Rory McIlroy determined not to ‘burden’ himself with numbers after Masters glory
By Phil Casey, PA Golf Correspondent, Charlotte
Rory McIlroy has no plans to “burden” himself with victory targets and is determined to enjoy achieving everything he dreamed of following his memorable Masters triumph.
McIlroy’s nerve-shredding victory at Augusta National made him just the sixth male golfer to complete a career grand slam and gave him a fifth major title, one behind Sir Nick Faldo and two adrift of Europe’s most prolific major winner, Harry Vardon.
And the world number two has every chance of equalling Faldo’s tally in the 107th US PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, a venue where he won his first PGA Tour title in 2010 and has since claimed three more victories, including last year.
“I have achieved everything that I wanted, I’ve done everything I’ve wanted to do in the game,” McIlroy said before completing his preparations by playing the back nine at a rain-soaked Quail Hollow on Wednesday.
“I dreamed as a child of becoming the best player in the world and winning all the majors. I’ve done that. Everything beyond this, for however long I decide to play the game competitively, is a bonus.
“If I can just try to get the best out of myself each and every week, I know what my abilities are. I know the golf that I can play.
“And if I keep turning up and just trying to do that each and every week, especially in these four big ones a year, I know that I’ll have my chances.
“I’ve always said I’m never going to put a number on it. I’ve talked about trying to become the best European ever or the best international player ever or whatever that is.
“But again, the numbers tell one story, but it mightn’t be the full story.
“I feel like I sort of burdened myself with the career grand slam stuff, and I want to enjoy this.
“I want to enjoy what I’ve achieved, and I want to enjoy the last decade or whatever of my career, and I don’t want to burden myself by numbers or statistics. I just want to go and try to play the best golf I can.”
McIlroy admits he still feels like crying whenever he sees footage of his emotional reaction to winning the Masters, and the Northern Irishman has been blown away by the reaction to his historic success after beating Justin Rose on the first hole of a play-off.
“It’s everything I thought it would be,” McIlroy added. “I think the outpouring of support and congratulatory messages has been absolutely amazing.
“Look, everyone needs to have goals and dreams, and I’ve been able to do something that I dreamed of for a long time. I’m still going to set myself goals. I’m still going to try to achieve certain things. But I sit here knowing that that very well could be the highlight of my career.
“That’s a very cool thing. I want to still create a lot of other highlights and high points, but I’m not sure if any other win will live up to what happened a few weeks ago.”