McIlroy could be set for a big 2017

Up until the Tour Championship, former world number one Rory McIlroy was set for a disappointing year in 2016, with his only success on the PGA Tour coming in the Deutsche Bank Championship, where he won by two strokes ahead of Englishman Paul Casey.

McIlroy was also a winner in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open where he finished on -12, three shots in front of Bradley Dredge and Russell Knox. However, he was the heavy favourite to succeed at the K Club in County Kildare.

It was in the four major championships that the Northern Irishman would have been most disappointed with his form though this year. For the second straight season he ended with a drought in the four biggest prizes in golf. His best finish in a major was in the Open Championship where he ended the tournament in Royal Troon in a tie for fifth as Henrik Stenson broke his long wait for a major.

The year started well for McIlroy as he earned a top 10 finish at August in the Masters, the one major he has yet to win so far in his career. He then went on to miss the cut in the U.S Open, while he also missed the cut for the first time in the PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Cup where Jimmy Walker came out on top in the field.

Despite a disappointing 2016, McIlroy is still attracting support with the bookmakers to top the 2017 PGA Tour Money List where he is 4.55 with sportsbet.io, where bitcoin can be used to bet online, to head the money list next year in the PGA Tour.

McIlroy will be buoyed by the form he showed in the FexEx Cup playoffs last season. He played his best golf of the year in September with victories in Massachusetts and Georgia in the Tour Championship. The Northern Irishman also goes into the campaign without any niggling injuries which have impacted him over the last couple of years.

In order to top the PGA Tour money list, McIlroy will need good finishes in at least three of the major championships. His first target of the season will be the Masters at Augusta. The world number two finished fourth in the tournament in 2015 so has the game to go very close in April.

The US Open will take place at Erin Hills for the first time in 2017. The course may suit the big hitters such as McIlroy so he will fancy his chances of being near the top of the leaderboard following the four rounds in Wisconsin.

The 27-year-old will be looking forward to the challenge of Royal Birkdale for the Open Championship next year as he did not play in the tournament the last time it was held in Southport in 2008.

Arguably McIlroy’s best chance of major success in 2017 is the US PGA Championship which will be played at Quail Hollow. The 2014 winner holds the course record, which he set in 2015 in his victory in the Wells Fargo Championship, while he also won his first PGA Tour event there in 2010 in the then-named Quail Hollow Championship.

McIlroy will be motivated for big things in 2017, which could signal bad news for his opponents as he bids to reclaim the number one spot in the world ranking and more major championship success.