Rory: 'You don't think about what comes next' after winning Masters
Rory McIlroy achieved the greatest feat of his storied career in April, when he completed the career Grand Slam at the Masters, ending his 11-year major drought in the process.
One would certainly forgive the 36-year-old if he wanted to celebrate the momentous achievement accordingly, but recent results suggest he's struggling to solidify his place as one of the world's top golfers.
McIlroy comes to Oakmont for the U.S. Open on the heels of the worst PGA TOUR finish of his career in Canada last week. He admitted Tuesday it hasn't been easy to get back to business after putting on the green jacket.
"You dream about the final putt going in at the Masters, but you don't think about what comes next," McIlroy told reporters.
He added, "I always struggle to show up with motivation the next week because you've just accomplished something, and you want to enjoy it, and you want to sort of relish the fact that you've achieved a goal. I think chasing a certain goal for the better part of a decade and a half, I think I'm allowed a little bit of time to relax a little bit. But here at Oakmont, I certainly can't relax this week."
The five-time major winner was a man on fire to begin the season, notching wins at Pebble Beach and The Players Championship ahead of Augusta. The stretch culminated with a Masters win for the ages - a performance McIlroy was building toward since last fall.
"I worked incredibly hard on my game from October last year all the way up until April this year," McIlroy said. "It was nice to sort of see the fruits of my labor come to fruition and have everything happen. But at the same time, you have to enjoy that. You have to enjoy what you've just accomplished. I certainly feel like I'm still doing that, and I will continue to do that."
Many assumed McIlroy would run wild with the weight of an elusive Masters victory off his shoulders. The early returns suggest the opposite, as he finished 47th at the PGA Championship and 149th at the Canadian Open.
"At some point, you have to realize that there's a little bit more golf left to play this season - here, Portrush, Ryder Cup," McIlroy said. "So, those are obviously the three big things that I'm sort of looking at for the rest of the year.
"But I think weeks like Quail Hollow or even weeks like last week, it makes it easier to reset in some way, to be like, okay, I sort of need to get my stuff together here and get back to the process and what I'd been doing for that seven months from October last year until April this year."
McIlroy's quest for a second U.S. Open begins Thursday at 7:40 a.m. ET in a very comfortable group alongside good friends Shane Lowry and Justin Rose.