Rory McIlroy: ‘I Don’t Care About The US Open or The Open’
The four-time major winner has no doubts over which major is the most special 8er
The four-time major winner has no doubts as to which major is the most special
Rory McIlroy: 'I Don't Care About The US Open or The Open'
Rory McIlroy once again had the chance to complete the career grand slam last month at Augusta and came up agonisingly close.
The four-time major winner got within one of Patrick Reed after two holes on Sunday but ultimately faded for a 74.
McIlroy missed a short eagle putt on the 2nd hole and it all went downhill from there, with five bogeys following.
He eventually ended in a tie for fifth place, six back of Patrick Reed.
Since that disappointment, McIlroy revealed that he has been binge-watching TV box sets and reading psychology books.
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He plays his first tournament since Augusta this week at Quail Hollow, where he has won twice, and said in the build up that The Masters is golf's biggest event.
"The Masters has now become the biggest golf tournament in the world and I'm comfortable saying that. I don't care about the US Open or the Open Championship, it is the biggest golf tournament in the world, the most amount of eyeballs, the most amount of hype, everything is at Augusta."
This highlights just how much he wants to win the coveted Green Jacket, considering that he has won both the US Open and The Open.
The 28-year-old is never one to mince his words, but he has never made his desire to win the Masters and his love for the tournament clearer.
"For me it's the most special tournament that we play and it's the one everyone desperately wants to win, but even if I was going for my first major, it's still tough to win."
He spoke of his disappointment from Augusta and how the bad shots have been plaguing him to the point where he's had to go and see daylight.
"It was just the quiet moments when you're staring off into the distance and thinking about a certain shot or a certain putt, so it got to the point where I needed to see a bit of daylight and start to do my normal things," he said.
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"Once I got back into my routine I was fine. I was disappointed because I just didn't give a good account of myself on that final day.
"I got lucky on that Saturday, that 65 was as good as I could have scored.
"I chipped in, there were a couple of balls that hit trees and came back into the fairway, hit it up into the azaleas and got away with it.
"I was sort of holding my game together and on Sunday - under the pressure of chasing Patrick down - it just never clicked for me."
McIlroy tees it up at 12.30pm today in the Wells Fargo Championship alongside Paul Casey and James Hahn.
Elliott Heath is our News Editor and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He manages the Golf Monthly news team as well as our large Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. He covered the 2022 Masters from Augusta National as well as five Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews. His first Open was in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, when he walked inside the ropes with Jordan Spieth during the Texan's memorable Claret Jug triumph. He has played 35 of our Top 100 golf courses, with his favourites being both Sunningdales, Woodhall Spa, Western Gailes, Old Head and Turnberry. He has been obsessed with the sport since the age of 8 and currently plays off of a six handicap. His golfing highlights are making albatross on the 9th hole on the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa, shooting an under-par round, playing in the Aramco Team Series on the Ladies European Tour and making his one and only hole-in-one at the age of 15 - a long time ago now!
Elliott is currently playing:
Driver: Titleist TSR4
3 wood: Titleist TSi2
Hybrids: Titleist 816 H1
Irons: Mizuno MP5 5-PW
Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore 50, 54, 58
Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5
Ball: Srixon Z Star XV
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