Comfort, rather than pressure, can sometimes serve as an even greater source of motivation. Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, making his first tournament appearance since his back-to-back Masters Tournament victory, said, "The comfort I felt at this year's Masters is motivating me. It's the biggest motivation among all the emotions I've experienced so far."
Speaking at a press conference ahead of the PGA Tour's Truist Championship, which begins Wednesday night Korea time at Quail Hollow Club in North Carolina, McIlroy said, "Winning this year's Masters felt like validation for all the effort I've poured in over the past few years to get back into a position to win a major again." Winning at Augusta National a year later, he said, felt completely different from before.
His daughter Poppy seems to have felt something similar in certain ways. "Poppy seemed to feel really natural spending time at Augusta National as part of the champion's family," McIlroy said. "At the end of the day, going into Butler Cabin (the small cabin-style building where the Green Jacket ceremony takes place), eating cheese sandwiches, and talking with the club chairman — none of it felt awkward to her."
McIlroy explained that the feeling was completely different from last year, when his first Masters victory completed his career Grand Slam (winning all four majors). "I thought that completing the career Grand Slam would completely change my life. In some ways it actually did, but in other ways I had to remind myself, 'I still have a lot of my playing career left, and I want to keep playing and competing.'"
Although he experienced some aftereffects for a while following last year's Masters, he says there are no such aftereffects now.
The Truist Championship, a signature event with a total purse of $20 million, is McIlroy's first tournament since his second consecutive Masters win. Over the past three weeks, he traveled to New York with his wife and attended a state dinner for King Charles III of the United Kingdom, where he received a special congratulations from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Quail Hollow, the venue for his return, is also McIlroy's home turf. Tour colleague Jordan Spieth of the United States has even called it the "Rory McIlroy Country Club." It is where McIlroy won his first PGA Tour title in 2010, and he has won at the course a total of four times. He is now chasing the rare feat of winning five times at the same course. Achieving it would make him the first to do so since Tiger Woods of the United States, who won five times at Augusta National.
On Quail Hollow's notoriously difficult Green Mile (holes 16 through 18), McIlroy has recorded a total of 20 birdies — the most by any player on that stretch since 2010. He also aims to shake off the disappointment of finishing tied for 47th at last year's PGA Championship, a major held on the same course.
