McIlroy more than pleased

Rory McIlroy sealed his highest placing in a major at the US PGA Championship and targeted more top-five finishes in 2010.

The 20-year-old tied for third place with England’s Lee Westwood at Hazeltine National in Minnesota on Sunday night, five shots behind surprise winner YE Yang of South Korea.

McIlroy had marked his Masters debut at Augusta National with a tie for 20th, and tied for 10th at the US Open, a tie for 47th at the Open Championship at Turnberry last month his only disappointing finish in his first year playing the majors as a professional.

“I have a lot to build on,” McIlroy said. “I have a lot of momentum going into the majors next year.

“This is only my first year in the majors, so I learned a few things on my way this year, and that should help me next year to build on them and hopefully get in a couple of better finishes than just the top 10 or top five.”

McIlroy’s final round at Hazeltine was a battling performance from the youngster, who won his first European Tour event aged 19 on February 1 at the Dubai Desert Classic.

He had carded a double-bogey six on the first hole of the day but fought back to post a two-under-par 70 with five birdies and one bogey.

“I’ve hung in there really well this week, and took my chances when they presented themselves and made a couple of really good up-and-downs when I’ve needed to,” McIlroy said.

“So it’s been a great week. The first hole was not kind to me. I’ve had three bogeys and I didn’t get off to the best start. But after that I just played really good golf.

“I missed a couple of chances on the way in, but you know, I got a couple of really good up-and-downs on 17 and 18 which got me where I was.

“For the last major of the year, I feel as if I’ve put in a really strong finish and I’m really pleased with myself.”