Charlotte (AFP) – Rory McIlroy is enjoying the achievement of completing a career Grand Slam and doesn’t want more hurdles to overcome as he looks to future challenges such as this week’s PGA Championship. The 36-year-old from Northern Ireland became only the sixth man to complete the career Slam by winning last month’s Masters for his fifth major title, snapping a major win drought dating to 2014 with a victory that brought him to tears on the 18th green.
“I’ve achieved everything that I’ve wanted,” McIlroy said Wednesday. “I’ve done everything I’ve wanted to do in the game. I dreamed as a child of becoming the best player in the world and winning all the majors. I’ve done that. Everything beyond this, for however long I decide to play the game competitively, is a bonus.”
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McIlroy shuns watching videos of his victory, preferring to recall the emotions of a moment that still brings him to the verge of crying. “I’ve tried not to watch it a lot because I want to remember the feelings,” McIlroy said. “When I rewatch a lot of things back, I then just remember the visuals of the TV rather than what I was feeling and what I was seeing through my own eyes. But anytime I have, I well up. I still feel like I want to cry.”
“I’ve never felt a release like that before and I might never feel a release like that again. That could be a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and it was a very cool moment.” For McIlroy, it’s time to bask in the glow of success and not worry about creating more burdens, even at the PGA at Quail Hollow, where he has won four PGA Tour events.
“I think everyone saw how hard having a North Star is and being able to get over the line,” McIlroy said. “If I can just try to get the best out of myself each and every week, I know what my abilities are. And if I keep turning up and trying to do that, especially in these four big ones a year, I know I’ll have my chances.”
There are no major win total goals for McIlroy. There is only playing the game as best he can as often as possible. “I’m never going to put a number on it. I’ve talked about trying to become the best European ever or the best international player ever or whatever that is,” McIlroy said. “I feel like I sort of burdened myself with the career Grand Slam stuff, and I want to enjoy this. I want to enjoy what I’ve achieved, and I want to enjoy the last decade or whatever of my career, and I don’t want to burden myself by numbers or statistics. I just want to go and try to play the best golf I can.”
– All he dreamed and more – Winning the career Slam has been even more than McIlroy dreamed it would be for him. “It’s everything I thought it would be,” McIlroy said. “The outpouring of support and congratulatory messages has been absolutely amazing. Everyone needs to have goals and dreams, and I’ve been able to do something that I dreamed of for a long time. I’m still going to set myself goals. I’m still going to try to achieve certain things.”
“But I sit here knowing that that very well could be the highlight of my career. That’s a very cool thing. I want to still create a lot of other highlights and high points, but I’m not sure if any other win will live up to what happened a few weeks ago.”
Reigning US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau said he was shocked playing partner McIlroy never talked with him during the Masters final round. “I don’t know what he was expecting. We’re trying to win the Masters. I’m not going to try to be his best mate out there,” McIlroy said. “I was focused on myself and what I needed to do. That’s really all that it was. It wasn’t anything against him. That’s what I needed to do get the best out of myself that day.”
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