After a decade of trying, Rory McIlroy finally completed the career Grand Slam with a dramatic Masters win. Following that historic achievement, McIlroy opted to skip last week’s RBC Heritage as he took a well-earned break.
However, less than two weeks after his emotional playoff win over Justin Rose at Augusta National, he returns to action at the unique team event the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, where he’ll play alongside Shane Lowry.
While McIlroy and Lowry will be going all out to claim the title at TPC Louisiana for the second year running, it was inevitable thoughts turned to McIlroy’s fifth Major triumph when he spoke to reporters ahead of this week’s event.
He began by reflecting on the scale of his achievement, saying: “Yeah, look, it's been an amazing few days after, and to be able to reflect on it and everything that happened and the magnitude of everything, I think the big thing for me is just how the whole journey sort of resonated with people and the people that have reached out to me. That's been absolutely amazing.
"Look, it's not every day you get to fulfill one of your lifelong goals and dreams, and I've just really tried to enjoy everything that comes along with that.”
McIlroy also revealed what he did while his fellow top PGA Tour pros were teeing it up in Harbour Town last week, adding: “We first went to London with Erica and Poppy to see our new home that we're building there last week and then we made the trip over to Belfast to see my mom and dad and a few other people that are important to me over there.
“Yeah, just to be with them, to be with Erica and Poppy and my mom and dad and to see Michael Bannon, my lifelong coach, and spend a bit more time with Harry [Diamond, his caddie] and his wife and just celebrate with the people that have been a part of this whole thing for my entire career, my entire life was absolutely amazing."
McIlroy also opened up on the way his victory touched people who wouldn’t normally count themselves as golf fans, and revealed that it included conversations with two presidents.
He said: “Yeah, very much beyond golf. I spoke to two presidents the day after, which was pretty cool. Just people reaching out from all walks of life, whether it be sports, entertainment, culture. Just all of it. People that you would never even think that would watch golf or would know what's going on, that was very, very humbling, I guess.”
While he did not specifically say which Presidents he spoke to, Rex Hoggard revealed on the Golf Channel Podcast that they were Donald Trump and Barack Obama.
But why did his win resonate with so many? McIlroy, who had endured near-misses in The Masters as well as the other Majors before winning, thinks it’s because it was so relatable.
He explained: “I think people can see themselves in the struggle at times, and everything that you sort of try to put into getting the best out of yourself in that journey. I think people watching someone finally get it done, something they've been trying to do for a decade plus, I think it resonated with a lot of people.”
