The extent of Rory McIlroy's youth is often lost in the analysis of his success. At Augusta National next April, the world's No1 golfer will attempt to secure a grand slam of Major championships. McIlroy is better-placed to reach the record Major haul of 18, as claimed by Jack Nicklaus, than his ailing idol, Tiger Woods.
He is once again the undisputed player of a calendar year, was the pre-eminent sportsman of the summer, has established his own management company and presides over a charitable foundation which has been running for almost two years. Not bad for a man who won’t turn 26 until next May.
It would be a mistake to assume McIlroy’s success has a basis in grand plans. Asking him what his core aims were for 2014 provides a nod to that much. Earlier, in a tongue-in-cheek comment, he had suggested winning two Majors – to make up for a barren 2013 – was his year’s aspiration. The context of the remark was lost in the melee as McIlroy did precisely that.
“I have never said I wanted to win two Majors, four Majors, win the FedEx Cup,” McIlroy says. “My goal always was to become a better golfer.
“One of my goals this year was to be better at replying to people, to be better at getting back to emails and messages. I managed that, I am much better now. Honestly, I used to be terrible; I would read something, say to myself I would get back to it later then never do it. I’d have messages the next week asking ‘did you get my email?’ That’s an example of how I try to set my goals.
“One of the golf ones this year was to be in the top 40 players at strokes gained from putting. Scrambling was another thing I wanted to be higher up the rankings in. I didn’t quite make that top 40 [McIlroy actually finished 41st on the PGA Tour list] but I definitely improved from last year. The point is those little goals will help you win all these tournaments.
"It's not just, 'I want to win the Masters'. Of course I want to win the Masters but I want to do things the right way that will give me the chance to do that."
Ah, the M-word. Six months still have to run before McIlroy seeks to make his latest bit of history at Augusta but excitement over the prospect was evident almost from the moment he holed the winning putt at the US PGA Championship, at Valhalla in August. It will reach fever pitch by April.
“It is tough,” McIlroy says of keeping Georgia from his mind. “That is already the one thing I am looking forward to next year.
“I was speaking to Willie John McBride earlier. He said: ‘Just the Green Jacket left, Rory.’ I said, ‘I know, I’m fully aware.’ That is the last one, I know there is going to be a lot of hype and a lot of pressure going into Augusta but I just have to deal with that.”
Recent history
Recent history suggests he can. A season kickstarted by success at Wentworth’s BMW PGA Championship was rocket-fuelled by a maiden Open triumph in July and boosted further by receipt of the Wanamaker Trophy. Events at Hoylake – winning the Open on the Wirral – remain the highlight of a memorable spell.
“I think at the time, I didn’t really appreciate it,” McIlroy says. “I did in a way, of the win itself, but seeing that Claret Jug now is just very special.
“Even though I haven’t had much time to reflect on it because it has been such a busy year, I still look back at that week and it’s what I am most proud of.
“Going in, there were a lot of questions. ‘How is he going to play? Links golf isn’t really his forte. How is he going to do on a Friday?’ All this sort of stuff. I was really proud of the performance there.
“And the one thing that will stand out to me, above all other things this year, is having my mum at the back of that 18th green at the Open. My mum just being there, witnessing it all, was very special.”
A laugh follows. “She had never experienced that before, my dad was the one who had hogged all the limelight at the other wins.”
The precursor to all of this, of course, was McIlroy cancelling his engagement to Caroline Wozniacki in May. But there is now a strong element of tranquillity in his private life which boosts what he does on the golf course.
“I am in a really good place,” he says. “I probably had the same back in 2009, 10, 11. I was very settled then, played great golf and was very consistent.
“It’s one of the reasons I have been so consistent again this year. Something I am very proud of is this sense of settledness and calmness, there aren’t other things going on in the background that are distracting me. Everything has just been the way I wanted it.
Foreseeable future
“I now have a formula that I know works for me, to play my best golf and to get the most out of myself. That’s the formula I am going to try to stick to for the foreseeable future.”
If this year were to end tomorrow, by his own admission McIlroy “wouldn’t mind”. Barring something miraculous, he would win the European Tour’s Race to Dubai order of merit once again without striking another ball.
