AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — The Mount Rushmore of golf now has six faces carved into granite, and for that Rory McIlroy should feel as though he achieved the highest pinnacle in golf.
But there is so much more ahead for McIlroy.
He turns 36 next month and believes he is a better player than he was 10 years ago. There is little evidence to suggest otherwise.
In his 18 years on tour — half his life as a professional golfer — McIlroy has never won three times before the calendar turned to May. He has never felt so much freedom. He is playing with house money, and that has nothing to do with the $13.2 million he already has won this year in his six starts on the PGA Tour alone.
He is the Masters champion.