Rory McIlroy has vowed that he does not want his career grand slam sealing Masters triumph to be the “last great moment” of his illustrious career.
It will be hard to ever top the euphoria of when McIlroy broke his Augusta hoodoo, but an Open Championship triumph in his home country would certainly be an unforgettable moment.
As McIlroy prepares for this week’s Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club, a venue he won at two years ago, the Northern Irishman insists he is refreshed and ready for a shot at winning a second Claret Jug, albeit this time at Royal Portrush in his native Northern Ireland.
FOX SPORTS, available on Kayo Sports, is streaming The 2025 PGA Tour LIVE & Exclusive | New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer.
McIlroy cut a dejected figure in the aftermath of becoming just the sixth male golfer in history to win all four majors.
He avoided media interviews, sprayed his drives and moped about as he scraped into the weekend at the US PGA Championship and the US Open.
The 36-year-old went on to finish tied 47th at Quail Hollow, but regained some momentum at Oakmont with a three-under par final round to match the low round of the day and jump into a share of 19th.
NORTH BERWICK, SCOTLAND – JULY 09: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland talks to the media during a press conference prior to the Genesis Scottish Open 2025 at The Renaissance Club on July 09, 2025 in North Berwick, Scotland. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
He followed that up with a tied sixth finish at the Travelers Championship the next week to recreate some of the form that yielded victories at The Players and Pebble Beach before The Masters.
With his confidence clearly renewed, McIlroy has his sights set on more historic moments.
“Look, I don’t want the Masters to be my last great moment in the game,” he said.
“There’s plenty more I can do. I feel like I’ve kept banging on this drum all year, but I’m a better player now than I ever have been.
“And there’s so many opportunities that lie ahead, whether that’s Portrush next week or the Open going back to St Andrews or a US Open at Pebble Beach.
“There are all these great venues that all the greats have won on, and I’d love to add my name to those lists.”
Part of McIlroy’s role as spokesman for the PGA Tour during the LIV saga has been his passion for the history of the game.
It is why he holds certain courses in such high esteem, and it is partly why he battled demons at Augusta National for more than a decade because of the weight of the significance of winning there sat on his shoulders.
The challenge for him at Royal Portrush next week is whether he can free himself of a similar burden.
“If venues matter to you, it maybe puts a little bit more pressure on you,” McIlroy explained.
“I would love to win an Open at Portrush, absolutely. I would love to win an Open at St Andrews. I would love to win a US Open at Pebble Beach.
“There are venues in the game that just mean a little bit more. Having Portrush from home and the experience I had there last time … the Friday was amazing, the Thursday, not too much.
“It’s a little like when [Novak] Djokovic won the Olympics last year: he knew that was going to be his final chance, and you saw the emotion and you saw how much it meant to him.
“You think about it, and you can’t pretend that it’s not there. But when you are on the course, you just have to go out there and play as if you’re not playing at home and just play as if it’s another tournament.
“It obviously is a little more emphasis. There’s something extra there, just like there is at an Open at St Andrews or a US Open at Pebble Beach, for example.”
The last time The Open was played at Portrush in 2019, McIlroy missed the cut by a shot before his good friend Shane Lowry went on to win the Claret Jug.
McIlroy made an eight on his first hole of the tournament that year, hitting his opening tee shot out of bounds on his way to an eight-over par 79.
Such a disastrous start meant a second round 65 was not enough to make the weekend.
That second round was more reminiscent of the 61 McIlroy fired there as a 16-year-old to set the old course record that will never be broken.
He believes recent time away from the game at his new family home in England has helped him rediscover the passion and joy the game gave him as a youngster ahead of returning to the place where his journey began.
“We came back a few weeks ago and moved into our new home in Wentworth and been since trying to settle in and it’s amazing what two weeks of a bit of detachment can do for you, and sitting there being with your own thoughts for a while,” McIlroy said.
“Yeah, it’s been nice to have this time to reflect and also to rekindle my excitement and enthusiasm for the rest of the year. Obviously we have this week in Scotland and then a massive week next week [for the Open] in Portrush.”
He added: “There’s a detachment from the sort of week-in, week-out grind when you get back over here and Justin (Rose) and I were talking about that.
“You play PGA Tour golf for the first 25, 30 weeks of the year and you need to completely get away from it – because this world of golf can become all-encompassing. In this last fortnight, I felt like I could detach and sort of hide in a way. I needed that. My game needed that.”
The significance for his home country of hosting The Open Championship at Royal Portrush for just the third time in history, having previously held the tournament in 2019 and 1951, is not lost on McIlroy.
He believes it is a wonderful thing to have Northern Ireland shown to the world in a positive light following The Troubles.
“I think it’s a great representation of how far Northern Ireland has come in the last 30 or 40 years,” McIlroy said.
“In the 70s, the 80s and the 90s, no one would have dreamed of hosting an Open Championship in Northern Ireland. So it’s a testament to the people of Northern Ireland for how far we as a country have come.
“I think my generation couldn’t care less about what had happened in the past. Everyone’s just looking forward. My mum and dad both grew up in the 60s and the 70s and Northern Ireland was a very different place. I feel very fortunate that I’m of the generation that I am that I didn’t have to deal with any of that or very little of it.
“It has come a long, long way. People really appreciate when a huge sporting event that the world’s eyes are on that week happens. Everyone there really appreciates that and excited to show the country in the best light possible.”
