How Rory McIlroy Refocused After His Second Masters Win
The aftermath was not as emotional, nor as involved, as it was when he won the Masters the first time. Rory McIlroy had time to enjoy this one a bit more and is now ready to get back to work.
After skipping the new signature events on the PGA Tour schedule following the Masters-the RBC Heritage and the Cadillac Championship-McIlroy is back on familiar turf this week at Quail Hollow in Charlotte for the Truist Championship.
This is the sixth of the eight signature events, and it precedes next week's PGA Championship outside of Philadelphia.
"I think this win felt a little bit different than the first win at Augusta," McIlroy said. "It's been really nice to spend time at home. I've done a couple of things, but I didn't do the media trip up to New York. It was nice, my parents were in the States, so I didn't have to fly home [to Northern Ireland] and see them.
"It was nice to just get a little bit of downtime and chill. Did some fun stuff. Erica and I took a trip to New York, which was nice. Then did the State Dinner at the White House [in honor of King Charles III] last Tuesday night, which was an amazing evening. So fit in some fun stuff.
"But I gave myself a good 10 days to enjoy myself and then thought I needed to get back on the range and start to practice and get ready for this stretch coming up."
McIlroy will be among the headliners at Quail Hollow, where Scottie Scheffler is not playing despite winning the PGA Championship at this venue a year ago.
For McIlroy, he has fond memories of the course, where he won his first PGA Tour event in 2010 and a total of four times overall in the various iterations of the event.
"I feel like I've gotten more out of this golf tournament than I've given back to it in a way," he said. "Because we do get incredible support every time we come here. It's not just me, I think every player in this field would feel the same way. The atmosphere of this tournament is what makes it stand apart from some of the others on Tour.
"It's amazing how the community rallies behind this event. It is nice to come back to the same place for so many years and you see familiar faces and it's always nice coming back here."
McIlroy said he had a chance to reflect on his victory by a shot over Scheffler in which he squandered a six-shot 36-hole lead and was tied going into the final round.
Afterward, a range session with his caddie, Harry Diamond, helped him get back on track.
"I think the way I won, the range session on Saturday night was a big turning point for me," he said. "To be able to go there with Harry, figure out a couple of things, and figure it out in a way that I didn't have a Trackman, I didn't have a video ... I was like, no, I just want to hit, get a feel.
"I carried that feel into Sunday, and I honestly, reflecting on it, I made the double on 4, but then from the 5th tee until I would say the second shot on 17 I didn't miss a shot. I played, I swung it good, I hit the shots I wanted to hit. I was really proud of that because Saturday was a struggle. So to be able to bounce back and turn it around and then feel and play the way I did on Sunday was, I was really proud of that."
After his first Masters win, McIlroy's form didn't hold up
A year ago, after winning the Masters, McIlroy had difficulty getting focused again on golf.
Although he tied for seventh at the Truist played outside of Philadelphia, he then tied for 47th at the PGA played at Quail Hollow before missing the cut by several shots at the RBC Canadian Open. A poor start at the U.S. Open led to a tie for sixth before his game finally began to turn around.
He tied for seventh at the British Open, his best finish in a major following the Masters, although he let get a few shots get away that week that could've gotten him further into the mix.
McIlroy seems intent on not letting that be the case this time.
"It feels a lot different," he said. "Even winning felt different. I've spoke about this a lot, I felt like winning the [career] 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 was 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. I'm excited for the road ahead."
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This story was originally published May 6, 2026 at 12:05 PM.