Golf

Rory McIlroy looking to keep on winning roll in Indiana

BMW Championship returns to Crooked Stick - scene of McIlroy’s 2012 victory

Rory McIlroy returns to Crooked Stick, the scene of his 2012 triumph in the BMW Championship, on Thursday. Photograph: Getty
Rory McIlroy returns to Crooked Stick, the scene of his 2012 triumph in the BMW Championship, on Thursday. Photograph: Getty
Wed Sept 07 2016 - 19:00

Rory McIlroy will look to continue his fine form at this week’s BMW Championship as the tournament returns to the scene of his 2012 triumph.

The Northern Irishman held off Paul Casey to win a second Deutsche Bank Championship title on Monday and in doing so climbed to fourth in the FedEx Cup standings.

Last time the four-time major champion won in Boston he followed up a week later at Crooked Stick, which plays host again this year for the first time since 2012, and McIlroy will be looking to make it back-to-back play-off wins again four years later.

McIlroy trails FedEx Cup leader Patrick Reed by 860 points, but with 2,000 on offer in Indiana this week that can all change ahead of the season-ending Tour Championship in a fortnight's time.

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World number one and defending champion Jason Day starts the week 566 points behind Reed in second, and the Australian knows he faces a tough task to retain his title.

“I’m really trying to make a big push for the FedEx Cup and there are a lot of good golfers in front of me, Patrick Reed, and then behind me that are trying to get that spot as well,” Day said in a press conference published on the PGA Tour official website.

“I know the only way of taking control of that is to win and it will be nice to go win-win, that is obviously the goal, but right now I need to focus on getting the right game plan in place to try and tackle this golf course, which I know is a very difficult task to do.”

Only the top 30 players in the standings will head to East Lake in a fortnight’s time to compete for the $10million FedEx Cup bonus.

American Brooks Koepka is currently on the bubble in 30th, with the likes of Graeme McDowell (45th), Justin Rose (50th) and Luke Donald (60th) needing a strong week in order to extend their season in the States.