Rory McIlroy will join the golfing immortals by winning the 150th Open at St Andrews this weekend, according to Thomas Bjorn.
Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Seve Ballesteros are among the legends to have lifted the Claret Jug at the Home of Golf and former Ryder Cup captain Bjorn believes it's a tremendous opportunity to write his name into history. He said: “This is definitely a chance for Rory to make history. A lot of the greats have won at St Andrews, including Jack and Tiger.
"Rory, if he doesn’t put himself in that category, he certainly puts himself up there among the greats of the game. If he could win an Open at St Andrews, I think it will mean more to him than the other things he has achieved in the world. He will know that will make him immortal to many.”
McIlroy won the 2014 Open and his last Major at the US PGA later that summer. But the world No.2 has re-discovered his old form since finishing second at the Masters and has finished in the top 20 in his last seven events.
Dane Bjorn, who is an ambassador for the online betting guide OLBG, added: “He has certainly got the bit between his teeth at the moment - there is no doubt about that. It looks like he is back to wanting to achieve. He is driven by silverware. His focus is on achieving.
"His focus is on wanting to be the golfer Rory McIlroy again and when he is like that, he is dangerous. Very, very dangerous.”
McIlroy, who has described winning the Open at St Andrews as the “Holy Grail”, said he had never played the Old Course so “hard and fast” after days of high temperatures although high winds will protect the links.
“I have seen it mostly at the Dunhill Links in October when it is lush and not running so much,” he said. “I don’t think anyone will be breaking 60 this week.”
R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers said: “The fairways are firmer than the greens, and they're running really hard and Mother Nature at the moment is not destined to give us any rain and probably not going to give us as much wind as we like. But we've got other ways of being able to set up the golf course.
"My philosophy has always been I want to set up the golf course fair, challenging, and let these guys show us how good they are. 59 is 13-under par around this golf course. There's 7,300 yards. It's got greens that are running at 10 1/2 to 11.
"It's got fairways where the ball is bouncing 50 yards if it's hit and more if it catches the downslope. 13-under par around that, I'll tell you what, if someone shoots that, I will be the first person on the 18th green to shake their hand because they have played outstanding golf.”
