Rory McIlroy teases parenthood for Max Homa on verge of becoming No.1 again
Rory McIlroy believes returning to the No.1 spot in the world rankings would have more meaning now than on the previous occasions in his career.
Rory McIlroy admitted returning to the summit of the top of the world rankings if he were to win the CJ Cup on the PGA Tour would carry more meaning than at anytime before because of "everything I've went through".
Northern Irishman McIlroy, 33, has been the No. 1 in the Official Golf World Ranking as many as eight times in his career.
The last time he was ranked the best player on the planet was the summer of 2020. It's been up-and-down since then. It always seems to be the case.
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McIlroy entered this tournament last year slap bang in the middle of a strange spell. It was off the back of "going down a rabbit hole" with his golf swing.
The Ulsterman went on a pursuit for speed and power. Add to that the disruption of the global pandemic and his brief spell working with Pete Cowen and things just weren't right for the four-time major champion.
This time last year he was No. 14 in the world. He was searching for something. He famously admitted "I just need to be me" a few weeks after breaking down in tears at the Ryder Cup.
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Last year, this tournament was played at The Summit Club in Las Vegas. McIlroy saw off Collin Morikawa for a one-stroke victory to claim what was then his 20th PGA Tour win.
Since then, he has added even more victories at the Tour Championship, the RBC Canadian Open and finished inside the top-10 of all the majors. His closest calls coming at Augusta National and the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews.
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"It's been a long journey from when I was No. 1 back in July of 2020," McIlroy told the media on Saturday. "It's been two years and a bunch of stuff has happened, so I think that thinking back along it will be -- it mightn't have the excitement that 2012 did [when he first became World No.1], but it will have as much if not more meaning because of everything that I've sort of went through over the last couple years."
McIlroy was also thrown a bit of a curveball question before departing his press conference.
PGA Tour pro Max Homa is a father-to-be and admitted recently what he is looking forward to most are the things he doesn't know he's going to look forward to.
McIlroy is a father to Poppy who was born in August 2020. McIlroy got emotional after claiming victory in Canada as she told him he's her number one.
What is the best thing about being a father that McIlroy wasn't expecting?
"There's firsts all the way, I will imagine all the way into teenage years and beyond and everything else," McIlroy said.
"I think just all those firsts. And yeah, looking forward to bath time and looking forward to going into the room in the morning and getting them up out of bed, just all that stuff that you sort of would take for granted.
"But as the one thing I've said since I've had a child is it gives me much more -- I always thought I appreciated my parents, but it gives me much more appreciation for my parents after having kids."
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