Rory McIlroy has been a staunch advocate of the PGA Tour since the emergence of LIV Golf. In this wide-ranging interview, he discusses the state of the men’s professional game and gives his thoughts on his own career, leaving a legacy, this year’s Major venues and more...
To say that Rory McIlroy is a thoughtful superstar is a good place to start when describing one of Europe’s great modern players. I’ve been fortunate to cover his career at numerous events in the United States since 2010 and I’ve seen him hold doors open for security guards at Augusta National, accommodate requests from fans and media effortlessly and show over and over again that he’s one of the nicest guys on the tour.
I remember at the 2015 WGC-Match Play in San Francisco, Rory watched a boxing fight in the media centre on the Friday night as he was unable to get to the event proper in time. During the fight, a radio broadcaster named Dennis Paulson face-timed his son and handed the phone to a comfortably seated McIlroy with no warning. Rory sat up and without hesitation grabbed the phone, waved and conversed with Paulson’s son, engaging in a couple minutes of conversation. He rolled with it.
One year at The Masters, I was speaking with Fuzzy Zoeller and Rory approached us and went straight to me, the stranger who he’d never met, and introduced himself. He read the situation and didn’t engage Fuzzy first, thereby leaving me in the awkward position of being the odd man out. It was a little thing, but it revealed a lot about the Northern Irishman’s character. He’s one of the good guys.
The McIlroy interview I did for Golf Monthly in 2022 was born from a casual exchange I had with him on the Tuesday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. I told him I’d really appreciate a few minutes of his time that week, if possible, and he suggested I walk a couple of holes of the Pro-Am with him that Wednesday.
For this interview, I asked him in March, again at Bay Hill, if he had time to chat later that day. He said he would be happy to and quickly came up with a specific time that afternoon after his range and putting work. Getting that kind of specific time commitment from most of his peers on the spot is extremely rare.
Below, the popular Ulsterman talks through the state of professional golf as a whole, how he feels about his own game, the hunt for more Majors, how he defines success and this year’s Major venues...
•What do you make of the state of your career? I feel incredibly fortunate that I’ve had such a long career and that I’ve had such a consistent career up until this point. You look at other sports and other athletes and they don’t get the tim
