ONLY A NUMBER
TURNING 30 ISN’T A BIG DEAL TO MCILROY
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Rory McIlroy has two more rounds of tournament golf before he leaves his 20s, a statement of fact more than a state of mind.
For McIlroy, 30 is just a number he prefers to see on one side of a scorecard.
“If you shoot 30 on a nine, you’re doing OK,” he said Wednesday.
In most lines of work, turning 30 is just getting started, and even with a few specks of gray in his formerly curly hair, McIlroy still feels like one of the younger players in professional golf. He played a practice round this week in advance of the Wells Fargo Championship with Sam Saunders, who is not even two years older.
“But he’s got two kids, one at 10 and one at 5,” McIlroy said. “I’m not quite at that stage yet. But this life, it makes you grow up quickly. It’s funny, I still feel like I’m one of the young guys. … I don’t know what age I really am. I was here when I was 20 and winning at Quail Hollow, but it doesn’t feel like 10 years ago.”
McIlroy, among three of the top 10 players in the world at Quail Hollow Golf Club for the PGA Tour event that starts today, has been around the highest level of golf nearly half his life.
He played his first European Tour event nearly 14 years ago at the 2005 British Masters and had rounds of 82-81 at Forest of Arden. He turned pro two years later at age 18 and opened with a 69 in the British Masters at The Belfry on his way to a tie for 42nd.
He won for the first time at the Dubai Desert Classic when he was 19. His first PGA Tour victory was May 2010 at Quail Hollow, where he closed with rounds of 66 and 62 for a fourstroke victory over Phil Mickelson. McIlroy, who turns 30 on Saturday, has won 23 times worldwide, including four majors, in what he referred to in January as the first phase of his career.
Young or old, the 30s tend to be the prime of a golfer’s career.
That’s how Rickie Fowler felt about the majors when he turned 30 late last year. It’s how Jason Day felt when he hit 30 at the end of 2017. Golf was all Day ever really knew, and he turned pro at 18, the same as McIlroy.
“Being 30, I didn’t feel old. But when you looked at some of the younger guys, you know you’re old — older,” he said with a laugh. “I think once I turn 40 that will change in my mind. Because your peak years should be 30 to 40 if you can stay healthy, touch wood. You’ve got all that experience behind you.”
Health has been a concern for Day, who earlier this year had to pull out of the Arnold Palmer Invitational and get cortisone shots for a back that betrayed him again. He recovered in time to tie for eighth in The Players Championship, and he made a reasonable run at the Masters with a closing 67 to tie for fifth. He doesn’t expect problems this week because of the heat.
McIlroy has found Quail Hollow to be one of his favorite haunts as a two-time champion with four other top-10 finishes at the course, including a playoff loss to Fowler. This tournament also signals the next stage of the season, with the Masters behind and the PGA Championship at Bethpage Black two weeks away.
McIlroy failed for the fifth time to complete the career Grand Slam at the Masters, done in by suspect driving. He spent last week with longtime coach Michael Bannon trying to get his posture back to where it was, a process nearly complete.
From a larger point of view, the next phase of his career involves playing at a high level and letting the results happen instead of trying to force low scores. He doesn’t look at the schedule as a major a month (from April to July) but rather a year of opportunities.
“I don’t view it as just this big week or this big week,” he said. “It’s a stretch of golf coming up, and I’m excited about that.”