Rory McIlroy is fresh off his first ever Players Championship win and will now turn his attention to the Masters where he will attempt to become only the sixth player to complete the modern era career grand slam.
McIlroy spoke to the media after his first win since the 2018 Arnold Palmer Invitational and talked about the task ahead of him.
Q. Obviously your first win in one year to the day almost; does it feel like its been longer considering the expectations, the near misses, and also how does this set you up for the Masters, something that has eluded you?
“I mean, it’s felt — I think the years start to go shorter. It hasn’t felt like a year. It seems like only a few months ago that I won at Bay Hill.
“I’m just — I’m so pleased that this good run of golf has culminated in getting a win early in the season, but it’s not just a win early in the season, it’s a massive win. It’s a win that — it’s a tournament that I’ve never won before on a golf course that I’ve had mixed results on, so I feel like I’m going to take even more from that, and I had to grind it out down the stretch, as well, which I’ll take a lot from.”
McIlroy continued by saying he doesn’t want to look to far ahead and will enjoy a week off to decorate his new house.
“I don’t want to look too far ahead. I really want to enjoy this. I’ve got a week off. I’ve actually got an interior design meeting tomorrow morning to pick out some stuff for our new house, so that’s the next port of call.
“But yeah, I just want to enjoy this and enjoy the week, and I’ll turn my attention to what’s coming up in a few days’ time.”
As we pointed out in our final round review, McIlroy is now the betting favorite at 8:1 heading into Augusta for the Masters. Sometimes that can mess with a golfer’s head and McIlroy has had his fair share of disappointment on the first weekend in April over his career.
However, his approach this season appears to be working out just fine considering his results and he doesn’t plan on changing anything at this point.
Q. You’re already the betting favorite for the Masters. Do you feel like you might have to do anything different to manage the buildup between now and April?
“No, just keep doing the same thing. I feel like I’ve managed the first six weeks or six tournaments of the year very well, even with some noise around me, whether it is, he can’t close, he can’t play on Sundays, blah, blah, blah. I’ve just got to do my thing, and if I go and I concentrate on me, control what I can do, good golf and good attitude takes care of the rest. And if I go to Augusta with a similar golf game to what I have now and the attitude I’ve shown over the first few weeks of the year, I think I’ll have a great chance.”
It will be interesting to see how McIlroy handles the pressures of finishing T4, T5, T4, 2, T6, and 1st over the next couple of weeks.
[Transcript via ASAP]