I’ll be a Major player soon, insists Rory McIlroy

Only way is up: Rory McIlroy puts in another bold showing when falling just short in the US PGA at Whistling Straits
David Smith13 April 2012

Rory McIlroy today put his play-off heartbreak at the US PGA Championship behind him by insisting he's ready to win a Major. The 21-year-old from Northern Ireland, who finished third in last month's Open at St Andrews, would have joined Martin Kaymer and Bubba Watson in a shoot-out had he sunk a 15ft birdie putt on the last green at Whistling Straits.

Alas, the ball agonisingly turned away from the hole and it was Germany's Kaymer who survived a three-hole duel with Watson to secure his maiden Major victory and a debut place in Europe's Ryder Cup team to take on the United States in October.

McIlroy will also figure in team captain Colin Montgomerie's line-up and he will head for Celtic Manor believing it is only a matter of time before his immense talent reaps a reward on the Major stage.

Having initially led at St Andrews with an opening round of 63 and tied for the lead yesterday with four holes to play, McIlroy said: "I feel I'm ready to win one. I'm sure I can look back and see where I could have picked up a few shots. But it was a good learning week for me and one I can take positives from. I stayed very patient and didn't let anything get to me, which was one of the main objectives."

That attitude will please Montgomerie but the Scot is facing a serious dilemma over his three captain's picks with Justin Rose, Padraig Harrington and Luke Donald, who all missed the cut at the PGA, now looking unlikely to qualify for the European team by right.

Definitely in are McIlroy, Kaymer, Lee Westwood, providing he recovers from a ruptured calf muscle, US Open champion Graeme McDowell and Ian Poulter, who was forced to withdraw from the final round of the US PGA with a chest complaint.

England's Ross Fisher and Italian Francesco Molinari are close to making sure, while veteran Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez and Paul Casey, thanks to his 12th place yesterday, are eighth and ninth on the table.

However, Casey has confirmed he will not contest the final qualifying tournament, next week's Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, because it clashes with the lucrative FedEx series in the United States.

Harrington and Rose will also remain in America. But Donald, knocked out of a qualifying spot by 25-year-old Kaymer, is understood to be considering flying to Scotland in a last-ditch attempt to avoid needing a pick.

With Molinari's brother and World Cup-winning partner Edoardo also in the frame, Montgomerie is now facing the nightmare of having to exclude one or two of the biggest names is European golf from his team.

Rival captain Corey Pavin also has a huge decision to make after Tiger Woods failed to qualify for the US team. Unlike Montgomerie, Pavin has four picks and he will reveal their identities on 7 September. Dare he leave out Woods, who is still top of the rankings even though the troubled player is without a win this year after a final card of 73 left him 28th in the US PGA?

Probably not, especially after Woods again expressed a desire to be given the chance to feature at Celtic Manor.

Dustin Johnson is in the team but he endured agony on the 18th yesterday after he missed a putt to win and was then given a two-shot penalty for grounding his club on sand.

That cost him his place in the play-off and he said: "It never once crossed my mind I was in a sand trap. I just thought I was on a piece of dirt where the crowd had trampled it down."

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