The Open: Justin Thomas says Rory McIlroy will be hard to beat
Tuesday 16 July 2019 14:33, UK
Justin Thomas believes Rory McIlroy will be "hard to beat" in this week's Open Championship at Royal Portrush.
McIlroy carded a 61 on the course as a 16-year-old and has plenty of local knowledge, but Thomas reckons the Northern Irishman would be a leading contender at any venue as he bids for a fifth major win.
"Rory's going to be hard to beat because he's Rory McIlroy," said the 26-year-old American. "It's not because we're playing Royal Portrush. He's one of the best players in the world. He's won a lot of times, won a lot of majors. He's really, really good at golf. He's going to be really hard to beat because of that, not just because we're here.
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"There's just a lot of things that go into it. It doesn't matter how many times you've played a golf course and how many times you've seen it, you still have to hit the shots and execute and make the putts when you need to. And you need to get the breaks. That's the stuff that happens when you win golf tournaments.
"I'm sure he's the favourite [but] I know there's a lot of people, myself included, that feel like they have a good chance and want to give him a run."
World No 9 Thomas is hoping to play a practice round with McIlroy on Wednesday in order to expand his knowledge of the course.
"I'm going to try to play with Rory," he said. "Rory is someone I'm a little bit closer with and play a lot of practice rounds with. I'm sure he'll give some advice but kind of hold it somewhat within, not wanting to give too much.
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"But, at the end of the day, no matter how much local knowledge you have, you still have to hit the golf shot."
And Thomas, who won the PGA Championship in 2017, is expecting to play plenty of different golf shots at Royal Portrush this week.
"I feel that it's just a great test of golf. It has a little bit of everything," he said.
"You're going to have some holes with some short irons, some holes with some long irons, great variety on the par-threes, but an opportunity for different set-ups."
