'I want to move on' - McIlroy parks Masters win to focus on new goals

Rory McIlroy at the moment of victory in the 2025 Masters

Rory McIlroy wants to forget his Masters victory and make another winning start to his PGA Tour season at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

The world number two begins his title defence at Spyglass Hill with his “trusty” blades back in the bag and new goals to achieve after ending his brief experiment with cavity-backed irons.

Aside from the original seven-iron, which was donated to Augusta National, the Masters-winning clubs are back. But when it comes to that win, he’s trying to forget it for the time being.

“I'm more of a let's focus -- it's done, it's wonderful, I'm happy that it's over in a way, but I want to move on,” he said. “And I've got more goals and there's more things I want to try to accomplish and achieve.”

As for the seven-iron he used to hit his iconic approach around the trees to the 15th green in the final round at Augusta, he didn’t realise it was missing until the following week.

“(My manager) Sean had already given it to the club, he just didn't tell me,” McIlroy said with a grin. “If there was one I was going to give the club, it was probably going to be that one.”

The Holywood star addressed a host of hot topics ahead of back-to-back signature event appearances at Pebble Beach and Riviera from LIV Golf’s loss of Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed to Ryder Cup crowd problems, whether or not The Players should be considered a Major and the PGA Championship’s loss of identity.

“I'm a traditionalist, I'm a historian of the game,” he said of The Players. “We have four Major championships. If you want to see what five major championships looks like, look at the women's game. I don't know how well that’s gone for them.”

The Players, he feels, has benefited from moving back to March from May, but the PGA has suffered from moving from August to May.

“I think it needs to go back to August,” he said, pining for the days when it was ‘Glory’s Last Shot’.

He sees the exit of Koepka and Reed as a sign the PGA Tour has the momentum in its battle with LIV and reckons the more compact 2027 schedule may “entice” more players to follow them.

As for the Ryder Cup crowds, he expects Europe to nip any misbehaviour in the bud at Adare Manor.

“If you see something or you hear something, you point it out straight away,” he said.

As McIlroy and Shane Lowry make their 2026 US debuts, Elm Park’s Anna Foster and Castlewarden’s LPGA-bound Lauren Walsh started well at the LET’s PIF Saudi Ladies International.

Walsh made three twos in a bogey-free, five-under 67 that left her joint sixth, just three shots behind Mimi Rhodes and Hye-Jin Choi at Riyadh Golf Club, while Foster was 41st after a 70.

“Everything was pretty good,” said Walsh, who will make her LPGA debut in China next month. “It was nice to see some of the work from the off-season paying off. Delighted to be back.”