Rory: "I can't be sitting up here and talking to you guys if I think that the glory days are gone"
No time for looking back. Rory McIlroy during the final round of the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills. Photo by Montana Pritchard/PGA of America
RORY MCILROY is adamant he can double his tally of worldwide wins before he's done after finding a new level of consistency over the past 18 months.
The world number one already has 32 wins, including four Majors, and after winning the Dubai Desert Classic with his B game in his last start, he's confident he really is the game's best player.
"I feel like consistency-wise, I've been as good as I have been ever in my career," said the Co Down man said ahead of this week's $20 million WM Phoenix Open, where he is seeking his third consecutive PGA TOUR win after capturing the CJ Cup and the Tour Championship last year.
"I said at the end of last year, I feel like as complete of a player as I ever have. If you just look at my statistical categories, there's no real glaring weaknesses there. I've worked really hard on that to try to become a more well-rounded player.
"I think the results speak for themselves, as well, over not just the past six months but really the past 18 months post-Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits, I feel like I've been on a really good run of form since then."
McIlroy's improved wedge play and putting have been key to his return to world number one and he knows he can achieve all his goals if he keeps those areas sharp.
"I don't think I should be up here if I thought my best days weren't ahead of me," he said. "Like I can't be sitting up here and talking to you guys and trying to win golf tournaments if I think that the glory days are gone.
"You have to be an eternal optimist in this game, and I 100 per cent believe that I can still -- I've won 30 whatever times around the world as a professional. There's no reason that I can't double that number going forward. Like I truly believe that.
"Who knows whenever you've peaked or not peaked. I'm guilty of looking back to 2014 and thinking about how I played then and are there certain things from that time in my career I'd want to put into my own career at the minute, but when I look at everything and I look at the statistical categories, I said at the start of this press conference, I don't feel like I've ever been as complete of a player as I am right now.
"The highs were very high back then, but I had some lows, too. But I feel like my base level now is just a little bit higher and a little more consistent."
What pleased McIlroy most about Dubai, apart from beating Patrick Reed, was how he managed to remain focussed on the job at hand despite struggling with his game and off-course distraction.
It was a performance worthy of Tiger Woods at his grinding best.
“I think I said afterwards, it's one of the things that made Tiger stand out all those years is he was able to win golf tournaments when he wasn't at his best,” McIlroy said.
“Look, I'm not comparing myself for one minute to Tiger Woods, but if I can get better at sort of piecing it together and not getting -- not wanting to play perfect golf to win golf tournaments.
“I didn't react to bad shots; I sort of had a two-way miss off the tee; there was a bunch of stuff going on.
“But I was just able to put that behind me and really win with my short game and my putting and my ability just to manage my game.“
He's facing a busy run of mega-bucks "designated events" on the PGA TOUR and with eight of the world's top 10 and 24 of the top 30 set to battle the clashing Superbowl for attention this week, it's a perfect opportunity to make a statement.
It's also a big week for Shane Lowry, who returns to action with a new caddie in Bray's Darren Reynolds following his split from Brian "Bo" Martin in Dubai.
Sixth at TPC Scottsdale in 2016, Lowry hasn't played the event since 2018 but will relish the atmosphere with the Superbowl in town and should have some more sharpness in his game after some erratic play in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
Seamus Power, who was 15th at Pebble Beach on Monday, will be hoping to improve on missed cuts in his only two appearances in the event in 2019 and 2022 and continue his excellent run of form.
On the DP World Tour, rookies Tom McKibbin, Gary Hurley and John Murphy (who got in off the reserve list) tee it up in the Singapore Classic at Laguna National.
In South Africa, Ruaidhri McGee and Conor Purcell fly the flag in the Dimension Data Pro-Am at Fancourt, which is co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour and the Challenge Tour.