“I wouldn’t mind calling it a year and getting ready for the next one,” McIlroy says. “But at the same time, there are still a few events to play and events I feel obliged to play in because I am a European Tour player, I support the European Tour.
“The European Tour has been very good to me and you need your best players to support what you are trying to do.”
McIlroy’s base may be in Florida but his continued and close association to both his family and roots marks a key character aspect.
He has been part of the Northern Irish consciousness for years, long before success on a global stage, given the excitement over McIlroy’s golfing talent which had rippled through the province by the time he was a teenager. Next year, McIlroy’s hosting of the Irish Open at Royal County Down should ensure both a new sponsor for the event and a higher-profile field.
“I am a home bird,” he says. “I try and get home as often as I can. Northern Ireland will always be home.”
Even in that environment, McIlroy’s recent success has cranked up attention levels.
“Yes, of course, things have obviously become a lot different,” he says. “I have really noticed a difference this year, with everything that has happened, the Open, two Majors, sort of going to a different level I suppose.
“But nothing has changed with the people who know me. I’m still just Rory from Holywood to them. I’m just that same little boy that was up at the golf club every day, hitting balls around. . . The one thing I love is flying into Belfast City airport. Normally you are coming over Belfast Lough, you look left and you see Helen’s Bay, Cultra, Holywood; where I grew up basically.
At home
“It really makes me feel at home. I don’t ever get a sense of that flying in anywhere else but I get it going into that airport. It’s something that is very important to me.”
As with so much of what McIlroy does, there is substance to back up such sentiment. On Tuesday, he stood shoulder to shoulder with a 10-year-old cancer sufferer in opening the Daisy Lodge Centre in County Down. McIlroy's £1 million sponsorship of the complex, which offers respite for young people who have been affected by cancer and their families, has emerged as the endearing cornerstone of his charity work.
Location is again pertinent here. McIlroy wanted to have an impact on something close to his roots. When he spoke, it was with sincerity and warmth.
“Even though I don’t spend as much time here now as I used to, this is my commitment to being proud to be Northern Irish, being proud of where I am from, being proud to help people in the community and especially those who really need it,” McIlroy says.
“Touch wood, I have never had an illness that has affected me or my family in a way that has really touched me but I have always felt like I wanted to help kids. I still feel like I’m not too far removed from what they are, I think I can relate to them.
“I had been an ambassador for Unicef for a couple of years but I wanted to start something of my own; to make a difference and see a tangible difference.
“That’s why I set up the foundation. As I’ve become older, I grasped more of a concept of what I can do in society. I don’t want my children to be proud of their dad as a Major championship winner, but as someone who was able to help people less fortunate. I have been blown away with how positive the kids are, considering everything they and their families have to deal with.”
McIlroy had privately fretted about the disruption his decision over Olympic participation in 2016 might cause. He was to declare for Ireland, in a move which caused far less controversy than many – including McIlroy himself – had earlier feared. In the subsequent blur of achievement, the issue was all-but forgotten.
“The line I wanted to get across was that it is just a continuation of what I have always done,” McIlroy says. “I never had a choice to play for Great Britain, Northern Ireland or whatever. Just because this is a different tournament, the Olympics, all of a sudden you have this choice.
“In reality, there was no choice to make because I always played for Ireland. I was so proud to pull on that green jacket or jersey, to go out and try to win the European team championship or home internationals. Golf is a united Ireland sport, just the same as rugby, hockey or cricket. Instead of kicking it down the road until the very point where I needed to make a decision, I just had to say, ‘This is what I want to do’.
“I was worried about upsetting people, you always are. I think I made the decision that was going to upset less people but that wasn’t the reason I did it; it was because this is what I have always done. There wasn’t much fuss about it. I think everyone understood. Now that it’s over and done with, I can look forward to a couple of years’ time and playing in Brazil.”
McIlroy will be 27 by then. It would be unwise to speculate upon how much further his star will have risen.
Rory McIlroy was speaking at the official opening of Daisy Lodge, a project by the Cancer Fund for Children. Guardian Service
