Wednesday 12 August 2015 14:22, UK
Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke believes Rory McIlroy can contend for a fifth major title this week, despite his long injury lay-off.
McIlroy's last competitive round was a closing 66 in the US Open on June 21, the world No 1 then rupturing a ligament in his left ankle during a game of football with friends on July 4.
The 26-year-old was forced to miss the defence of his Open title at St Andrews and last week's Bridgestone Invitational, but has confounded expectations by declaring himself ready to defend his PGA crown at Whistling Straits.
"No, I'm not surprised to see him back here," Clarke said. "He obviously has got a wonderful team around him and he would have done everything he could to get back as quickly as possible.
"I'm sure with an ankle injury he would have been advised not to come back until fully fit. If you injure an ankle and keep playing on it, it gets worse and worse and worse.
"He may not be competitively sharp, for obvious reasons, but he's world No 1. He's done many amazing things in his young career, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him contending this week."
'Right decision'
Clarke has backed the European Tour's decision to withdraw the Bridgestone Invitational from its 2016 schedule, even though that creates a dilemma for potential team members.
A re-working of the PGA Tour's 2016 calendar to accommodate golf's return to the Olympics has seen the prestigious World Golf Championship event brought forward to the end of June, bring it in to direct conflict with the Alstom Open de France.
The European Tour then withdrew its sanction of the WGC event at Firestone Country Club, meaning money won in Akron will not count for Ryder Cup points or towards the Race to Dubai.
Ireland's Shane Lowry will undoubtedly want to defend the title he won on Sunday, but he and others could be in need of Ryder Cup points at that time, with the qualifying race set to end on August 28 in Denmark.
"It's a tough decision for Shane, he won his first World Golf Championship at Firestone and he may have a decision to make come next summer," Clarke added. "But in terms of what the European Tour has done, I think they've done the right thing by standing beside one of their mainstays.
"The French Open is steeped in history, around a wonderful venue that we have the 2018 Ryder Cup around. They've showed loyalty to the French Open and rightly so."
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