Jack Nicklaus has revealed whether he believes Rory McIlroy will win The Memorial, as he also predicted if the Northern Irishman will win The Masters one day.
The PGA Tour is at Muirfield Village this week, with many of the world’s best players preparing for the US Open.
Of course, no player has been in better form in the week before a major this season than Rory McIlroy, with the 35-year-old finishing third at the Valero Texas Open before The Masters and then winning the Wells Fargo Championship just before the PGA Championship at Valhalla.
Interestingly, McIlroy has never actually won at The Memorial – the event hosted by Jack Nicklaus.
Jack Nicklaus reveals if Rory McIlroy could win The Memorial
Nicklaus was asked in his press conference about the likes of McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Lee Trevino never winning his event, and he went on to back McIlroy to one day get across the line at both The Memorial and The Masters.
“That’s just golf, Rory hasn’t won at Augusta either. Do I think he will? Absolutely, I think he will, he’s too good not to. Do I think he’ll win here? Yeah, he should, certainly good enough,” he said.
Victory would be perfect preparation as Northern Irishman looks to end major drought
There is absolutely no question that McIlroy has the game to win any of the biggest events; the question is whether his major championship drought has just gone on too long now.
McIlroy will know virtually all of the questions that he will face leading up to a major, particularly when it comes to The Masters, which surely has a longer build-up than any big event on the calendar – with the exception perhaps, of a Ryder Cup.
He has gone into the majors in all kinds of form over the years, but has been unable to find his absolute best when it really mattered.
If McIlroy does manage to win that fifth major, it would be absolutely no surprise if six, seven and eight followed fairly swiftly.
A victory at The Memorial this week would see McIlroy clear an important hurdle ahead of the US Open.
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