AVONDALE, La. — His voice raspy from a cold that made it tough for him to get out of bed a couple of days earlier, Rory McIlroy expressed relief that he would have a teammate to lean on in his first PGA Tour start since his historic triumph at the Masters two weekends ago to complete the career Grand Slam.
“Just to be here and feeling better is an achievement,” the 35-year-old from Northern Ireland said Wednesday while seated next to Ireland’s Shane Lowry, his teammate in this week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans, where the close friends are reigning champions. “But I need to put a little bit of practice and a bit of work in today to make sure I don’t let this man down.”
The way McIlroy’s humility and authenticity complement his extraordinary talent has made him arguably the most popular and charismatic golfer in the world.
That hasn’t changed since he became just the sixth man to win all four major tournaments by edging England’s Justin Rose on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff at Augusta National Golf Club on April 13. McIlroy put on the green jacket for the first time more than a decade after winning the PGA Championship for the second time, having also won the 2014 British Open and the 2011 U.S. Open to start his bid for the career Grand Slam at age 21.
“It’s been an amazing few days, to be able to reflect on it and everything that happened and the magnitude of everything,” McIlroy said. “It’s not every day you get to fulfill one of your lifelong goals and dreams, and I’ve just tried to enjoy everything that comes along with that.