Rory McIlroy explain his desire to be world traveler and chase national opens
Rory McIlroy explain his desire to be world traveler and chase national opens
Rory McIlroy has won six different national opens eight times, and he'll shoot for a seventh country later this year in India.
'I haven't hidden my sort of aspirations for national Opens and where I would like them to be, what their standing is in the professional game of golf,' McIlroy said.
Speaking on Wednesday at a press conference ahead of the 2025 Travelers Championship, McIlroy said he always wanted to go to India and he will make his first appearance there at the Indian Championship, held Oct. 16 -19 at Delhi Golf Club.
'The European Tour and DP World created a new event there. I was asked at the start of the year would I be interested in going, and I said yeah, that sounds amazing,' McIlroy recounted. 'The Hero Indian Open is always when we're – it's like March-April time. I'd love to play DLF and figure out my way around that place, but this one in Delhi in October made more sense.'
Bryson DeChambeau played in India for the first time this spring and attracted record crowds, so expect McIlroy to have quite the following, too.
That isn't the only national Open that McIlroy has committed to. He also agreed to play the Australian Open for the next two years. McIlroy won the title in 2013, defeating Aussie Adam Scott by one stroke. He also survived qualifying for the Oz Open in 2005.
'Got through like a nine-man playoff to get in,' he recalled. 'I've always had a huge affinity for that part of the world. So to go back to -- especially Royal Melbourne this year, Kingston Heath next year – two of the best golf courses in the world on the Sandbelt, that's awesome, too.'
He added: 'I like to travel. I like to play in different parts of the world. I've never been to India. I haven't been to Australia in 10 years. So it's nice to go back to these places."
It's also nice to be paid handsomely to play in such events. DP World Tour and the Australasian Tour permit players to be paid appearance fees, and the reigning Masters champion should be able to cash in for being his star power.
'It's that part of the year where we have the ability to travel and to do these things, and if it makes sense for the schedule – especially, look, I'm excited to – there's never been a Green Jacket in India before," he said. "So to bring the green jacket to India is something that's going to be really cool.'
Here's a list of the national opens McIlroy has won to date:
2011 U.S. Open
2013 Australian Open
2014 British Open
2016 Irish Open
2019, 2022 RBC Canadian Open
2023 Genesis Scottish Open
*He's also won in Dubai, Hong Kong and China
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NBC Sports
2 hours ago
- NBC Sports
Highlights: 2025 Travelers Championship, Round 2
Watch the best shots and top moments from the second round of the 2025 Travelers Championship from TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut.
USA Today
3 hours ago
- USA Today
Thomas, Scheffler, Fleetwood lead 2025 Travelers Championship as winds whip in Connecticut
Justin Thomas, Scottie Scheffler and Tommy Fleetwood battled gusty winds with creativity to share the 36-hole lead at the Travelers Championship. CROMWELL, Conn. — As gusty winds swirled across TPC River Highlands on Friday, Justin Thomas and Scottie Scheffler didn't retreat into swing thoughts or technical fixes. They leaned into instinct. Thomas shot 6-under 64 in the second round of the 2025 Travelers Championship and surged up the leaderboard despite hitting just 5 of 14 fairways. Scheffler, who started the day tied for the lead with Austin Eckroat at 8 under, followed up his opening-round 62 with a 69 to tie Thomas at 9 under. Their approach to battling the wind was strikingly similar: less mechanics, more shot making. 'I have had some good rounds in conditions like this, because I can't really play golf swing, I have to play more golf,' Thomas said. Scheffler, talking with the media 20 minutes later, echoed that sentiment. 'It's not robotic,' he said. 'You have to hit different types of shots, work it both ways, flight it down. Every shot's different.' The numbers show how both adapted successfully. Thomas made up ground Friday with his irons and putter. He gained 3.07 strokes on approach, third-best in the field, and dramatically improved his proximity to the hole — from over 40 feet in the first round to just 32 feet, 5 inches on Friday. With winds swirling and often gusting to over 30 mph as he played, it was an impressive showing from the two-time PGA Championship winner. Thomas also made putts, notching a Strokes Gained: Putting total of 3.63 shots on Friday. Added all together, he holed nearly 147 feet of putts. After two rounds at the Travelers Championship, he ranks No. 1 in overall Strokes Gained: Putting (5.36). 'It was really windy. I didn't hit it that great off the tee, but I stayed patient and finally saw some go in,' Thomas said. 'Even the tee shot on 17, I aimed way left and hit kind of a slap slice — just trying to keep it in play.' Scheffler, meanwhile, didn't have his best iron day but made up for it with consistency everywhere else. He drove the ball well, was solid around the greens and holed enough putts to overcome a bogey on No. 6 and a double-bogey on 17 that came after his perfectly-struck drive got knocked down by a gust and ended up in a fairway bunker on the left. Then a near-perfect wedge caught another gust and didn't reach the green. 'I hit the shot exactly the way we [Scheffler and his caddie, Ted Scott] wanted to, and as the ball is flying, you get a gust into the wind, and all of a sudden the ball is not on the green,' Scheffler said. 'If it hadn't have gotten that gust, it lands a couple paces behind it, spins back right to it. So just little stuff like that. You can't get every one correct. You just do your best to manage your way around the golf course.' Thomas was asked whether there is an art to playing in windy conditions like Friday's and without hesitation said there is. 