Golf: ‘Consumed by golf’, McIlroy worked on his ‘mental and emotional well-being’

Rory McIlroy has admitted he has needed to work on his “mental and emotional well-being” after seeing his life “completely consumed by golf over the past 12 months”.

That’s what the 3^e world-ranked player admitted to reporters on his return to competition for the Wells Fargo Open, his first tournament appearance since missing the cut at the Masters in April.

“I think I needed to put golf into perspective a little bit more,” he told reporters at Quail Hollow, where he is tipped to win for the fourth time.

“I feel like golf has totally taken over my life over the past 12 months. It’s been quite a tumultuous time and the position I’m in has lost me a lot of time.

“I kind of needed to reevaluate everything. I’m looking forward to what’s in store for me in the future, but maybe I won’t put so much energy into it. I understand that there are other aspects of my life that are important. »

McIlroy, who will turn 34 on Thursday, was once again among the big favorites heading into the Masters Tournament presentation, where he eventually turned up cards of 72 and 77 to miss the cut by two strokes.

A victory would have allowed the Northern Irishman to become the fifth golfer in history to complete the grand slam, which consists of winning all four major golf tournaments.

Over the past year, McIlroy hasn’t just exhausted much of his energies on the course after willingly becoming the PGA Tour’s unofficial spokesperson in its battle with LIV Golf. McIlroy was also instrumental in pushing through schedule changes that notably forced the top player to play 17 designated events.

“I think the last 12 months, with everything that’s happened, has been very difficult,” McIroy said.

His decision not to participate in the RBC Heritage two weeks ago was not taken lightly given the role he played in establishing the criteria for the designated events.

“I had my reasons not to play at Hilton Head,” he said. I’ve expressed them to Jay Monahan (the PGA commissioner), and if he thinks that’s enough to warrant a sanction… look, again, I understood the ramifications of that decision before I take. »

The top two ranked players in the world, Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler, are absent this week which makes McIlroy the favorite to win at the scene of his first PGA Tour victory in 2010, as well as two more triumphs in 2015 and 2021.