“I feel like, if anything, I’m more motivated after what happened at Augusta this year than I’ve ever been,” said Rory McIlroy in immediately dismissing any notions that the fire in his belly has diminished in any way since his successful defence of the Masters green jacket.
The Northern Irishman, playing for the first time in three weeks, is preparing for The Truist Championship at Quail Hollow, a tournament in Charlotte he has won four times. A year ago, McIlroy said he found it difficult to find further motivation after completing the career Grand Slam and believing he had scaled his Everest, but has adopted a different approach this time in looking to claim further titles and add to his legacy.
“It feels a lot different. Even winning felt different. I’ve spoke about this a lot, I felt like winning the Grand Slam was going to be this life-changing thing and in some ways it was, but in other ways I had to remember like, ‘no, I still have a lot of my career left and I want to keep playing and keep competing’.
“So this year was I think winning was validation for all the work that I’ve put in over the last few years to get myself back to this place where I’m winning majors. I’m excited for the road ahead. I’m excited for this week, I’m excited for Aronimink next week [the US PGA], Shinnecock [US Open], Birkdale [The Open],” said McIlroy.
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McIlroy’s time since the Masters involved quite a lot of family time – 10 days, he estimated – with his mother Rosie and father Gerry over in the States for his successful defence along with wife Erica and daughter Poppy, and also a trip to the White House for the state dinner for Britain’s King Charles III, an “amazing event ... [I managed] to fit in some fun stuff.”
Now, it is back to business with the Truist – which he has won four times (2010, 2015, 2021 and 2024) – his first tournament back and on a favoured course given his success rate. “I’ve had success and it’s somewhere I always love coming back to,” said McIlroy, although his last appearance was in last year’s US PGA where he was a distant tied-47th behind winner Scottie Scheffler.
With hot weather in the North Carolina area in recent weeks, the course is playing firmer than for that US PGA with the greens faster and the rough slightly less penal.
“It’s been very dry here by all accounts, so the greens are very firm. The rough is down a little bit. Sort of more, probably more in keeping with what the golf course was like in 2024, when the tournament was last here. The course is great. The greens visually don’t look amazing but they roll really well and they’re very firm,” said McIlroy.
And there have been some equipment changes too from the bag which won a second Masters last month, with new irons and a new TaylorMade 3-wood in play for this week’s $20 million signature event.
“I had been using the 4D 3-wood at the start of the season. I noticed that it just had a little bit of a left bias in it. So I went back to an old Qi10 for a while. But that wasn’t spinning enough. It’s more like a mini driver than a 3-wood. It sort of spins like 2,700, it’s pretty fast. It could be a good club for like Memorial, for example.
“But I felt like I needed a 3-wood that just spun a little bit more. So the TaylorMade guys were down working with me last week because I needed to get into a new set of irons too. So I got a fresh set of irons and they brought a couple of 3-wood options along and I landed on this one. It doesn’t have that left bias I was seeing with the old 4D 3-wood. And it’s got a nice consistent spin rate sort of like 3,200, which is what I like to see.”
The Truist Championship lowdown
Purse: €17.1m/$20m (€3.08m/$3.6m to the winner)
Where: Charlotte, North Carolina, US
The course: Quail Hollow Golf Club – 7,583 yards par 71 – has been the traditional tour stop for the tournament (also known as the Wells Fargo under previous sponsorship) and returns as host venue after a one-year hiatus last year when the PGA Championship, won by Scottie Scheffler, was played on the reworked Tom Fazio design. The closing stretch of holes – 16 to 18 – is known as The Green Mile and has earned a reputation as one of the toughest finishing runs on the PGA Tour.
The field: No Scottie Scheffler, who has opted to skip this week ahead of the US PGA at Aronimink next week. However, world number two Rory McIlroy is back for his first appearance since going back-to-back at the Masters, while in-form players Matt Fitzpatrick and Cameron Young – who between them have won each of those three events played since Augusta – are also looking to keep their hot streaks going. Sepp Straka is the defending champion, having won at Philadelphia Cricket Club last year.
Irish in the field: Rory McIlroy is the lone Irish player playing, with Shane Lowry opting to miss this week to prepare for the PGA. McIlroy has been paired with Matt Fitzpatrick for the opening two rounds (1st round, 1st tee 3.05pm Irish time).
Quote-Unquote: “I wouldn’t say it’s a hole to attack, that’s for sure. I think it’s a tough finishing hole. The wind tends to be off the left most of the time. You’ve obviously got the trees down the left off the tee, so to start it left is difficult. Water down the left and you can be blocked out by the trees by hitting it right” – Matt Fitzpatrick’s take on the finishing 18th hole at Quail Hollow.
Betting: McIlroy’s win record around this piece of North Carolina real estate is better than anyone’s, with four wins forming part of his career CV. So, no surprise that the world number two, playing for the first time since the Masters, is installed as 5-1 favourite which – while tight – is tempting given his record on the course and also with Scheffler’s absence. Cameron Young’s win in the Cadillac moved him to world number three, leapfrogging Matt Fitzpatrick, and he is a 9-1 shot with Xander Schauffele at 10s ... in terms of value, an each-way look at Kristofer Reitan at 100-1 looks decent.
On TV: Live On Sky Sports+ from 12.30pm, Sky Sports Golf from 5.30pm.
