PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Rory McIlroy stood on the tee at the famed island green, No. 17 at TPC Sawgrass Wednesday night for the first time since his win at The Players Championship in March. McIlroy was in town to shoot a promo for the event and to take part in a corporate event.
McIlroy admitted that once upon a time, he was too immature and stubborn to play well at a course like the Stadium course. But once he started to realize he shouldn’t try to overpower the course, he started to have success at the tournament. And last March, he won a season-defining victory that continues to mean a lot to him.
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“It means a lot because it is our tournament. Your peers recognize you for that achievement,” McIlroy said. “Honestly, I think winning The Players last year went a long way to me winning the PGA Tour player of the year award. The Players recognized that winning this event means an awful lot. It’s an event that everybody wants to win.”
In his younger days, McIlroy, now 30 years old, tried to overpower the course. That approach has rarely worked at TPC Sawgrass. The Pete Dye design is intended to test all styles of players. Long hitters have no more advantage than players who rely on their short game. Every club in the bag is tested.
“Whenever I started to play well here is when I started to stay on the beach,” McIlroy said. “Sometimes when you play here you forget how close you are to the water. You’re in the trees. But I started to stay on the beach after that third missed cut and wanted to do something differently. I really enjoy that part of it, because you get into the buzz and the atmosphere of the tournament is here. Then you can get away from it. I live south in Jupiter, Fla., you’re beach here is way better than the beach we have. It’s hard, it’s flat, you can walk on it.”
McIlroy’s beach approach has paid dividends. Since missing the cut his first three starts at The Players, McIlroy has finished in the top 12 five times in seven years, including last year’s win. And while the tournament may never be labeled as a major, it lives in its own, unique position on the PGA Tour calendar.
“It’s an iconic golf tournament. It’s an iconic course. Growing up watching the players and watching what happened on this hole (No. 17) over the year, it’s pretty cool,” McIlroy said. “If I went through my career and hadn’t won this tournament, I would have felt like I was missing something,”
McIlroy will try to become the first player to ever win The Players back-to-back. If he does, it will certainly be a day at the beach for him.