Mcilroy: It is OK if I win no more majors
Remaining on four titles not a fear for Ulsterman Open venue Carnoustie offers ‘good memories’
If that is it for Rory Mcilroy as far as major victories are concerned then you will not find the Ulsterman howling to the heavens.
He has revealed that although he obviously does not want to be stuck on four until he retires, if that proves the case he will not be losing any sleep.
“It’s still my career and I still want to make the most of it and I still feel like I have a lot of time left to make my mark on golf but, at the same time, it doesn’t keep me up at night thinking, ‘If I never win another major I can’t live with myself ’,” Mcilroy said.
He was talking during his preparations for the Irish Open, which begins at Ballyliffin today. It is Mcilroy’s final event before the Open in two weeks’ time, and should he fail to prevail at Carnoustie and next month’s USPGA at Bellerive, it would extend his drought to 16 majors and four years.
That would inspire his critics yet further to question the 29-year-old, who needs only the Masters to become just the sixth player in history to complete the career slam.
Of course, Mcilroy seemed to be on the brink of joining Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen in the pantheon in April when lying one shot behind Patrick Reed with 16 holes to play at Augusta. But he tailed off badly, eventually firing a 74 to finish six behind in fifth.
Then came his abject performance in the US Open at Shinnecock Hills, where rounds of 80 and 76 saw him miss the cut.
The rest of Mcilroy’s campaign has thus been classed as “urgent”, although he does not view it nearly so starkly.
“Nothing is going to change in my life whether I win one or not, but obviously I don’t feel like I’ll have fulfilled my potential,” he said. “But there’s other things in my life that are more important than golf. I don’t panic. It doesn’t keep me up at night.
“My goal this year wasn’t to win majors. It was just to put myself into contention to see how I fare. I did that at Augusta and felt I learned from it and, hopefully, I can put myself in similar positions at the Open and the USPGA.
“I’ve got good memories of Carnoustie. I played my first major there 11 years ago. It’s one of the best tests and if you hit good shots you’ll get rewarded,” he said. “But I think there’s elements to this course that if you can hit the shots here [Ballyliffin], you should be able to do it at Carnoustie, as well.”
Mcilroy agreed that his marriage last year gave him a new attitude but also believes this expansion of priorities was inevitable. “I think as you get older and as you evolve as a person you change and your perspective on things changes,” he said. “It’s not just the golf nowadays. There’s a lot more that goes into it.”
Certainly, Mcilroy is far more than simply one of the 156 competitors on the Co Donegal links. This is his last year as tournament host and in five seasons he and the team at his charitable foundation have accomplished a great deal. Perhaps it is best expressed by the fact that in 2011 the purse was £1.2million; now it is £5.3 million.
Mcilroy used his star power to attract new sponsors, Dubai Duty Free, and other world top-10 players. True, Jon Rahm, the defending champion, is the only other member of that elite in this year’s field, but with a plumb spot on the calendar, the tournament’s future looks assured. “He saved the thing singlehandedly,” Paul Mcginley said.
Mcilroy can concentrate on himself now, and in his mission to emulate his 2016 glory at the K Club he has stepped away from the extracurricular duties.
“I’ve cut back from a few things off the course,” he said. “There’s been a couple of times where I just haven’t felt as prepared as I could have been walking on to the first tee on Thursday.”