McIlroy reveals mental health battle after golf “totally consumed my life for the last 12 months”
Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy says his post-Masters break to work on his “mental and emotional well-being” was totally necessary as he admitted golf has “totally consumed my life for the last 12 months”.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the $20 million Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow, the world number three addressed his missed cut at Augusta National and his controversial decision to skip a second designated event at the RBC Heritage and risk losing $3 million of his $12 million PIP bonus.
Whatever non-golf related personal problems he might be having, he clearly prioritised his mental health over golf after an intense last 12 months as the face of the PGA TOUR.
"I think I needed to put golf in perspective a little more," he told reporters at Quail Hollow where he is fancied to win for the fourth time.
"I feel like it's totally consumed my life for the last 12 months. It's been a pretty tumultuous time and being in the position that I'm in it's taken up a lot of my time.
"Just putting some perspective on where it sits in my life and all the things I've got going on in my life. I sort of needed to reassess everything. That's what I'm looking forward to going forward and maybe not putting so much into it. And understanding there are other parts of my life that are important.”
The Co Down man, who turns 34 on Thursday, went into the Masters as one of the joint favourites and shot rounds of 72 and 77 to miss the cut by two strokes.
It was a massive blow to his confidence and as his Major drought continues — he will have gone eight years and nine months without a Major win if he fails to win the PGA Championship in two weeks — he needed to reflect.
“It sucked,” he confessed of that bitter disappointment. “It sucked. It's not the performance I obviously thought I was going to put up. Nor was it the performance I wanted. Just incredibly disappointing.
“But I needed some time to regroup. And focus on what's ahead.”
Regrouping is something McIlroy has had little time to do for the past 12 months after he voluntarily became the unofficial spokesman for the PGA TOUR in its battle with LIV Golf and helped push through scheduling changes that included 17 designated events.
"I think the last 12 months with everything that's went on ... it's been a big 12 months,” said the four-time Major winner who held a share of a four-shot lead with Viktor Hovland heading into the final round of The Open last year and ended up third, two shots behind Cam Smith.
“I don't know I fully, like, sat down to really reflect on stuff. I never really had a chance to think about the Open at St. Andrews and everything that went on there.
"It was nice to have three weeks to just put all that stuff in the rearview mirror and focus on what's ahead. Three more majors. The entire golf season still to play. It was a good three weeks to sort of do all that and get refreshed and get ready for the next few months.”
His decision to skip the RBC Heritage and fall foul a policy he helped create that says you can’t skip a second designated event without consequences, will not have been taken likely.
It appears there may have been more to his withdrawal that his Masters disappointment but when it comes to the possibility of losing the remaining $3 million of his $12 million PIP bonus, he was not concerned.
"We certainly have our minimums, we obviously signed up for this designated-event series this year,” said McIlroy, who had already opted to skip the first designated event of the year, the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.
“I obviously knew the consequences that could come with missing one of those. It was an easy decision, but I felt like if that fine or whatever is to happen was worth that for me in order to get some things in place."
PGA TOUR commissioner Jay Monahan has discretion when it comes to withholding bonuses and McIlroy said he’d already made his case.
“I had my reasons not to play Hilton Head,” he said. “I expressed those to Jay and whether he thinks that is enough to warrant ... look, again, I understood the consequences of that decision before I made it. So whatever happens, happens."
With Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler, the world’s top two, skipping their first designated event this week, McIlroy is favourite to win at the scene of his first PGA TOUR win in 2010 and add to further victories there in 2015 and 2021.
Shane Lowry and Seamus Power are also in the field looking to move up the FedEx Cup points and Ryder Cup qualifying lists.
Rivals like Adrian Meronk, Victor Perez, Adri Arnaus, Robert MacIntyre and Italy’s Guido Migliozzi headline the field at Ryder Cup venue Marco Simone in Rome for this week’s DS Automobiles Italian Open .
Tom McKibbin, Gary Hurley and John Murphy fly the flag for Irish golf in Italy while on the Challenge Tour, Cormac Sharvin and Stuart Grehan make their first starts of 2023 in the UAE Challenge alongside Jonny Caldwell, Dermot McElroy, Ruaidhri McGee, Conor Purcell and Niall Kearney at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club in Abu Dhabi.
Meanwhile, former Masters champion Ian Woosnam will join Paul McGinley in the the Irish Legends at Seapoint Golf Links from June 22-25.
The event will be hosted by former Ryder Cup and DP World Tour player Des Smyth and fellow former Tour professional Roddy Carr.
Television and film star James Nesbitt will join a star-studded field of famous faces at the Legends Tour Wapp Celebrity Series event at the event on June 21 which will also feature
Brian McFadden and Keith Duffy, former Manchester United and England striker Teddy Sheringham and Jim Gavin.
Tickets are now on sale for the event, with day tickets priced at €15 for an adult, €10 for concessions (over 50s) and free entry for juniors (under 16s), while season passes are also available HERE.
