Golf star Rory McIlroy may have surprised many with his latest comments ahead of the Masters next week.
The world No. 2 is gearing up for another Masters campaign in which he will bid to win his maiden Green Jacket. The 33-year-old achieved his best result at Augusta last year, finishing runner-up and three shots behind the champion and current world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.
As he prepares to try and complete the set of majors and join golf’s most esteemed group of players who achieved the feat, McIlroy has highlighted one star who has inspired him of late - and that is tennis ace Carlos Alcaraz.
The Spanish teenager has taken the tennis world by storm by winning his maiden Grand Slam at the US Open last September and also becoming the world No. 1.
In an interview with The Telegraph, four-time major winner McIlroy admitted he has been particularly impressed with the Spaniard's mentality and attitude to the game.
"I’ve been reading Alcaraz’s interviews," McIlroy said. "I mean, to have this philosophy and, more so, the understanding and the conviction at the age he is and with all the pressure he’s had and the expectation on him to be the next big thing as that golden age comes to an end… well, it’s incredible really.
"A lot of what he says sticks with me, but especially one bit." He added: "Carlos says his aim is always to play with ‘joy and instinct’. That’s fantastic isn’t it? Listen to that – ‘joy and instinct’. What a lovely, beautiful and very plain ambition to have. It is what every kid has when they first play a sport and what invariably then gets lost when the really good ones progress and turn professional. The joy goes. The instinct gets lost.
"Alcaraz is not trying to be the new [Roger] Federer or new [Rafael] Nadal or new [Novak] Djokovic – he is just trying to play tennis as he wants to, but also to the best of his ability in a way that the fans will love. He talks of not making everything monotonous and life being more fun that way and his tennis being more fun to watch."
Meanwhile, the Northern Irish star has had a very encouraging few months as he regained the top spot in the rankings for a brief period last October. Six months prior, he came close to completing the career Grand Slam but fell short at Augusta a year ago.
Heading into the 2023 edition of the event, McIlroy is feeling confident abut his game and believes he can finally win the prestigious Green Jacket for the first time in his career. "I’m a lot more confident going into Augusta than I was last year, and last year was my best-ever finish," he told Sky Sports.
"The one thing about Augusta is you can’t go in too over confident. But I feel like I’m driving the ball better, I’ve got a driver I’m more comfortable with and my putting really progressed as the week went on here." After some encouraging practice sessions at Augusta, McIlroy defeated Scheffler to finish third at last week's WGC Match Play - a performance he took many positives from.
"There are a ton of positives to take away," McIlroy told Sky Sports. "If you had told me I would make it to the Sunday of the Match Play last week I would have taken that. I think my game is in really good shape so just keep it ticking over, work on the shots I need for Augusta and away we go."
