Relaxed enough to rip off a toenail - McIlroy's unusual US PGA preparation

· BBC Sport
In April, Rory McIlroy joined Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods as the only players to win successive Masters titlesGetty Images

By
Iain Carter
Golf correspondent at Aronimink Golf Club
Published

Not even a sore toenail that required a spot of self surgery could disturb Rory McIlroy's relaxed demeanour as he bids for back to back major wins at this week's US PGA Championship in Pennsylvania.

"I softened it up in the shower and just ripped it off," the Masters champion laughed before removing his sock to show off the results of his handiwork on a now plaster-protected little toe on his right foot.

As a result, he will go up half a size in his golf shoes for his assault on the Aronimink course near Philadelphia that stages the second men's major of the season, which starts on Thursday.

McIlroy is a different man compared with the tetchy figure who shunned the media for much of last year's PGA. Then he was in the midst of a hangover from his career Grand Slam victory at Augusta National.

At that time he was unsure of what was coming next in a career that had reached an apparent crescendo with his tumultuous play-off win over Justin Rose at the 2025 Masters.

Having become just the fourth player to retain the famous Green Jacket with his victory last month, McIlroy made time to celebrate before readying himself for this week and another of the tournaments that help define a career.

"Major championship wins don't come along that often," he told BBC Sport. "A little more often for me in the past couple years than the previous decade, so yeah, I wanted to enjoy it.

"The further I get on in my career, the more I start to realise how special these moments are. It was really nice to spend time at home with (wife) Erica and (daughter) Poppy and my parents."

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'Quail wasn't week I wanted but still useful'

The celebratory period included attending the State banquet held for King Charles' recent visit to Washington DC, an invitation that prompted McIlroy to skip the PGA Tour's signature event at Doral in Miami earlier this month.

But the six-times major winner flew out his lifelong coach Michael Bannon to his Florida base to prepare his game for the remaining three majors; this week's PGA, the US Open next month and then July's Open at Royal Birkdale.

"It's been a really good two and a half weeks of practice and getting back into playing competitively," he said.

McIlroy finished joint 19th last week in Charlotte in his one tournament since his Masters success. "Quail Hollow wasn't the week that I wanted, but it was still useful," he said.

"There's still a lot that I learned about my game and that's what I needed to do coming into this week.

"I didn't give myself a chance to win, unfortunately, but I still feel like it was a good week to see where my game was at and what I need to do to get myself into contention this week."

McIlroy faded in the third round at Quail Hollow - a place where he has won four times - but, just as he did at Augusta, ironed out creases in his game on the range on the Saturday evening before firing an impressive 67 in the closing 18 holes.

"It was a nice way to finish the week," Mcilroy said. "I went away from Quail Hollow with quite a few positives.

"I did some practice at home [on Monday] and I feel good about where my game is heading into this week."

'Majors are won with grit and determination'

McIlroy's priorities are all about the majors and as is always the case for the Masters winner, he is the only man now able to complete an unprecedented feat of completing a calendar year Grand Slam.

Tiger Woods is the only player to hold all four of the modern majors at the same time, but his winning run began with the 2000 US Open, took in The Open and PGA - when it was played in August - and ended at the following year's Masters.

So is winning all four majors in the same year achievable? "I think it's possible," McIlroy told me. "But it's incredibly difficult to achieve.

"There's a reason that no one's been able to do it before in the history of the game.

"The best thing that you can do is give yourself a chance in each one and then just see where the chips fall on the Sunday.

"There's quite a lot of randomness at times to winning golf tournaments. You have to have a lot of things go your way along with playing well yourself.

"So, in 100 years time if one person has done it, I would say, yeah, I could see that happening, but it's so difficult."

Nevertheless, the world number two has overcome demons that led to a near 11-year wait for his fifth major title which came at last year's Masters.

"If you look at my game and my results and my consistency from 2022 through to now, I've been on a nice run," McIlroy said. "And that run has culminated with the last couple of Masters, which has been really nice.

"Major championships aren't won with statistics or previous results. They are won with grit and determination and hitting the shots under pressure when you need to.

"And there are no real statistics to show you how good you are at that. That's just something that you have to learn and be."

McIlroy endured a string of near misses at majors before claiming last year's Masters. "Once you start to get over that hump and you get a win, you get another win, it sort of breeds confidence from there," he said.

"Form gives you confidence leading into events, but I would say that the way I won at Augusta a few weeks ago gives me more confidence about where I'm at and what I can do in these big weeks, than say winning two or three events leading up to a major."

McIlroy's biggest challenge this week will come from world number one and defending champion Scottie Scheffler, who skipped Quail Hollow to hone his skills for the Aronimink test.

Players champion Cameron Young and England's Matt Fitzpatrick are the other form players while McIlroy's Ryder Cup partner Tommy Fleetwood showed encouraging signs by finishing fifth in Charlotte last week.

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