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US Open victory taught me what it it takes to win more majors, says Rory

Eyes on the prize: Rory McIlroy told a bustling media centre that he is focused on winning at St George’s

With the eyes of the world upon him, Rory McIlroy will make his first appearance as a major champion at Royal St George’s this week. And since his emphatic US Open triumph, the 22-year-old believes he now has the nous to immediately double his major tally.

Before a packed media centre, McIlroy spoke of the invaluable experience he garnered from being in contention for the previous four majors, including last year’s Open Championship at St Andrews, which he lead after a superb opening day 63.

“I learned a lot from The Open last year at St. Andrews, shooting that great first round and then not really handling the weather too well on the second day,” McIlroy said frankly.

“Then I had a really good chance going into the PGA into the last round to win there; I was tied for the lead with four holes to go.

“Then going into the Masters, again, leading going into the last . So it’s been a gradual process for me, and I’ve learnt every time, and it’s maybe taken me three or four times to put all the pieces together.

“But now I feel like what happened after Congressional that I’ve basically learnt most of the lessons that I needed to learn to get me over the line, especially in a major championship, and now that I’ve done that, I feel as if I’ll be able to go on and contend a lot more.”

As was the case at Augusta earlier this year, McIlroy will play the first two rounds at Sandwich alongside fellow prodigy Rickie Fowler. The recently crowned US Open champ revealed that he was relishing the opportunity to tee it up alongside his American contemporary once again.

“Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. I really enjoyed it at the Masters this year, the first two days with Rickie and Jason Day. I’ve known Rickie since our amateur days back in ’06 and ’07. It’s nice to, especially for me, go out on the golf course this week and have someone there that’s familiar.”

In the wake of his remarkable US Open triumph, McIlroy revealed that he was unperturbed by the heightened media scrutiny he now faces, and also the weight of expectation that victory at Congressional has thrust upon him.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to play that sort of golf every week I tee it up, but I hope I do, but I can’t see it,” he said.

“Expectations are going to be high. I mean, I have high expectations myself. I want to go out there and try and win a lot of golf tournaments and win majors and become the best player in the world.

“All I need to do is focus on my game, and if I can do that, I know my good golf is good enough to win plenty more tournaments.”

McIlroy’s victory in Maryland has sparked massive public interest and adulation with many in the media prompted to announce the 22-year-old’s win as a watershed moment in the history of golf.

It is undeniable that the youngest US Open winner since 1923 has also become the first golfer since Tiger Woods to truly transcend the sport, with news of McIlroy’s stunning triumph dominating both the front and back pages.

The youngster from Holywood has appeared on Piers Morgan’s CNN show, in the royal box at Wimbledon and at David Haye’s world heavyweight boxing fight against Wladimir Klitschko.

McIlroy explained that amidst the media furor following his maiden major he made the decision not to hasten his return to competitive golf at either the French or Scottish Open, and instead deal with the publicity in the three weeks between the US and Open this week.

“I thought, you know what, let’s just get everything out of the way and make sure that your preparation going into The Open is as good as it could be, and that’s really what I’ve done.”

The world No.3 also stressed that his build-up to this week’s championship had not been compromised in the wake of his US victory.

“For me it’s all about preparation,” said McIlroy. “I went into the Masters after three weeks off and shot three pretty good scores there. So it’s not a problem to me not playing competitive golf after having a break.”

The nature of his crushing win at Congressional have made McIlroy the outright favourite for the Open Championship, with many predicting another dominant victory in the style of his eight-shot winning margin three weeks ago.

Focused on the task at hand, McIlroy stressed that his goal was to win this week, in whatever fashion.

“If it’s good enough to win, it’s good enough for me,” he said candidly.

“I mean, if the wind keeps up I’ll take two 70s in the first two rounds here, definitely. But you can’t really put a number on it.

“If the wind keeps up like this, St. George’s is one of the toughest Open tests that we have. I mean, solid golf is good enough for me, as long as it’s better than everyone else’s solid golf.

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Bryce Ritchie is the Editor of bunkered and, in addition to leading on content and strategy, oversees all aspects of the brand. The first full-time journalist employed by bunkered, he joined the company in 2001 and has been editor since 2009. A member of Balfron Golfing Society, he currently plays off nine and once got a lesson from Justin Thomas’ dad.

Editor of bunkered

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