'Everything Beyond Is a Bonus': Rory McIlroy Is Playing This PGA With Complete Freedom

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — There are other goals, other ambitions. Rory McIlroy wants to do more in the game of golf even after his historic Masters victory last month. But if he doesn’t, it won’t much matter.

That liberation from the shackles of trying to achieve the career Grand Slam is what many perceive to be an opening to further greatness.

“Look, I have achieved everything that I’ve wanted—I’ve done everything I’ve wanted to do in the game,” McIlroy said at a Wednesday morning news conference. “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.

That is a nice way to approach the second major of the year and the rest of his career.

McIlroy, 36, begins play Thursday morning at Quail Hollow Club at the PGA Championship, a tournament he has won twice and at a venue where he’s won four times, including last year’s Wells Fargo Championship.

It is difficult to imagine better circumstances to be in after the emotional aftermath of winning the Masters and becoming just the sixth player to complete the career Grand Slam.

His game is in a good place, having won three times this year and coming off a tie for seventh on Sunday at the Truist Championship. He’s playing at a venue he loves with soft conditions that certainly don’t hurt him. And he no longer has the burden of expectation.

There are certainly goals, but even those at this point pale in comparison. And McIlroy knows such goals can be a detriment.

“I think everyone saw how hard having a ‘north star’ is and being able to get over the line,” McIlroy said of trying to win a fifth major championship after 11 years, especially the Masters. “If I can just try to get the best out of myself each and every week, I know what my abilities are; I know the golf that I can play. And if I keep turning up and just trying to do that each and every week, especially in these four big ones a year, I know that I’ll have my chances.

“I’ve always said 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. But again the numbers tell one story, but it might not be the full story.

“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.”

McIlroy’s reference to the best European player could mean Nick Faldo, who won six major championships, or Harry Vardon, who long before there was a Masters won the British Open six times and the U.S. Open once.

The greatest international player would be Gary Player, who won nine majors and whose 24 PGA Tour victories McIlroy has already surpassed with 29.

If anything, McIlroy might have a more immediate task in trying to get past the Masters.

He’s gone to London to visit a new home, to Northern Ireland to visit his parents, back to Florida and then New Orleans for the Zurich Classic. Last week, he was in Philadelphia for the Truist and returned to Florida to practice on Monday before coming to Charlotte.

His reaction on Augusta's 18th green, where he fell to his knees after holing the winning putt in the playoff over Justin Rose, spoke to the enormity of the accomplishment.

“I’ve tried not to watch it a lot because I want to remember the feelings and I want to—I’ve talked about this before, but I think when I rewatch a lot of things back, I then just remember of the visuals of the TV rather than what I was feeling and what I was seeing through my own eyes, so I haven't tried to watch it back too much,” he said. “But anytime I have, I well up. I still feel like I want to cry. It was an involuntary—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.”

McIlroy is grouped for the first two rounds with Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele. They begin play at 8:22 a.m. on Thursday and at 1:25 p.m. on Friday.