Washington (AFP) – Having won the Masters to complete a career Grand Slam and end a 10-year major win drought, Rory McIlroy is ready to move on starting at this week’s PGA Truist Championship. The 36-year-old from Northern Ireland has won the event four times at Quail Hollow, but this year the event has been moved to Philadelphia Cricket Club because next week’s PGA Championship, the year’s second major event, is being played there.
“It doesn’t quite feel like a defense, but it’s good to be here. It’s always, at this stage of my career, cool to come to new venues, see new golf courses, and do new things,” McIlroy said on Wednesday. “First week, I guess, as an individual coming back and playing over the last few weeks. I’m excited to get back to being a golfer. It’s nice to get back into the routine again and get back to what I know how to do.”
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McIlroy had put himself on the brink of the career Slam in 2014, when he won the Open and PGA championships, but he failed 10 times after that to win the Masters before finally claiming the green jacket with an emotional playoff triumph last month over England’s Justin Rose at Augusta National. “I always had hope. It’s not as if I wasn’t going to show up at Augusta and feel like I couldn’t win,” McIlroy said. “I always felt like I had the game. And like I think, as everyone saw on that back nine on Sunday, it was about getting over — I don’t know what the right phrase is, but defeating my own mind was sort of the big thing for me and getting over that hurdle.”
“I’m just glad that it’s done. I don’t want to ever have to go back to that Sunday afternoon again. I’m glad I finished the way I did and we can all move on with our lives.” McIlroy, who celebrated a birthday last Sunday, played alongside Ireland’s Shane Lowry at a pairs event two weeks ago, but this marks his solo PGA return as well as his last tune-up for the PGA Championship. After a week celebrating with family and friends in Europe, with McIlroy admitting that when he saw his mother, “we were both a mess for a few minutes,” he spent three days last week practicing and some time in New York. “That period is sort of behind me, and I’m looking forward to the next few months,” McIlroy said.
– Bowler over batsman –
This week, that means dealing with an unfamiliar Cricket Club layout, one that had him recalling his youth cricketer days at Sullivan Upper School in Northern Ireland. “I actually preferred bowling than batting,” McIlroy said. “I never really wanted to get hit by the ball.” This week, he’ll be hitting the ball with his clubs on a renovated layout. “These new renovated old school courses, the strategy is just hit driver everywhere and then figure it out from there. That’s sort of the strategy of this place this week,” he said. “It’s an older course that has been renovated, and I think they’ve done a really good job with it. Every par-four out there is like 430, 440. They sort of feel like they’re 40 or 50 yards (more) than what they need to be. Still, it’s a cool track to play.”
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