LONDON: Rory McIlroy believes his victory at Bay Hill proves he has what it takes to win his first US Masters next month.
McIlroy entered last week’s tournament in patchy form after missing the cut in two of his four PGA Tour starts this year. But the 28-year-old produced a spectacular final round to claim his first title since 2016, and that has him buzzing ahead of the year’s first major.
“I have even more optimism now,” McIlroy said.
“The win was just more validation that what I’ve been doing has been correct. It all sort of just came together.
“I’m optimistic not just for the next few weeks but for the whole season. It’s great to get a win early. I’ve got all that great stuff to fall back on, how I handled Sunday.
“I’ve always been able to turn negatives into positives. I was feeling quite comfortable going into last week. And hopefully I will continue to have that feeling for a while.”
The four-time major winner has long been talked about as a future wearer of the Green Jacket — his all-round game is ideally suited to the long and testing Augusta course. Except for a memorable final-round meltdown in 2011, which left him in 15th place having led on the 10th tee, he has rarely contended at the Masters. It is the one major McIlroy is yet to win and he has long talked about using the first three months of the season simply as preparation for the famous tournament.
McIlroy’s patchy form until his Bay Hill brilliance left some questioning that strategy. But McIlroy said that winning was his main goal, and he dismissed the idea that silencing his critics gave him extra motivation.
“I don’t care because people don’t know the full story,” he said. “They make comments and they speculate, but they don’t have the facts 100 percent, so they never really know. It’s all speculation.”
Current Open champion Jordan Spieth, Master winner in 2015, said McIlroy is now the player to beat at any tournament — provided the Northern Irishman can maintain his fitness.
“Whether he won last week or not, he is always a force,” Spieth said. “He just needs to be healthy. And I think most of last season, it was a struggle for him.
“So just being rested, healthy and on the right path meant that this year and going forward, Rory is Rory. And so he should always be a favorite at any event.”
Rory McIlroy using Bay Hill to shoot for Masters glory
Rory McIlroy using Bay Hill to shoot for Masters glory
Arsenal thrash Villa 4-1 while Chelsea and Man Utd both held
- Arsenal end Aston Villa’s 11-game winning streak
- Wolves earn third point of season against Man United
LONDON: Arsenal closed out 2025 in emphatic fashion, smashing third-placed Aston Villa 4-1 on Tuesday to surge five points clear at the top of the Premier League.
Manchester United were held to a 1-1 draw by bottom side Wolverhampton Wanderers, who collected their third point of the season, while Bournemouth grabbed a point at stuttering Chelsea, forcing a 2-2 draw after a frantic first-half display.
Man United are sixth, level on 30 points with fifth-placed Chelsea.
At the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal slammed the door shut on charging Villa, ending their club-record winning run of 11 games.
Goals by Gabriel Magalhaes and Martin Zubimendi early in the second half gave Arsenal control of a game that had looked fraught with danger.
Gabriel bundled in the opener from a corner in the 48th minute before Martin Odegaard slid a pass through for Zubimendi to score four minutes later. Arsenal secured the points when Leandro Trossard fired home from the edge of the area before Gabriel Jesus came off the bench to add the fourth.
Ollie Watkins grabbed a consolation goal for Villa in stoppage time.
“I think it was amazing,” Jesus told Sky Sports. “It’s always hard to play against them... The mentality of the team is really, really growing and each game is growing even more and I think we are winning today because of the mentality.”
Arsenal top the standings with 45 points, while second-placed Manchester City can close the gap when they play at Sunderland on Thursday.
Villa are six points adrift of Arsenal.
It took six minutes at Stamford Bridge for Bournemouth to shock Chelsea when David Brooks grabbed the opener. Cole Palmer equalized from the spot in the 15th minute and Fernandez put Chelsea ahead with a bullet shot eight minutes later.
Justin Kluivert brought Bournemouth back level in the 27th, to grab a point, adding to the London side’s unenviable record of one win in seven league games. Chelsea sit fifth, while Bournemouth are 10 spots below them.
Man Utd struggle
Manchester United striker Joshua Zirkzee made the most of a rare start by giving the depleted hosts the lead with a deflected shot from the edge of the box in the 27th minute.
But Wolves managed to level just before the break thanks to a header from Ladislav Krejci.
Patrick Dorgu briefly celebrated what he thought was a 90th-minute winner, but it was chalked off for offside.
“We struggled in all the game,” United boss Ruben Amorim said. “We had a lack of creation... the fluidity offensively wasn’t there.
“We didn’t play well. When you don’t play well with the ball, you struggle without it.”
Wolves have three points from 19 games, 15 points from the safety zone.
Newcastle United’s Joelinton scored after 65 seconds and Yoane Wissa doubled their lead five minutes later in a 3-1 thrashing of 19th-placed Burnley, who are winless in their last 10 games.
Josh Laurent pulled one back in the 23rd minute, but Bruno Guimaraes sealed Newcastle’s rare away win with a goal in stoppage time.
Everton climbed to eighth in the standings with a 2-0 win over their former manager Sean Dyche and Nottingham Forest thanks to goals from James Garner and Thierno Barry.
West Ham United drew 2-2 with Brighton & Hove Albion in a game that featured three penalties in the first half.
Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta, from the penalty spot, scored before the break for West Ham, while Brighton’s Danny Welbeck struck from the penalty spot in the 32nd minute but fired another off the crossbar.
Joel Veltman scored for Brighton in the 61st minute to secure the draw.
There are four more games on New Year’s Day, including fourth-placed Liverpool hosting Leeds United at Anfield.
