Rory McIlroy is so relaxed these days, so comfortable in his own skin, that he is almost horizontal. Laid back, even.With his roundneck Nike T-shirt and shorts as his dress code of choice, the Northern Irishman’s visit to the media centre here at Royal Birkdale in the build-up to the 154th Open came after an early-morning nine holes with Shane Lowry and then a long stint on the practice ground, the Trackman clicking into overdrive.So, how laid back?When asked about if he worried about what golfing legacy he would be leaving behind, of what people in 100 years would think of him, McIlroy deadpanned, “I don’t really care. I would like to think that the people that love and care about me think a certain way of me, but I’ll be long gone. I’ll be dead. I don’t think I’ll be seeing what people say about me. I’ll be six feet under. I don’t think I’ll be a ghost.”'I don’t think I’ll be a ghost': Rory McIlroy when asked about if he worried about what golfing legacy he would be leaving behind, of what people in 100 years would think of him pic.twitter.com/gw9tQwWS8K— Irish Times Sport (@IrishTimesSport) July 14, 2026
For all the truth in that response, it has been evident from the work that McIlroy has put in on the range, especially in the past few days since arriving down to England’s western seaboard after a tough weekend at the Scottish Open, has been targeted at adding to whatever legacy will ultimately be left behind.The focus, for sure, is on the here and now, rather than the future. And of all the Majors, this is the one that McIlroy – a champion in 2014 – grew up with, attending for the first time as a young fan at Troon in 2004 a week after playing in the Junior Ryder Cup. He was 15 then.Rory McIlroy, Brad Faxon and Shane Lowry during a practice round ahead of the Open at Royal Birkdale. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA Wire “For someone from this part of the world, this is obviously a huge championship and brings me back to my childhood and watching my heroes try to win the Claret Jug ... it’s always great to be back. I feel like this Major season goes quicker and quicker every year. Obviously this is one last opportunity at one of the big four and try to give it all I’ve got this week,” said McIlroy.Indeed, in touching on how the calendar has shifted so that the Open is the last of the four and with a near eight-and-a-half months wait until the Masters, when he will be aiming for a three-peat, McIlroy admitted there were “pros and cons” to the shortened period from Masters to US PGA to US Open and finally the Open.“I’d like to see the Major season spread out a little bit longer. The Masters is always going to have the build-up, but I think then PGA into US Open, US Open into here, it just seems like it’s very, very quick. From a player perspective, if you get on a bit of a run, it’s nice to be sort of playing well and go from one straight into the next.“But for the sport as a whole and for, I guess, the general interest in the game, obviously I can see the positives in that Major season being stretched out a little bit longer.”That stretch is unlikely to take place however. The condensed nature is a consequence initially of golf’s return to the Olympics, which enabled the US PGA to move from its traditional August date to May, which has proven very successful.So, it is what it is. And, for McIlroy, the Masters champion and world number two, this championship on a burned links offers the challenge of combining imagination with shot-making on a course that he considers one of the fairest on the Open rota.Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays a shot on the first hole during a practice round, before The Open at Royal Birkdale. Photograph: Andrew Redington/Getty The launch monitor has been an integral part of his range equipment for the past couple of days, aiming to use the data to complement his own swing feels. As he put it, “I actually feel like it’s a great tool to use when your swing gets off a bit and you can sort of train your feels back into where they need to be.”His legacy – a six-time Major champion with the Grand Slam achieved – is secure, for sure, but McIlroy has the mental approach of enjoying what he describes as the journey, this 154th Open another step along the way.“I think it would be a pretty unfulfilling pursuit if you’re just chasing records and chasing results. You have to enjoy the process. You have to enjoy the journey to get there. I’ve learned that the hard way at times by chasing results and chasing records too much,” he said.“You start to focus on your craft and your practice and doing the things you need to do to try to become a better golfer. And then if you do that, the results and the winning almost take care of themselves, or at least you put yourself in position enough to at least step through the door a few times.“It’s not like when I step on to the golf course, you’re obviously trying to win, but winning, like it’s not a real tangible goal, right? So the real goal is, I want to do this with my swing or I want to hit this sort of shot or I want to feel good when I’m over the ball, whatever it is.“If you do that stuff enough times, hopefully you get yourself in a position to win. Then from there, yeah, you can start to think about winning the tournament. But if all you’re thinking about is winning and results, you’re playing the wrong game.”
