Rory McIlroy has shared his thoughts on the current major championship schedule and admitted that he would not mind it being extended ahead of the Open Championship this week at Royal Birkendale.
The Northern Irishman is one of only seven golfers to ever win a career grand slam of the PGA Championship, the US Open, The Open and The Masters. He has won the PGA and The Masters twice for good measure, putting him alongside Nick Faldo as the most successful European golfers ever.
The current major schedule lasts four months, having been compressed seven yeas ago when the PGA Championship was brough forward from August to May. McIlroy has enjoyed success in both of these eras, but his most abundantly successful period was from 2011-2014 when he won four majors, and this has perhaps swayed his judgement on requesting the championships are more spread out and also a benefit for engagement in the sport.
“I’d like to see the major season spread out a little bit longer,” McIlroy proposed. “The Masters is always going to have the build-up, but I think then PGA into US Open, US Open into here, it just seems like it’s very, very quick.
“From a player perspective, if you get on a bit of a run, it’s nice to be playing well and go from one straight into the next but for the sport as a whole and for, I guess, the general interest in the game, obviously I can see the positives in the major season being stretched out a little bit longer.”
Whilst on the hunt for his seventh major ahead of this Open Championship, McIlroy has also been confronted with his own mortality, the sum of his success and what he believes that leaves behind as a legacy. McIlroy gave a stark response when asked by a reporter, saying that the pursuit of records is no way to live as an athlete and that legacy is only meaningful to those who get to see it.
“I don’t really care, McIlroy responded. “I would like to think that the people that love and care about me think a certain way of me, but I’ll be long gone. I’ll be dead.
“I don’t think I’ll be seeing what people say about me. I’ll be six feet under. I don’t think I’ll be a ghost. I think it would be a pretty unfulfilling pursuit if you’re just chasing records and results. You have to enjoy the journey to get there. I’ve learned that the hard way at times by chasing results and records too much.”
PA contributed to this report
