Rory McIlroy seeks to end 16-month drought

Rory McIlroy hopes to rekindle his love affair with Bay Hill as he bids to end his 16-month drought in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

The world No 8 is looking to add to his Bay Hill win in 2018, when he closed with a 64 he described as “the perfect round of golf” and go on this week to claim his 19th PGA Tour victory and his first since the WGC-HSBC Champions at the end of 2019.

Making his seventh straight start at Bay Hill, where he has one win and three top-six finishes in six starts, McIlroy is also looking build on last week’s sixth-place finish in the WGC-Workday Championship.

“It’s been a wonderful course for me, I played well here in the past, it’s nice to be a past champion and I’m looking forward to another great week here in Orlando,” McIlroy said.

After following his first missed cut for more than 18 months with a tie of sixth at the Concession on Sunday, he’s upbeat about the state of his game and his improved putting and wedge play.

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“I’m feeling a little better about it,” McIlroy admitted. “I didn’t have a great week at Riviera a couple weeks ago, but then had a bit of a better week last week at the Concession. Still trying to iron out a couple of things that I feel like I can do better.