Rory McIlroy believes he has a ‘clear road ahead’ to challenge for more major titles and is taking a ‘relaxed approach’ into this week's PGA Championship.
McIlroy arrives at Aronimink Golf Club looking to become the first player since Jordan Spieth in 2015 to win the first two majors of a calendar year, a month on from his successful title defence at The Masters.
The Northern Irishman's one-shot win at Augusta National was his sixth major title and came a year after dramatically completing the career Grand Slam at the same event, with McIlroy among the pre-tournament favourites to challenge for more major success in Pennsylvania.
McIlroy experienced a post-Masters slump after 'climbing his Everest' with Grand Slam glory last season, failing to contend in the next two majors, although insists he feels different heading into the PGA Championship.
"I think I came into this tournament last year a little bit sort of uncertain of what my future was," McIlroy told reporters ahead of the PGA Championship, live from Thursday on Your Site Golf. "I conquered this thing that I wanted to conquer for so long [Grand Slam].
"I still hadn't really reset goals or found whatever that motivation was to keep going or go forward and set myself goals for the rest of my career. It probably took me a good few months to get to that point.
"As I've said, coming into this tournament feels a lot different than what it did last year. I feel like I've got some nice clear road ahead to try to get some more of these majors."
McIlroy has enjoyed prominence off the course in recent months alongside his fresh Masters success, having a cameo role in Devil Wears Prada 2 and being publicly praised by President Donald Trump at a White House Dinner.
"I know how fortunate I am and so lucky to be in this position in life," McIlroy admitted. "Sometimes you have to enjoy the perks, because I know that this isn't going to last forever.
"There's going to be a day where I'm not sitting up here and I'm not competing for major championships and I'm not doing what I'm doing. So I guess while I'm doing it, I have to enjoy it.
"It has been amazing, but there's still a lot of things I want to achieve. But if I can enjoy it along the way, that's a nice thing to do."
McIlroy claimed his two PGA Championship victories in 2012 and 2014 before the tournament moved from August to May, with the 37-year-old finishing no higher than tied-eighth at the event since the schedule change.
"It's different proposition nowadays that it's in May than it was in August and there's pros and cons to that," McIlroy explained. "I think the schedule is so condensed, and it's really just trying to figure out what the best [schedule] lead-in is.
"Especially after the last couple of years, I need to take the time after The Masters to reset and decompress and get myself in the right mental space again to get myself up for this tournament and keep going for the US Open and The Open."
McIlroy took a one-day scouting mission to Aronimink a fortnight ago, having previously played the course when it hosted the 2018 BMW Championship, which enabled him to make a late arrival to this week's major.
"It [visiting early] certainly has benefited me over the years. For the most part when I have made an advanced trip, it's worked out well for me.
"It also gave me the ability to go home on Sunday night, see Erica [wife] and Poppy [daughter] yesterday [Monday], and then come up here and not feel stressed about having to play a lot of holes or get up here early. I can take more of a relaxed approach going into the week."
On what to expect from the course this week, McIlroy added: "I think in this day and age, I'm not sure if it's going to test all aspects of your bag. Strategy off the tee is pretty non-existent. It's basically bash driver down there and then figure it out from there.
"When these traditional golf courses take a lot of trees out, it makes strategy not as much of a concern off the tee. The greens are the main focus. Getting yourself in the right sections of the greens, making sure you leave yourself below the hole for the most part, is the key this week."
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