Former No. 1-ranked golfer Rory McIlroy will headline the field at South Korea’s national golf championship this week.

The 24-year-old from Northern Ireland will compete at the 56th Kolon Korea Open scheduled to begin Thursday at Woojeong Hills Country Club in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province.

This will be the third Korea Open appearance for McIlroy, who tied for third in 2009 and finished second in 2011.

At the pre-tournament press conference held in Seoul on Tuesday, McIlroy said his woes this year have been due both to his mechanics and his loss of confidence.

“I developed a couple of bad habits. I tried to work my way out of it, and that obviously didn’t help,” McIlroy said. “I wasn’t playing as well as I wanted, and that obviously dents your confidence a little bit.”

McIlroy said he’s looking forward to playing the course where he’d done well in the past. “I’ve still got six tournaments left this year. It’d be great to start those six tournaments with a good performance here in Korea,” he said.

McIlroy was also asked to comment on rumors that he and his girlfriend, former No. 1-ranked tennis player Caroline Wozniacki, have split. Wozniacki has said the two are still together, but McIlroy refused to comment, saying, “My private life is private, and I’d like to keep it that way.” (Yonhap News)