At least a few observers compared Rory McIlroy’s 17-year Masters title chase to fictional Captain Ahob’s vengeful hunt for a whale named Moby Dick. The problem with that analogy is that Ahob’s hunt did not end well. In the climactic moments, the captain became entangled in his own harpoon line and the whale dragged him to his death.
McIlroy’s expedition, on the other hand, ended on a much happier note, with Scottie Scheffler sliding the green jacket onto McIlroy’s shoulders.
Hurrah? Yes of course! But there was also a downside to McIlroy’s long-awaited victory: the sudden lack of motivation he felt now that he had finally defeated his proverbial whale. McIlroy said he had been obsessed with winning the Masters and with it the career Grand Slam for years, but had had little to no time to think about his next steps if he actually closed the deal. When asked about his five-year plan at the U.S. Open in June, McIlroy sounded like a job candidate who was caught flat-footed during a job interview.
“I don’t have one,” he said. “I have no idea. I’m taking it tournament by tournament at the moment. Yeah, I have no idea.”
McIlroy’s lack of direction and motivation, combined with his disappointing form (in his two previous starts before the US Open he had missed the cut at the Canadian Open and finished T47 at the PGA Championship) caught the attention of the golf world, particularly McIlroy’s former Ryder Cup captain, Paul McGinley, who said on Golf Channel at Oakmont that week: ‘It was very worrying to see [McIlroy’s] press conference. His eyes were not alive. The energy wasn’t there. He didn’t have the pointy elbows. It seems like something has gone out of him since the Grand Slam, like the air has gone out of him, not only in the way he has played but also in his press conferences. There will be a reset at some point, but it doesn’t look like it will happen this week. This isn’t normal, Rory.’
McGinley’s analysis was smart, as there did come a reset, in the form of six top-10s for McIlroy in the second half of the season, including a win at the Irish Open, and a 3.5-point win at the Ryder Cup. There was something else: McIlroy started looking ahead again. He had new goals, new fuel. He spoke of his resumes on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour “which mean a little less to me as time goes on,” and that he was throwing himself into the majors and the Ryder Cup. The legacy construction weeks.
On Wednesday, McIlroy got even more specific about his new carrots, pointing out three more boxes he wanted to check before hanging up his spikes.
“Olympic medal,” McIlroy said from the Dubai Desert Classic. “Open at St. Andrews. Maybe a U.S. Open at one of those old, traditional courses, whether it’s Shinnecock this year or Winged Foot or Pebble Beach, Merion.”
“I would have told you two years ago that if I had won the Masters it would have been great and I could have retired or whatever. But if you keep doing things, the goalposts keep moving and you keep finding new things you want to do.”
Let’s take a closer look at those messages.
GOAL NO. 1: WIN AN OLYMPIC MEDAL
McIlroy’s first goal is the most interesting given his changing views on golf’s place in the Olympics. When the sport debuted on the Olympic roster at the 2016 Games in Rio, McIlroy not only sat out (citing concerns about the Zika virus), but also said he wouldn’t even watch from a distance. Not for him. But five years later, when he found himself on the losing side of a 7-on-1 play-off for the bronze medal in Tokyo, McIlroy sang a decidedly different tune about Olympic golf. “I’ve never tried so hard to finish third in my life,” he said. “Having experienced it here, seeing and feeling everything, not just Olympic golf, but the Olympic Games in general, that Olympic spirit has definitely struck me.”
In Paris in 2024, McIlroy was again painfully close to the podium, finishing two strokes off third place after a spirited rally on the final lap. Afterwards he said: “I still think the Ryder Cup is the best tournament we have in our sport, pure competition, and I think this has the potential to top that.”
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McIlroy’s next shot at Olympic glory comes in 2028 at the Los Angeles Games, where Riviera will serve as the host venue for the golf event. McIlroy has never won at Riv, but he’s a big fan of the course’s strategic genius (as well as the LA area in general). He will then reach forty and, who knows, perhaps even become a seven- or eight-time major winner. But he will certainly be deeply motivated. If McIlroy falls short again, his fourth chance (assuming he qualifies) would come four years later in Brisbane, Australia.
The location for the 2036 Olympic Games has not yet been selected.
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 this 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 Phil Mickelson did at the 2021 PGA Championship and Tom Watson almost did at the 2009 Open Championship, but the odds were not on McIlroy’s side.
Surprisingly, he has only played two Opens at St. Andrews, in 2010 and 2022, finishing third both times; McIlroy missed the 2015 event with a sore ankle. The 2022 title was McIlroy’s for the taking, but in the final round he was boat-raced by Cameron Smith and finished two back in one of the most crushing defeats of his career. If McIlroy finds himself needing an extra ride in 2027, he would do well to remember how dejected he felt that Sunday evening.
GOAL NO. 3: WIN A US OPEN AT AN ‘OLD, TRADITIONAL’ LOCATION
This is the most curious item on McIlroy’s list, because he’s actually already achieved it: his victory at the 2011 US Open came on Congressional, a classic Devereaux Emmet design from the 1920s. But reading the tea leaves – and noting that McIlroy has name-checked Shinnecock, Pebble, Winged Foot and Merion – we assume that when he says “ancient” and “traditional” he means “courses in the pantheon.”.”
The good news for McIlroy is that almost every future US Open site fits that description. Here are the following handful of locations that have been assigned:
2026: Shinnecock Hills Golf Club [McIlroy age: 37]
2027: Pebble Beach Golf Links
2028: Winged Foot 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: Brookline Country Club
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
McIlroy focuses only on the next twelve locations, getting three shots at Pebble, two at Shinny and one each at Winged Foot and Merion. McIlroy didn’t specifically mention other locations, but Riviera, Oakmont and Oakland Hills would certainly also fit into his vision of a correct US Open venue.
It’s not hard to like McIlroy’s chances of achieving goal No. 3 – what if he were to pick Nos. 1 and 2 too?
“I’m sure if I achieved those things, which I hope, I would probably give you more things in four years,” he said in Dubai this week. “I think if you’re a competitive person, that’s just the way you’re wired and the way we work.”
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