Rory McIlroy rocks up to Sawgrass with dirty laundry and a book about introverts

PGA Tour superstar Rory McIlroy is looking to win The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass for the second time this week.

Ben Smith

07 Mar 2023

Rory McIlroy rocks up to Sawgrass with dirty laundry and a book about introverts

There is absolutely no denying ever since he burst into tears at the 2021 Ryder Cup, Rory McIlroy has played some of his best golf in years.

Okay - so he's still without a major - but he's since ticked off a number of impressive victories that he will undoubtedly look back with immense pride whenever the date arrives he is inducted into the Hall of Fame.

He ticked off three victories on the PGA Tour last season at the CJ Cup, RBC Canadian Open and the Tour Championship at East Lake.

Another victory this season came when he defended the CJ Cup at Congaree which brought his haul to 23 PGA Tour titles.

He also won the season-long points race on the DP World Tour and claimed the Dubai Desert Classic for the third time.

McIlroy was perhaps unfortunate not to have claimed another win last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

The Northern Irishman said he wished he could've had one shot back at Bay Hill as he didn't know he was in the lead.

In the end, he finished one stroke behind the 30-year-old journeyman Kurt Kitayama, who claimed his maiden win and $3.6m.

McIlroy has another chance of reclaiming the World No. 1 position occupied by Jon Rahm this week at TPC Sawgrass.

He has previously stated that the No.1 ranking is like a game of 'hot potato' between himself, Rahm and Scottie Scheffler.

McIlroy has been drawn to play alongside Rahm and Scheffler for the first two rounds.

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Just one of the ways McIlroy has improved his game has come from a completely different focus.

He's a father now which means that his life is does not simply revolve around winning golf tournaments.

Of course he wants to win. He always does. But he doesn't need to. He is chasing a state of mind.

This is a mentality that has revitalised McIlroy through his work with Dr Bob Rotella.

It's also an approach that legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus believes could hinder McIlroy in the long run.

Before McIlroy won the 2019 Players, he revealed before the final round that he meditated for 20 minutes, did some mind-training and juggled.

McIlroy joked to Golf.com that he wasn't going to "go and live with the monks for a couple of months in Nepal" but the attitude shift has yielded impressive results.

The Ulsterman also loves to read. One of his favourites is called The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino. The 1968 book is a guide to "philosophy of salesmanship".

This week McIlroy rocked up to TPC Sawgrass where he revealed he is reading a book called 'Quiet'.

"Yeah, it's really good," McIlroy said. "It's about the world and introverts."

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