CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Rory McIlroy appeared rested and relaxed as he prepared for his first tournament since repeating as Masters champion last month at Augusta National Golf Club.
Just don’t let that be confused with complacency.
The No. 2 player in the Official World Golf Ranking — the 37-year-old from Northern Ireland remains behind American star Scottie Scheffler, who has held down the top spot for nearly three years — McIlroy said he feels “more motivated” than ever heading into a major stretch that includes next week’s PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club near Philadelphia and next month’s U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club on New York’s Long Island.
First up, though, is this week’s Truist Championship at Charlotte’s Quail Hollow Club, where McIlroy earned his first PGA Tour victory 16 years ago and has won four times.
“I’m excited for the road ahead,” the six-time major champion said after his pro-am round Wednesday, the day before the sixth of eight “signature events” on the 2026 PGA Tour schedule was set to tee off.
It’s been more than three weeks since McIlroy slipped on the green jacket for a second time after becoming just the fourth player in 90 years to win back-to-back editions of the Masters. He described this year’s break from golf after the first major championship tournament of the year as “less hectic” than last year’s whirlwind tour.
This year, he spent most of his time at his home in Jupiter, Florida, although he did visit New York with his wife Erica Stoll and attended a White House state dinner held for King Charles III and Queen Camilla of the United Kingdom.
It’s what he didn’t do that has left him feeling refreshed.
He didn’t travel back home to Northern Ireland to celebrate his Masters win like he did in 2025, largely because his parents were already in the United States to see it in person. They skipped last year’s Masters so as not to jinx their son’s chances of completing the career Grand Slam after years of disappointment.
He also didn’t do the media rounds, electing for more “chill” time at home, allowing him to take his daughter Poppy to tennis lessons.
“I gave myself a good 10 days to enjoy myself,” McIlroy said, “and then thought I needed to get back on the range and start to practice and get ready for this stretch coming up.”
The stretch begins Thursday with the tuneup — although one with.a $20 million purse — at Quail Hollow, a place where McIlroy is adored by fans and often serenaded with the “Happy Birthday” song given his birthday (May 4) often falls during the PGA Tour’s annual stop in the Queen City.
He was 20 when he earned his first PGA Tour victory at this course, earning him immediate popularity in Charlotte. In some ways, he has become the city’s adopted golfer.
He has won here four times on a course that sets up perfectly to complement his length off the tee, including a dominant seven-shot victory in 2015 in which he established a new tournament record at 21-under-par 267 for 72 holes after a third-round 61.
“I really feel like this tournament got my career going,” McIlroy said. “This is 16 years I’ve been coming here, so it’s been a fun place, I’ve had success. It’s somewhere I always love coming back to.”
He enters this week as the slight favorite to win (+600) over the red-hot Cameron Young (+850), who won another signature event last weekend on the Blue Monster Course at Trump National Doral Miami.
McIlroy feels good about his chances despite the three-week layoff that included skipping the RBC Heritage and the Cadillac Championship.
He won the Truist Championship by five shots over Xander Schauffele the last time it was played at Quail Hollow in 2024, but surprisingly struggled at this course at the 2025 PGA Championship, finishing tied for 47th.
“Slightly different setup than the PGA last year, and slightly different conditions,” McIlroy said. “It’s been very dry here by all accounts, so the greens are very firm. The rough is down a little bit. Sort of more, probably more in keeping with what the golf course was like in 2024, when the tournament was last here. The course is great.”
McIlroy said returning to action after winning the Masters a second time feels much different than a year ago.
“I felt like winning the Grand Slam was going to be this life-changing thing, and in some ways it was, but in other ways I had to remember, like, ‘No, I still have a lot of my career left, and I want to keep playing and keep competing,'” he said. “So this year I think winning was validation for all the work that I’ve put in over the last few years to get myself back to this place where I’m winning majors.”
Schauffele said it will be a tall task beating McIlroy this week and moving forward if he plays the way he did at Augusta National.
“His (usual) best club was his worst club,” Schauffele said of McIlroy’s driver, “and he still won the tournament. That’s a little scary, obviously, if you’re competing against him.”