Rory McIlroy: I’m still the main man in golf’s fab four

Rory McIlroy has announced his return to The Open Championship by throwing down the gauntlet to his major rivals by declaring he is ready to spring back to top form.

The Irishman, 27, has not been in the winners’ circle at a major since he won The Open and US PGA championships back-to-back during his glorious summer of 2014.

In that time he has seen Jordan Spieth and then Jason Day replace him as world number one, both the American and Australian enjoying major-winning purple patches while Dustin Johnson has also gatecrashed the party with his US Open victory at Oakmont last month to turn golf’s new ‘big three’ into a big four.