Former world's no.1 Rory McIlroy seeks to finally get his breakthrough victory of the season as he competes with golf's finest at the 2013 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.
After lording on top of the golfing world last year, McIlroy's 2013 campaign has been a mediocre one as he continues to play without a title going into the halfway mark of the season.
Yet, the 24-year Irish golfer has shown some promising signs as of late following his top-10 finish at the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hallow. In the four-round tourney, McIlroy found success with his strokes and hit the ball better than he ever had early this year.
However, when it all seems momentum now on McIlroy's side, the two-time Grand Slam champion faces the biggest hurdle in his campaign so far this season at TPC Sawgrass.
Despite his success in Peter Dye's tracks in Kiawah and Crooked Stick, McIlroy has been subpar over his last three appearances at TPC Sawgrass. In fact, McIlroy missed the cut three times on the same golf course.
McIlroy's performance at Sawgrass is plainly horrific that only few are counting him to win the tournament. Still, the Irish's score in the first round of the Wells Fargo Championship suggested that he has recaptured the stroke that catapulted him to the top of the rankings late last year.
McIlroy shot a 67 in the first round at Quail Hallow, making it the first time he had broken par in the last six opening rounds on the PGA Tour.
At Wednesday's news conference, McIlroy told reporters that his recent form is largely because of his irons.
"I'm back to hitting 70-80 percent of my greens again," McIlroy said in the news conference, according to CBS Sports on Wednesday.
The Irish youngster will be pitted against the likes of Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood, Bubba Watson and world's no.1 Tiger Woods this week.