Rory McIlroy has admitted that there was a big difference between his first and second Masters Tournament wins, and he’s hoping that there’ll be no signs of the post-major hangover he suffered last season this time around.
Speaking to the press ahead of the Truist Championship at Quail Hollow – one of his favourite stomping grounds and where he’s won four times on the PGA Tour, including a breakthrough success in 2010 – McIlroy again cited his Saturday evening range session with Harry Diamond as a key factor in his successful defence at Augusta National.
“I think the range session on Saturday night was a big turning point for me,” he explained.
“To be able to go there with Harry, figure out a couple of things, and figure it out in a way that I didn’t have a Trackman, I didn’t have a video, I didn’t have, I was like, ‘no, I just want to get a feel’.
“I carried that feel into Sunday, and I honestly, reflecting on it, I made the double on four, but then from the 5th tee until I would say the second shot on 17, I didn’t miss a shot.
“I swung it good; I hit the shots I wanted to hit. I was really proud of that because Saturday was a struggle. So, to be able to bounce back and turn it around and then feel and play the way I did on Sunday was, I was really proud of that.”
He’s since skipped the three subsequent PGA Tour events, including the RBC Heritage and Cadillac Championship Signature Events, but he admitted that he’s in a much more different head space this year than last year when he’d scaled what he felt at the time was his Everest.
“Even winning felt different,” McIlroy said. “I guess, you know, and I’ve spoken about this a lot, I felt like winning the grand slam was like this, was going to be this life-changing thing and in some ways it was, but in other ways I had to remember like, no, I still have a lot of my career left and I want to keep playing and keep competing.
“So, this year was I think winning was validation for all the work that I’ve put in over the last few years to get myself back to this place where I’m winning majors.”
Which sounds ominous for the competition.
“I’m excited for the road ahead,” he added. “I’m excited for this week, I’m excited for Aronimink next week, Shinnecock, Birkdale, you know, like I feel like if anything I’m more motivated after what happened at Augusta this year than I’ve ever been.”
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