Poulter – McIlroy may return even better

With Rory McIlroy out of the upcoming Open Championship Justin Rose is happy to be the man all British hopes are pinned on at St Andrews.

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Tiger Woods revealed that Rory McIlory contacted him for advice about the injury that ruled McIlroy out of the British Open at St. Andrews.

McIlroy posted a photo on Instagram Wednesday of him sitting on the couch with his injured left ankle propped up while watching Wimbledon on television.

McIlroy suffered a total rupture of the ATFL – the anterior talofibular ligament – in his left ankle while playing some soccer with friends over the weekend. He also stated that he wants to take a “long-term” approach to this injury and only return back to the green when he feels 100% ready.

BRITISH OPEN: Palmer fell seven shots behind Roberto de Vicenzo going into the 36-hole final at St. Andrews. He has played just the one round at St Andrews four years ago ahead of a Walker Cup tie in Aberdeen.

“Rory will play in many more Open Championships and our primary concern is for his complete recovery”.

“It’s a special place”, Knox said, with a smile, “it’s the home of golf”.

But with McIlroy’s exit ramping up the pressure he is determined to rise to the occasion and stop Spieth’s audacious bid to win three Major championships on the spin. However, focusing on the short term, a pair of McIlroy August title defenses are now in doubt, at both the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits. “Golf goes through those cycles”, Rose said. Phil Mickelson took time out from preparing for this week’s Scottish Open to recall his own brush with mortality when he snapped his femur in half in a skiing mishap and had to miss the 1994 Masters.

Ultimately, the debate will rage on now and any time a star athlete get’s hurt off the field, but at least we know that Rory’s peers have his back.

“I don’t think I’m here strictly because I’m honoring commitment”, Spieth said before the John Deere began. “It’s unlucky, it’s unfortunate, and I’m sure he’s taking it harder on himself than anybody else”. “But I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. It’s just sometimes there are fluke accidents. The hairs on the back of your neck stand up, it’s just got that magic appeal”. It could even happen at St. Andrews, where a win will move Spieth to the top if he finishes seventh or better at the John Deere. Now it’s on to St. Andrews for the British Open, where golf first was played before Columbus reached America. He finished fourth at the Masters and joint ninth at last month’s US Open.

One of them was the 2000 U.S. Open, where he broke or tied nine tournament records including his astonishing winning margin of 15 shots.

Contours around some greens have been toughened up, fairway bunkers no longer in play have been filled in (heresy!), others dug closer to the putting surfaces, and the seemingly magnetic Road Hole bunker has been slightly reconfigured once again.

“It bodes well for the rest of the summer the way I’ve hit the ball this week”, McIlroy said before leaving Chambers Bay.