Top-ranked Rory McIlroy took his first look at the Valhalla layout on Monday ahead of the 96th PGA Championship while Tiger Woods was in Florida having treatment on his aching back.

Golf's current and former superstars are on vastly different trajectories for the year's final major tournament with McIlroy going for a hat-trick of triumphs and Woods' status in doubt a day after a painful exit at the World Golf Championships event in Akron, Ohio.

McIlroy won his third major title last month at the British Open and took his first WGC crown on Sunday in Akron, arriving at Valhalla as a clear favorite and the first player since Woods in 2009 to enter a major after back-to-back wins.

"It's great to have a chance to try to go there to win three in a row," McIlroy said. "It's one I desperately want to win."

McIlroy overtook Australian Adam Scott for the world No 1 ranking after winning on Sunday.

"My goal now until the end of the year is just to try to win as many tournaments as I can. It's not to try to finish No 1," McIlroy said.

"I feel like with the way I'm playing there's a few left in me this year."

McIlroy won his first major at the 2011 US Open and added the PGA Championship in 2012.

"Obviously, Rory's in incredible form at the moment," Scott said. "He'll be the man to beat by the looks of things and I'll be gunning for him for sure."

Agence France Presse

(China Daily 08/06/2014 page24)