At Australian Open, Rory McIlroy reveals goals for remainder of career
Cameron Jourdan- Rory McIlroy is returning to the Australian Open for the first time in over a decade.
- McIlroy recently completed the career Grand Slam by winning the Masters in April.
- Following a mid-season slump, he won the Irish Open and helped Team Europe win the Ryder Cup.
- He aims to win at historic golf venues, including Royal Melbourne, St. Andrews and Pebble Beach.
It has been more than a decade since Rory McIlroy played golf Down Under in Australia's national open, but come Thursday, he makes his return on one of the best courses in the world.
The 36-year-old, ranked No. 2 in the world, will tee off Wednesday afternoon alongside nationals Min Woo Lee and Adam Scott in the Australian Open at Royal Melbourne. The last time McIlroy played in the national open, he won it in 2013, edging out Scott. In 2014, he proceeded to win two more majors in what was one of the best years of his career.
Now he's back in Australia after what was a career-defining season.
"I think about that tournament a lot. I think about what it meant," McIlroy said. "I felt at that point in my career, I was at a bit of a crossroads. I had gone off to a great start, but 2013 I'd really struggled and I started to find some form again. I really do think that that win at the end of the year was a catalyst for what happened in 2014, which I'd say 2014 is up there with 2025 as the best two years of my career."
McIlroy's first appearance in Australia came 20 years ago when he was an amateur. Now he's back as one of the all-time greats, but he remains in the middle of his prime. And there remains plenty of motivation to continue adding tallies to his resume before he puts the sticks away.
After capturing the Masters, his fifth major and final one needed to complete the career Grand Slam in April, McIlroy admitted struggling with motivation. The emotional high he reached after finally slipping on the green jacket somewhat sent his game into a spiral; he admitted as much this summer. He finished T-47 in the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, a course he has won four times at. Then a T-19 at the U.S. Open was his first finish in the major outside of the top 10 since 2018.
However, a T-7 in his home Open Championship at Royal Portrush was the start of a stellar fall. McIlroy won the Irish Open. He then helped Team Europe to an away Ryder Cup victory at Bethpage Black. Last month, he won his seventh Race to Dubai title.
Now, his first of what will be two consecutive starts at the Australian Open is the start of some new goals McIlroy has set for himself: winning on the great cathedrals of the sport.
"I've talked about trying to win at some of the most important venues in golf; this week is one of them," McIlroy said. "You think about the tournaments and the people that have won at Royal Melbourne and how highly regarded it is within the golf world. I was lucky enough to win at Pebble Beach this year for the first time, and obviously at Augusta. I'd love to win at St. Andrews one day. I'd love to win a U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.
"There are a few venues in our game that maybe just mean a bit more than some of the others, and that's something that I would love to do one day. I want to win more majors. I want to be part of more Ryder Cup teams. I'd say my records on either tour, whether it be the DP World Tour or the PGA Tour are probably meaning a little less to me as time goes on, and it's really just focusing on the majors and being part of that Ryder Cup team. I'm trying to build on the legacy that I've been building for the last 15 years."
In McIlroy's case, 2027 will be a big year. The U.S. Open returns to Pebble Beach, and the next month, the 155th Open Championship will be held at St. Andrews.
But he's ending the best year of his life at Royal Melbourne's composite course. The West course, used for the majority of the layout, is ranked third on Golfweek's Best list of International Courses.
And on a week that's packed on the golf calendar, McIlroy is at the tournament he believes is elevated slightly above the rest — and he's right. The winner of the Australian Open earns a spot in the 2026 Masters.
"This tournament in particular because of the history, the tradition, deserves to be a standalone tournament, a week on its own, and hopefully one day they could put together a (global) schedule where the biggest and best tournaments in the world and the oldest and the ones with the most heritage can be elevated and stand on their own," he said.
And for McIlroy, he has the privilege of hosting golf's most famous dinner next April.