Rory McIlroy couldn’t be going into major season with any more confidence.
It’s a very hard thing to go out and win the career Grand Slam and McIlroy would be one of only six players to do it if he did it. It’s going to be interesting to watch, but he will be full of confidence after his 28th win on the PGA tour.
You never get tired of winning big championships and McIlroy has done it all over the world – he’s a golfing superstar.
Highlights of the three-hole play-off between Rory McIlroy and JJ Spaun at The Players, where McIlroy closed out a second victory at the PGA Tour’s flagship event
McIlroy wants a five-win season – having won four times last year – and he’s already got two wins early doors. And not just any two wins, two big ones in The Players and the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Over the last year or so, McIlroy would have seen what Scottie Scheffler was doing. It has motivated him and made him go “well, if Scottie can do that, I can do that.”
Take a look at how Scottie Scheffler overcame injury issues in 2024 at The Players Championship to defend his title
Scheffler gave everyone a good whipping last year and McIlroy wouldn’t have liked that – he would have used that as a little bit of motivation. Everyone has to remember what Scheffler did last year and his nine wins worldwide, including The Masters, the end-of-season FedExCup and the Olympics.
We’ve seen that before in the sense that Justin Thomas has previously had a big season, Jordan Spieth was doing things like that when he first burst on the scene. Brooks Koepka has had a stretch of dominance. Tiger Woods, of course, did things like that every second year of his career for so long.
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When you talk about the great champion golfers, it’s all about longevity and Rory has been here for a long time – more than 15 years now – and he’s been in the top 10 for most of that. He’s had a long, successful career and the other guys have got to match that.
The standout player of the past couple of years is Scheffler but he’s got to do it for a bit longer before we can say he’s like McIlroy. There might still be more to come from McIlroy – his best peaks may still be out there.
Wayne Riley looks ahead to The Masters and whether Rory McIlroy could complete a career Grand Slam, after the World No 2 won The Players
His first win on the DP World Tour was back in Dubai in 2009 and he’s had a lot of competitive golf since then, but he remains so enthusiastic about his golf.
McIlroy the form man for The Masters?
When Rory started his career, he was the whole package. His putter went a little bit missing but, since he has been with Brad Faxon, he has become a better putter and Brad has done a truly magnificent job with him.
Rory is a very consistent golfer and he’s a very consistent person. He’s a level-headed guy and I didn’t see anything any different from him at The Players to what I usually see in McIlroy.
I think his driving was good, his iron plan was good and I think the putting was sensational, but I think his chipping – and he’s one of the most underestimated chippers – seemed to have a little too much bounce.
Rory McIlroy becomes the eighth player to win multiple editions of The Players
I’m sure that’s one area that he’s going to work on going into The Masters, but, the game was good enough to win. He came up trumps and couldn’t be in better form going into Augusta National.
Will he do it and win the Grand Slam? I’m not going to talk about it anymore because every time I talk about it, he doesn’t do it! I am saying nothing!
Listen to Wayne ‘Radar’ Riley on the latest edition of the Sky Sports Golf podcast, hosted every week by Jamie Weir. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Spreaker, while vodcast editions can be found on the Sky Sports Golf YouTube channel.
