No golfer has won the Players Championship back-to-back, however, Rory McIlroy has a strong chance of becoming the first man to achieve that feat this weekend.
The defending champion rolls into Sawgrass with a scintillating seven consecutive top-five finishes – only Tiger Woods has had longer streaks over the past 20 years.
During last year’s Players victory, the Northern Irishman struck 80 per cent of his greens on the way to a one-shot win over America’s Jim Furyk.
It was a triumph that kick-started a dominant four-win season, culminating in being named PGA Tour Player of the Year.
Now ranked number one in the world, McIlroy continues to set himself apart from the field with ruthless consistency and accurate shot selection.
His start to the 2019 season is vastly similar to 2020’s. Last year, he was T4, T5, T4, 2 and T6 in his first five starts.
So far this year, he has recorded T3, T5, 5 and T5 finishes.
It’s remarkably consistent form and, as a result, unrealistic expectations start to hang over his prospects each weekend. As world number one and a four-time major winner, fans expect McIlroy to be hovering around the sharp end of the leaderboard at each tournament.
It’s high-pressure stakes that the player is used to, and besides his inhuman-like qualities on the course, he is only a human at the end of the day. All he can do is his best.
At the Arnold Palmer Invitational last weekend, there were shades of disappointment when he finished fifth, four shots behind winner Tyrrell Hatton.
Sitting two strokes off the lead entering the final round, McIlroy was unable to get his clubs firing and struck a disappointing four-over 76.
It was the fourth Sunday in a row that he was unable to convert one of those precious opportunities into victory, averaging final round scores of 71.5 in his last four starts.
At Torrey Pines, in the final group, he bogeyed three out of first four holes to card a 69. In Los Angeles, he tripled the fifth and bogeyed the sixth to finish fifth.
In Mexico, he still shot a commanding 68, however, Dechambeau and Reed stepped up another gear and he couldn’t live with them. And at Bay Hill, two doubles and two bogeys curtailed his momentum on a challenging final day.
For those who hold the ‘bad finisher’ tag over McIlroy, it is unfair criticism considering he is putting himself in contention week in, week out.
As a competitor, he is always going to be unhappy unless he has that trophy in hand – that is normal for most elite pros. However, positive early season form should bode well for his progression leading into the first major of the year at Augusta on April 9.
In truth, no event is going to be easy to win on the PGA Tour these days, especially with Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Tommy Fleetwood, Adam Scott and Dechambeau in such glittering form.
Yet, even with the pressure of being the best player in the world, McIlroy still manages to weld together consistent rounds and play quality golf. Something that should keep him content knowing his game is in major-winning shape.
The Holywood man will be playing the first two rounds of the Players this weekend with those trying to chase down his top spot in Rahm and Brooks Koepka.
Of the competition, Rahm has some unfinished business at Sawgrass – being the 54-hole leader last year – and his worst result in the last five months coming in the form of a T17 at Riviera.
The drive down to Sawgrass will be a long one for McIlroy and many memories will filter through his head about poor shots in recent rounds or the crucial weeks that lie ahead of the Masters.
Defeat is never easy but as the best golfer in the world, he is always going to be the favourite, no matter where he is playing around the world.
And if he can keep that powerful combination of patience and consistency, then he will be difficult to stop against a star-studded field at the Florida course.
