Former world No.1 Rory McIlroy insists he has the desire to regain top billing, saying he is not content with just being in the top four.
McIlroy's most recent spell as world No.1 started after he followed victory in the 2014 Open with another in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, but ended a year later after he returned from being sidelined with an ankle injury suffered playing football.
The 28-year-old had slipped to fourth behind Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson and Australia's Jason Day ahead of the 2016 Open, which prompted one newspaper to suggest he was in danger of becoming Ringo Starr in golf's version of the Beatles.
And almost exactly a year later, McIlroy again finds himself fourth in the rankings - this time behind Johnson, Hideki Matsuyama and Spieth - ahead of the defence of his Irish Open title.
"Back to Ringo," McIlroy said with a laugh when the subject was raised in his pre-tournament press conference.
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"Does it bother me? Yeah, look, it bothers me I'm not where I want to be. But I feel like there's been a couple of things that have been out of my control this year that have led to that with the injuries and stuff.
"I know where I am and I realise that I'm a long way off where I want to be, but I just have to think about trying to win golf tournaments, first of all."
McIlroy says the golfing world was spoilt by the dominance of Tiger Woods.
"I think we were spoiled in the 2000s with Tiger (Woods)," added McIlroy. "There's been guys that have been able to play that level of golf for six months, nine months maybe, but not being able to keep that form for six, seven, eight years.
"I think that's testament to just how driven and how good Tiger was. I'd love to get to that point and being able to keep that for a long time. But I think you have to realise there are going to be ebbs and flows in your career.
"Right now, I feel like I'm in with a group of guys that could all have a chance to be No.1 in the world or the best player in the world and hopefully over these next few years, I can maybe separate myself."
