I WAS DONE WITH GOLF..

Rory’s relieved he rolled the dice one more time in Vegas

RORY MCILROY relaunched his career with his 20th victory on the PGA Tour at the CJ Cup – then said he’d wanted to halt his season at the Ryder Cup.

The four-time Major winner broke down in tears at Whistling Straits on the final day of Europe’s defeat last month.

But the Holywood man said his Sunday singles victory over Olympic champion Xander Schauffele “sparked a little flame.”

And after vowing to stop striving for perfection, Mcilroy returned to shoot weekend rounds of 62 and 66 in Las Vegas to beat Open champion Collin Morikawa by a stroke.

The new world No.8 said: “On the Saturday night of the Ryder Cup, I was done with golf.

“I did not want to see golf again until 2022.

“I was really disappointed with how I had played.

“Then I talked about that Sunday singles match and that sort of sparked a little bit of a flame again.

“Against Xander I won my point by doing whatever I could. I wasn’t trying to be perfect, I wasn’t trying to hit shots that I wasn’t comfortable hitting, I just went out there to try to win my match.

“Part of the emotion at the end of it was to do with that week but it was also probably to do with the last few months in terms of searching to try to get better and the realisation that I don’t need to search for anything, it’s all right here.

“I just need to play golf, I need to simplify it, I need to just be me. For the last few months I was maybe trying to be someone else. “This week was a great reminder that you don’t need to be perfect to be a great golfer.” Mcilroy’s reaction brings into question his relationship with Pete Cowen (inset), who has worked on his swing since before the Masters.

He was world No.1 when the pandemic stopped golf in March 2020 but he slipped to No.15 this summer despite winning the Wells Fargo Championship in May.

He entered the CJ Cup at No.14 and started the weekend nine shots off the lead but he rolled in a 35-foot eagle putt on the par-five 14th on Sunday on his way to 25 under par.

The 32-year-old is the 39th man to win at least 20 times on the PGA Tour and will secure lifetime membership when he completes 15 years as a member in 2023.

Mcilroy, who became a father to Poppy last year, will now take a month at his Florida home before playing in Dubai next month.

“It’s a great way to start the season,” he said. “It’s four weeks to build on what’s happened here.”