Rory ‘glad’ to give Sawgrass another try

Rory McIlroy starts his third spell as world No 1 this week by returning to the event he turned his back on last year.

“Looking back it wasn’t one of my brightest moments,” said the 23-year-old yesterday after arriving at Sawgrass for the £5.8million Players Championship, golf’s richest tournament.

McIlroy missed the halfway cut on his two previous visits to the PGA Tour’s showpiece and has yet to break par on it.