBs from a strong field, custom gear celebrating the PGA Championship, and the rich culture of the City of Brotherly Love — we have noted a relative absence of cheesesteak-themed items thus far this week, but most of the rest of the usual suspects are well represented.

Check out links to all our photos below.