Padraig Harrington makes huge Rory McIlroy prediction

Padraig Harrington believes Rory McIlroy is finally ready to dominate in the majors after his career-defining Masters victory.

McIlroy spoke of years of “pent-up disappointment and emotion” of not being able to win around Augusta National, but is now unburdened having won the historic career grand slam.

“Honestly, I feel like I’m playing with house money, now,” he told Sky Sports on Sunday night. “It’s going to free me up and hopefully this is the start of a really great period in my career.”

Three-time major champion Harrington is adamant that McIlroy will now push on now the enormous pressure around him has finally been lifted.

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“The Masters was a distinctly different tournament for Rory,” Harrington began on the Golf Channel. “Now he is over that. He asked in his press conference ‘what are we going to talk about next year?’

“Well, we’re going to talk about this year and whether he can make the yearly grand slam.

“We are going to talk about whether he can beat Nick Faldo at six majors, or whether he can get to ten majors. We’re going to talk about whether he can get to 15 majors and whether he can get to 18 majors.

“The beauty for Rory is his game is futureproof. He’s not a guy who gets injured, he’s extremely powerful. It doesn’t matter that all these kids coming out of college are hitting it miles. It doesn’t matter to Rory.

“He is already the longest and nobody is going to have an advantage over him. They might eat in to his advantage, but his game is futureproof.”

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Harrington also addressed McIlroy’s recent admission that he has no desire to play on the Champions Tour during the twilight of his garlanded career.

“Something has gone terribly wrong if I have to compete at golf at 50,” McIlroy claimed, days before winning last month’s PLAYERS Championship.

“I envisage Rory going on for a good few years,” Harrington added. “He made that comment about not playing the Champions Tour and that’s a protectionist thing.

“Rory has been playing competitive golf for close to 25 years, since he was about 10-years-old. If you told him he has to keep playing for another 20 years, that would burn him out right now on the spot.

“When he says he doesn’t see himself playing in 15 years time, the reality is that 15 years will come quick, but it’s also a protection method to say ‘hang on a second, this isn’t going to last forever. I have an out, but the out will never come’.

“Rory loves his golf. He’s a bit of a golf nerd. He’s never going to give it up and he’s going to keep playing. In his head, he has to say there is an end, but before that end we could talk about 10 to 15 majors. Crazy stuff now that he has the last of the grand slam.”

Ben Parsons is the Senior Writer at bunkered and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.