Rory McIlroy believes his game is in the right place to finally end his nine-year wait for a fifth major title heading into the next week's Open Championship at Hoylake.
McIlroy has fond memories of the Merseyside course, having won his last major title there back in 2014. Following his win nine years ago, the Northern Irishman was backed to reach the great major numbers of the likes of Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, having had the majority of his career ahead of him.
Things have not been simple though, with McIlroy yet to get his hands on another major crown since lifting the Claret Jug on The Wirral back in 2014. With every passing major it seems the pressure continues to rise on the 33-year-old, who has endured a number of near-misses since.
The latest came at last month's US Open, where he missed out on victory by a single shot to American Wyndham Clark.
McIlroy, though, has been quick to see the positives of his runner-up finish, having found himself inside the top 10 in all five of his last tournaments. On the back of his in-form run, the Northern Irishman feels major number five may not be far away.
Discussing his chance's at next week's Open, he said: "Yeah, I'm as close as I've ever been, really. My consistency in the performances, especially in the majors over the last couple years is way better than it has been over the last few years."
Similar to his showing at Los Angeles Country Club in June, McIlroy came agonisingly to victory at last year's Open at St Andrews, eventually being pipped by Cam Smith. As a result, McIlroy believes these near-misses are only helping his ability to compete at the very top.
"Yeah, I need to keep putting myself in those positions obviously and the more times I go through them whether it be St Andrews or L.A., and just gaining that experience," he added. You know, all of that stuff, even though I'm not getting the wins, it's going to stand by me for whenever I get myself in position again."
McIlroy was speaking at this year's Scottish Open, which he and a number of other top stars are using as perfect preparation for next week's major. Discussing his preparation, he said: "I played four weeks in a row and then having two weeks off where I took at least the first week of that two weeks completely off...
"I think just to get some competitive golf under my belt, get a scorecard in my hand and play. It's not pure links at this place, but it's linksy enough conditions that at least you're playing in a bit of breeze and you're maybe getting some visuals that you would get at a links course.
"So I think just all of that will obviously be good with one eye towards next week, and The Open. But still, it's a big tournament and I can sort of make points on both sides of the pond looking later down the line at the end of the year for FedExCup and Race to Dubai and all that stuff."
