Rory McIlroy looks back ahead of unlikely title defence

“At the start of the week you had people sort of fist bumping or elbowing and I’m sort of thinking, what are these people doing, like this is stupid,” McIlroy recalled this week. “And then five days later the world shuts down.”

With the tournament cancelled and the first round scores expunged from the record books – including McIlroy’s 72 and Hideki Matsuyama’s course record-equalling 63 – McIlroy returns to Sawgrass as the defending champion for a second time following his victory in 2019.

“It’s amazing, and to think that we’re a year into it and we’re still having to do certain things,” the four-time major winner said. “I mean, obviously back in the UK the vaccine rollout is going incredibly well, which is great to see, and that bodes well for hopefully sporting events and golf tournaments being staged there in the summer.

“But yeah, it’s surreal. I was saying to someone yesterday, it’s felt like an incredibly slow 12 months, but at the same time it’s gone really fast. I can’t believe we’re back here already.

“But happy that we are back and happy that we get to play.”

Cairndhu will host the NI Open from June 14 to 15, offering qualifying opportunities for the ISPS Handa World Invitationa at Galgorm across July and August.

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