HISTORY BECKONS FOR Rory McIroy at the Masters this week, but the world’s top golfer says history can wait.
Having won the past two majors — the British Open and the PGA Championship — the 25-year-old Northern Irishman, with a victory on Sunday, would be just the sixth player to have won all four Grand Slam titles during his career, having also won the 2011 US Open.
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He would also stand on the cusp of holding all four major titles at the same time, a feat only Tiger Woods before him has achieved — in his case in 2000-2001.
Heady stuff and enough to set the slowest of pulses racing, but McIroy insists he has no intention of getting ahead of himself at any stage.
Asked if his mind would be able to keep his focus at all times during this week’s tournament, bearing in mind what a win would mean in the overall picture, he replied: “My mind wanders to winning this tournament only.”
“It’s been the same every time I’ve won a major. It has not wandered beyond the next one, and I’ve just really tried to key in on focusing on the next one. It is very important to stay in the moment and stay in the present, and you can’t get too far ahead of yourself.”
We’ve seen in the past what this game can do to people, and you see guys that look to be at the top of their game one minute and the next minute they struggle.”
“I don’t have a target. I’m just looking for my fifth (major title) and hopefully when I get my fifth, I’ll look for my sixth. At the end of my career, I’ll add it up and see where it leaves me, and that’s the way I’m going to approach it.”
'We've seen in the past what this game can do to people', says a focused McIlroy
HISTORY BECKONS FOR Rory McIroy at the Masters this week, but the world’s top golfer says history can wait.
Having won the past two majors — the British Open and the PGA Championship — the 25-year-old Northern Irishman, with a victory on Sunday, would be just the sixth player to have won all four Grand Slam titles during his career, having also won the 2011 US Open.
He would also stand on the cusp of holding all four major titles at the same time, a feat only Tiger Woods before him has achieved — in his case in 2000-2001.
Heady stuff and enough to set the slowest of pulses racing, but McIroy insists he has no intention of getting ahead of himself at any stage.
Asked if his mind would be able to keep his focus at all times during this week’s tournament, bearing in mind what a win would mean in the overall picture, he replied: “My mind wanders to winning this tournament only.”
“It’s been the same every time I’ve won a major. It has not wandered beyond the next one, and I’ve just really tried to key in on focusing on the next one. It is very important to stay in the moment and stay in the present, and you can’t get too far ahead of yourself.”
“I don’t have a target. I’m just looking for my fifth (major title) and hopefully when I get my fifth, I’ll look for my sixth. At the end of my career, I’ll add it up and see where it leaves me, and that’s the way I’m going to approach it.”
- © AFP 2015
Originally published on 7 April, 21.08
You’ll want to keep a very close eye on Rory McIlroy’s group for rounds 1 and 2 of The Masters
We’ll leave it there so: Frampton’s bumper offer, Leinster’s imminent signings and the rest of today’s sport
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