Rory McIlroy is back at Augusta National this week, where he is looking to successfully defend his title at The Masters.
McIlroy claimed his fifth major championship win at The Masters this time last year, and his first at Augusta National to complete the set.
Clinching the green jacket, he added the title to his two from the PGA Championship, and one each from the US Open and The Open Championship.
McIlroy is now looking to add further silverware to his honors list at Augusta, where he defeated Justin Rose in a playoff in 2025.
He will, of course, have to return his green jacket should he fail to defend his title, but the Northern Irishman is waiting until the very last minute to do that.
Rory McIlroy wants to be in his prime for the next 10 years
When asked how special it is to return to Augusta donning the green jacket, McIlroy told BBC Sport: “Feels pretty good.
“I can’t believe it’s been 12 months. It’s been an amazing 12 months to bring this green jacket all over the world and see the excitement on everyone’s faces when they see it, and be able to do that for them.
“That’s been a really cool thing.
“But yeah, I said in the press conference, I did think that winning The Masters was the destination for me in my career, but it wasn’t, it’s part of the journey, and I still feel like there’s a lot of the journey left to embark on.”
It was then posed to the 36-year-old: “Lots more majors hopefully?”
He replied: “Hopefully yeah.
“I’ve got four chances a year for the next 10 years hopefully when I feel like I’ll still be pretty much in my prime, and it’ll be nice to see how many of those that I can get.”
Rory McIlroy shakes off pressure thanks to his win at The Masters
If McIlroy hasn’t yet peaked, it is a very worrying sign for his rivals.
He boasts 29 PGA Tour wins overall and is a former world number one, and is currently behind only Scottie Scheffler in the world rankings.
Moreover, he lifted a huge weight off his back by finally winning The Masters last year, ending his heartbreaking drought at Augusta.
Discussing if some pressure is now off, at least until the “business end of things”, he said: “Absolutely. I think pressure off here, most importantly.
“I think that one of the things that was always holding me back at this tournament was the fact that I had never done it, and I’d had chances.
“2011 always felt like it was still sort of in the periphery. And so I think just to shed all of that will make, if I… hopefully when I do get myself back into contention at this tournament, it makes it a little bit easier to deal with.”
Having claimed four major wins in three years between 2011 and 2014, he had to wait a whole 11 years until finally getting over the line at Augusta.
But now that has been complete, he remarkably enters this year’s tournament under little pressure despite being the defending champion.
Many eyes will be on other players as they look to steal the limelight, which certainly isn’t an easy feat at one of the most iconic courses in the world.
Importantly for McIlroy, he has been there and done that now, although that is not to say he’ll find it easy in Georgia this week.
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