'There's a science to it, sure. But it's way more art. You have to create.' Scheffler agreed: 'You can't just hit stock shots. You have to play golf.' That's exactly what both did on Friday, and they will be paired together Saturday in the third round of the Travelers Championship. The mutual respect was on full display Friday. Thomas praised Scheffler's ability to keep control when the conditions get chaotic. 'Scottie hits the middle of the clubface just about every time,' he said. 'That's huge in the wind. He's so solid.' Scheffler returned the compliment, noting how Thomas is someone he's admired for a long time. 'Justin's always been incredibly disciplined. He prepares so well. That's why he's had success for so long,' the three-time major winner said. Thomas and Scheffler, however, are not alone at the top of the leaderboard. Tommy Fleetwood followed up a Thursday 66 with a 65 on Friday that was highlighted by two eagles and a birdie on the back nine. On the par-5 13th, the Englishman's approach shot from 264 yards out finished 9 feet from the hole, and he promptly drained the putt. Two holes later, on the 299-yard, par-4 15th, Fleetwood's tee shot left him just short and right of the green. His low chip shot bounced, skipped over a ridge, then rolled into the flagstick and dropped into the hole to lower his score to 8 under. Fleetwood made birdie on 16, parred 17, and then hit a tree on the left side of the 18th fairway — but the ball ricocheted back into the short grass. Using a 5-wood, his second shot pierced the air, landed on the green and stopped, setting up an 11-foot birdie chance. He missed the putt but ended the day tied with Thomas and Scheffler at 9 under. "I'm very, very happy that it happened for me today, but it was one of those where you just had to keep hitting shots,' Fleetwood said. '[I was] definitely not looking for something like that on the back nine.' Jason Day woke up in the bus he often brings to tournaments knowing Friday would be challenging. 'I knew I had an afternoon tee time, and I'm sitting in my bus and the bus is moving,' he said Friday evening. 'I'm like, 'That's pretty strong wind to move the bus.' Then you get out here, and I decide to check the weather, and it was 15 to 20 miles an hour but gusts of 40. That's usually one where you're like — you're looking forward to it, but you also know it's going to be a grind through the day.' Rough as it was, Day overcame a slow start, went 4 under on the back nine and posted his second consecutive 66 to reach 8 under par. He will start Saturday one shot behind Thomas, Scheffler and Fleetwood. Austin Eckroat, who started the day at 8 under and tied with Scheffler for the lead, shot a 1-over 71 to finish at 7 under, tied for fifth with Denny McCarthy (64). Rory McIlroy shot 1-over 71 and is tied for ninth at 5 under.
USA Today
7 hours ago
- USA Today
Patrick Cantlay grinds through second round as wind shakes up 2025 Travelers Championship
Patrick Cantlay battled 40 mph gusts Friday at TPC River Highlands to stay in contention at the 2025 Travelers Championship. CROMWELL, Conn. – Weekend golfers hate playing in the rain. Wet shoes, slippery grips and sloshing around the course are not their idea of a good time, but pros don't mind the rain because they have caddies to help them stay dry, and shots stop faster on damp fairways and greens. That's why damp courses often yield low scores, like the 62s Scottie Scheffler and Austin Eckroat shot at TPC River Highlands on Thursday to take the lead at the 2025 Travelers Championship. Elite golfers will tell you that windy days are tougher than rainy days because gusting wind makes it harder to predict how the ball will fly. If that's true, TPC River Highlands was primed to transform from a guppy into a shark for the second round of the PGA Tour's final signature event of 2025. As players teed off early in the day, a northwest wind blew steadily at 20 mph, with gusts reaching nearly 40 mph. Patrick Cantlay started at 8:50 a.m. and knew that the course — and the challenge it presented — would be very different from the layout he played Thursday when he shot 67. 'It's just really tough controlling your distance. It's kind of swirly. It's up and down. It's not necessarily blowing a consistent direction,' Cantlay said. 'Just picking the right shot and committing to it was really my game plan. I thought I did it, all in all, pretty well today.' Even after his approach shot to the par-5 13th hole spun back into the water and led to a double-bogey seven, Cantlay's 68 left him in good position heading into the weekend. 'It was a grind out there with the wind the way it was. The golf course plays really hard when it's blowing 20. I thought I played well. All in all, a good round,' he said. As much as any player in the field, Cantlay has seen the Travelers Championship change and grow over the years. As an amateur in 2011, he was given a sponsor's exemption into the field and shot 60 in the second round to put himself in contention before fading over the weekend. This year's tournament marks his 10th appearance at TPC River Highlands. 'It's so great to see this tournament evolve over the years,' he said Friday. 'It's become one of the best tournaments on tour. I know, speaking for a lot of the guys, we really look forward to coming this week. It doesn't feel like 14 years ago that I played my first one, but it's been really cool to see how much better the golf tournament has got each and every year.' More lucrative, too. In 2011, Freddie Jacobson shot 65-66-63-66 to win and earn a $1 million first-prize check. This week, the winner will take home $3.6 million, and the total purse is $20 million. That kind of money gets everyone's attention and can get even a seasoned veteran's heart racing like a rookie's on the first tee, but Cantlay says he still feels some butterflies before he plays, even though this season is his 14th as a professional. 'Anytime you tee it up, you've got some nerves or adrenaline,' he said, 'But that's the best part about what we do.'
