Rory McIlroy will be looking to continue a remarkable record of success at Quail Hollow Club when he tees it up this week for the US PGA Championship.
The Northern Irishman has won four times over the North Carolina layout, with five other top tens including a play-off loss in 14 appearances.
It was in Charlotte that McIlroy, already with a DP World Tour victory to his name, announced himself internationally with the first of his 29 PGA TOUR wins in 2010 on a course about which he has since said: "Ever since I first set eyes on this golf course, I loved it from the first time I played it."
It has even been reported that Jordan Spieth referred to Quail Hollow as "Rory McIlroy Country Club" last week, such is his dominance over the George W Cobb's 7,626-yard par-71 masterpiece.
Here, we a take a look at the Masters champion's four wins and everything in between at Quail Hollow.
2010 - Breakthrough PGA TOUR victory
McIlroy's relationship with Quail Hollow did not get off to the most sparkling of starts as he battled to an opening 72 on his debut at the event then named after the venue and found himself two shots outside the cut-line with three to play in round two. But as he has many times since, he managed to produce a moment of brilliance when he needed it on the par-five seventh, putting his second to close range for an eagle to make the weekend on the number. A third-round 66 left him four back heading into Sunday but that would end up being his margin of victory as he smashed the course record with a 62. A monster putt on the last brought a huge celebration and the first iconic McIlroy moment on the other side of the Atlantic was born.
He registered his only Quail Hollow missed cut in 2011 just a month before claiming his maiden Major Championship at the U.S. Open and as he took his Major tally to four over the next few years, he also lost a play-off at Quail Hollow in 2012 and finished in the top ten the following two seasons.
2015 - Records tumble
McIlroy's victory at the now Wells Fargo Championship was one of the most dominant of his career but once again he had to overcome a sluggish start, finding water on his penultimate hole in round one to card a 70 before a bogey-free second-round 67 kept him in contention. Birdies at the third and fifth in round three gave him a positive start but he found another gear on the seventh, setting off a run of nine birdies in ten holes to card a 61 and break his own course record. His 69 on Sunday was a procession that made victory a formality, with his 21 under par score of 267 joining his winning margin of seven shots as a tournament best.
He finished in a tie for fourth in his defence and when the course hosted the US PGA Championship for the first time in 2017, he would end the week in a tie for 22nd. The Wells Fargo Championship then returned to Quail Hollow in 2018 and 2019 as he finished 16th and eighth respectively before the Covid-19 pamdemic led to there being no event in 2020.
Now & then. Rory McIlroy just broke his own course record at Quail Hollow with an 11-under par 61. He shot 62 in 2010 pic.twitter.com/Me5pd5Ut1F
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 16, 2015
2021 - A much-needed win
It says a lot about the standards McIlroy had set for himself that when he arrived at Quail Hollow in May 2021 at 15th in the Official World Golf Ranking, he was in a trough in his career. It was his lowest ranking since November 2009, he had not tasted a victory since November 2019 and he was carrying a neck injury - but this was Rory McIlroy and this was Quail Hollow. Another slow start had to be overcome after an opening 72 but rounds of 66-68 had him just two back heading into a final round where he would have to scrap for victory. He was ragged off the tee but up-and-downs from the sand for birdies on the 14th and 15th had him two ahead stood on the 18th before his tee-shot almost found the stream down the left. He had to take a drop but scrambled brilliantly to drop just a single shot and win by one. In the previous 18 months McIlroy had faced a pandemic and become a father off the course while chasing distance and making coaching changes off it but thanks to the alchemy that Quail Hollow allows him to produce, he was back.
The Wells Fargo Championship was not held at Quail Hollow in 2022 as the venue hosted the Presidents Cup but McIlroy returned in 2023 and finished in a tie for 47th.
2024 - Consistent brilliance
McIlroy's 2021 win was not the catalyst for success he was looking for and he dropped to 16th in the world later in the year but by the end of 2022 he was back on top and since then has been the most consistent challenger in Scottie Scheffler's period of dominance. That form has included seven wins since the start of 2024 and one of those was his fourth at Quail Hollow in the Wells Fargo Championship. Things were looking dicey early on for the rest of the field as McIlroy reached five under after seven and carded a 67 to make a rare fast start before adding a 68 and another 67 to sit one back heading into Sunday. Birdies on the eighth and ninth had him level with Xander Schauffele going down the stretch and he powered clear, adding two eagles and two birdies which meant he won by five even with a double-bogey on the last.
