Rory reflects on road to 20 wins

WHEN Rory McIlroy teed it up as a rookie professional at the Australian Masters in 2007, winning 20 PGA Tour events was not among his list of career ambitions.

But after snaring the CJ Cup in Las Vegas, when a final day charge from Australians Adam Scott and Cameron Smith did not materialise, the former world No.1 gave a revealing insight into how he had exceeded all those early goals

McIlroy shot rounds of 62 and 66 across the weekend to hold off a final-day surge from British Open champion Collin Morikawa to set the career mark and collect the $2.3m winner’s cheque at the Summit Club.

But as he reflected on what he had achieved, McIlroy (pictured) recalled an early outing with Aaron Baddeley, the two-time Australian Open champion who also won the Australian Masters that year and set the early bar for the four-time major champion to reach.

“I turned pro in ’07 and I went down and played the Australian Masters. I got my European Tour card and the first two days I was paired with Aaron Baddeley,” he said after his Las Vegas win.

“And Aaron Baddeley was, I think he was 18th in the world. I remember playing with him for the first two days and thinking, ‘Oh, my God, this guy is 18th in the world. How cool would that be?’

“I was sitting here this week before the start of this tournament as the 14th player in the world and basically people wondering if I was going to retire.

“It’s all relative. I just think as a kid starting out, I remember those two days with Aaron Baddeley. We both played really well. Again, he was having a great year, he got to like No.18 in the world, and I as an 18-year-old really looked up to him and really looked up to that and thinking hopefully one day that will be me.

“What I thought was an achievement at the start of my career when I turned pro was to get into the top 20 in the world. So I’ve surpassed all of that, but as you go on, your goals, you have to reframe everything and you have to keep resetting your goals.

“I think that’s what this is. Golf is just about moving forward and there’s always next week and you’re always trying to get better.

“So, yeah, that’s a very longwinded way of saying 20 wins seemed like a long way away when I turned pro.”