I’m worth a gamble, insists defiant Rory McIlroy

The hunger and ambition burns as strongly as ever for Rory McIlroy even if his prospects do not seem as bright as they did three years ago when he dominated the golfing universe.

It was July 2014 at Royal Liverpool that McIlroy got his hands on the Claret Jug as the R&A’s Champion Golfer of the year and a month after that when he lifted the Wanamaker Trophy as PGA Champion at Valhalla in Kentucky.

Yet he has not won a major championship since and questions about his desire to compete for golf’s greatest prizes, as well as his ability to manage an ongoing rib injury, are intensifying after a less than auspicious run-in to today’s opening round at the 146th Open.