At least some observers compared it to Rory McIlroy’s 17-year Masters title chase The fictional Captain Ahob’s pursuit of revenge against a whale named Moby Dick. The problem with this analogy is that Ahob’s hunt did not end well. In the climactic moments, the captain tangled in his harpoon line and was dragged to his death by the whale.
McIlroy’s expedition, on the other hand, ended on a much happier note, with Scottie Scheffler slipping the green jacket over McIlroy’s shoulders.
Hooray? Yes, of course! But there was a downside to McIlroy’s long-awaited victory: the sudden lack of motivation he felt now that he had finally killed his proverbial whale. McIlroy said he had spent years obsessing over winning the Masters and, with it, the career Grand Slam, yet little or no time considering his next steps if he actually closed the deal. Asked at the US Open in June about his five-year plan, McIlroy sounded like a job candidate caught flat-footed in an interview.
“I don’t have one,” he said. “I have no idea. I’m just taking it tour by tour at this point. Yeah, I have no idea.”
McIlroy’s lack of direction and motivation coupled with his abysmal form – in his previous two starts before the US Open, he missed the cut at the Canadian Open and finished T47 at the PGA Championship – caught the attention of the golfing world, particularly McIlroy’s former Ryder Cup captain. Paul McGinleywho said on Golf Channel that week at Oakmont: “It was very disturbing to watch (McIlroy’s) press conference. His eyes weren’t alive. The energy wasn’t there. He didn’t have the sharp elbows. It seems like something has gone out of him since the Grand Slam, like the air has gone out of him, not just in how he was going to play in his press conference. But it doesn’t look like it’s going to come this week, that’s not normal.
McGinley’s analysis was insightful, as a rebound came in the form of six top-10s for McIlroy in the second half of the season, including a won the Irish Openand a 3.5-point lead in the Ryder Cup. There was also something else: McIlroy started looking ahead again. He had new goals, new fuel. He talked about his PGA Tour and DP World Tour resumes “meaning a little less to me as time goes on,” and pouring into majors and the Ryder Cup. Heritage Building Weeks.
On Wednesday, McIlroy got even more specific about his new carrots, identifying three more boxes he’d like to check before hanging up his cleats.
“Olympic medals,” McIlroy said, speaking from the Dubai Desert Classic. “Open at St. Andrews. Maybe a US Open at one of those like old, traditional golf courses, whether it’s Shinnecock this year or Winged Foot or Pebble Beach, Merion.
“I would have told you two years ago, if I won the Masters, it would have been great and I could have retired or whatever. But when you keep doing things, the goalposts keep moving and you just keep finding new things you want to do.”
Let’s take a closer look at those posts.
GOAL NO. 1: WIN AN OLYMPIC MEDAL
McIlroy’s first goal is more interesting given his evolving view of golf’s place in the Olympics. When the sport debuted in Olympic competition at the 2016 Games in Rio, McIlroy not only sat out (citing concerns about the Zika virus), but also said he wouldn’t even remotely watch. Not for him. Yet five years later, when he found himself on the receiving end of a 7-to-1 playoff for the bronze medal in Tokyo, McIlroy sang an entirely different song for Olympic golf. “I never tried so hard in my life to finish third,” he said. “Coming here experiencing, seeing, feeling everything that happens, not just Olympic golf, but the Olympics in general, that Olympic spirit has definitely bit me.”
In Paris in 2024, McIlroy was again very close to the podium, finishing two shots out of third after a spirited rally in the final round. Afterwards, he said, “I still think that Ryder Cup it’s the best tournament we have in our game, pure competition, and I think this has the potential to be right up there with it.”
McIlroy’s next shot at Olympic glory will come in 2028 at the Los Angeles Games, where the Riviera will serve as the host venue for the golf event. McIlroy has never won at the Riv, but he’s a big fan of the strategic genius of the course (and also of the LA area in general). He’ll be pushing 40 then and, who knows, maybe a seven- or eight-time major winner. But he will surely be deeply motivated. If McIlroy comes up short again, his fourth chance (assuming he qualifies) would come four years later in Brisbane, Australia.
The site of the 2036 Olympic Games has not yet been chosen.
GOAL NO. 2: WIN AN OPEN AT ST. ANDREWS
The Open usually comes to St. Andrews every five years with the next edition scheduled for 2027. Assuming that tradition continues and McIlroy stays healthy, he will have three more Old Course Open starts before he turns 50. That’s not to say McIlroy couldn’t win a major at age 50 or older, as Philroy 21 did at the PGA20 Championship. oh-so-close at the 2009 Open Championship, but the odds would not be on McIlroy’s side.
Surprisingly, he has only played two Opens at St. Andrews, in 2010 and 2022, both times finishing third; McIlroy missed the 2015 event with a sprained ankle. The 2022 title was McIlroy’s for the taking, but in the final round he was bowled by Cameron Smith and it ended twice in one of the most soul-crushing defeats of his career. If McIlroy finds himself in need of some extra driving in 2027, he would do well to remember how knocked down he felt that Sunday night.
GOAL NO. 3: WIN A US OPEN AT AN OLD, TRADITIONAL LOCATION
This is the most curious item on McIlroy’s hit list, because he’s already accomplished it: His 2011 US Open victory came in Congressa classic Devereaux Emmet design built in the 1920s. But reading the tea leaves — and noting that McIlroy name-checked Shinnecock, Pebble, Winged Foot and Merion — we’re going to assume that when he says “old” and “traditional,” he means “courses in the pantheon.”.”
The good news for McIlroy is that almost every upcoming US Open site fits that description. Here are the next set of seats that have been assigned:
2026: Shinnecock Hills Golf Club (McIlroy Age: 37)
2027: Pebble Beach Golf Links
2028: Winged Leg Golf Club
2029: Pinehurst Resort (No. 2) (McIlroy Age: 40)
2030: Merion Golf Club
2031: Riviera Country Club
2032: Pebble Beach Golf Links
2033: Oakmont Country Club
2034: Oakland Hills Country Club (South Course) (McIlroy Age: 45)
2035: Pinehurst Resort (No. 2)
2036: Shinnecock Hills Golf Club
2037: Pebble Beach Golf Links
2038: Country Club of Brookline
2039: Los Angeles Country Club (McIlroy age: 50)
2040: Merion Golf Club
2041: Pinehurst Resort (No. 2)
2042: Oakmont Country Club
2044: Pebble Beach Golf Links
2047: Pinehurst Resort (No. 2)
2049: Oakmont Country Club
2050: Merion Golf Club
2051: Oakland Hills Country Club
Focusing solely on the next dozen pages, McIlroy will take three shots at Pebble, two at Shinny and one each at Winged Foot and Merion. McIlroy didn’t specifically mention any other locations, but surely Riviera, Oakmont and Oakland Hills would also fit his vision of a the right one US Open venue.
It’s not hard to like McIlroy’s chances of hitting the No. 3 – and if he also chose numbers 1 and 2?
“I’m sure if I achieve those things, which I hope to achieve, I’d probably give you more things in four years,” he said in Dubai this week. “I think when you’re a competitive person, that’s how you’re wired and it’s kind of how we operate.”
;)
