World number three Rory McIlroy aims to make up for lost time by regaining the habit of being in tournament contention when he tees off in the first round of this week's Frys.com Open, the opening event on the 2015-16 PGA Tour.

The Northern Irishman was sidelined for almost two months after rupturing a ligament in his ankle while playing football with friends on 4 July, forcing him to miss the British Open at St Andrews, one of his favourite venues, among other events.

Though he triumphed three times this year, all those wins came before the end of May and he is eager to recapture his usual ability of contending virtually every time he competes, starting this week at Silverado Resort in Napa, California. McIlroy was asked if he actually feels like the third best player in the world

"I guess if you look over the course of the last 12 months, yeah. They have won more than I have in that time period. Won more majors for sure, obviously, they won three of the four majors this year. Yeah I think that's an accurate representation of how golf has been over the last twelve months," McIlroy, 26, told reporters on Wednesday (October 14) while preparing for Thursday's opening round.

"It gives me motivation, not only because other guys are doing well but just because of the position I'm in. I want to start doing well again and obviously seeing them win 5 times a year and winning majors its something I've done before and feel like I can do again so there's always motivation there... whether guys are doing well or not. It's just I find I'm just trying to get my game back to that place it needs to be."

"So I want to get back into contention, have chances to win tournaments. That's really my focus until the end of the year. I've got four opportunities to do that from now until Dubai," he said, referring to the PGA Tour and its European equivalent.

A four-time major champion, McIlroy described 2015 as something of a 'lost year' because of his inability to add further wins in golf's blue ribbon events to his career resume.

"It gives me motivation, not only because other guys are doing well but just because of the position I'm in. I want to start doing well again and obviously seeing them win 5 times a year and winning majors its something I've done before and feel like I can do again so there's always motivation there... whether guys are doing well or not. It's just I find I'm just trying to get my game back to that place it needs to be."

Competing this week for the first time since he tied for 16th at last month's season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta, McIlroy was in confident mood on the eve of the Frys.com Open.

"I'm happier with my game now than I was leaving Atlanta a couple of weeks ago so that's a good sign," he said. "My game feels in good shape. I'm happy to be here. I saw the course for the first time today and liked what I saw."

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