A double grand slam? Rory McIlroy lifts lid on audacious final career goals

Rory McIlroy says he doesn't believe it is out of the realms of possibility he could win every major again before he retires. 

McIlroy, 36, finally captured The Masters last April to end his decade-long wait for a major championship triumph. 

His triumph at Augusta National was McIlroy's fifth major title overall and it also saw him join an exclusive club as only the six male golfer in history to complete the career grand slam. 

After his career-defining victory, some suggested an unburdened McIlroy would potentially contend for every major title in 2025. 

But it did not pan out that way and McIlroy told of his struggles to find the next mountain to climb after scaling his own personal Everest. 

Over the last few months, McIlroy has spoken of his desire to win at some of the "cathedrals of golf" before he retires. 

An Open victory at St. Andrews appears to be top of the bucket list. 

And he has been reluctant to put a number on how many more major titles he is targeting. 

However, during an eye-opening interview with The Fried Egg, McIlroy told of how he doesn't believe it is out of the question to win every major again. 

McIlroy revealed that a recent conversation with tennis legend Roger Federer over dinner made him revaluate his motivation.

"And he framed the question a little differently to me," he told TFE. 

"And it just made me think about it a little bit differently. 

"And I was asking him when he got to a point in his career when he achieved everything he really wanted to, what was the motivation to keep going? 

"And his answer was great and it had to do with Pete Sampras. 

"When he got to 15, which was past Pete's 14, he's like, 'Well, 20 didn't seem that far away.' 

"It's the same thing for me. I've got the five majors, you know, I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that I could win every major twice, which would be a really cool thing to win the grand slam twice. 

"I've always been very hesitant to put a number on it because if you don't get to that number, does that mean you're a failure?

"Does that mean that you haven't done what you set out to achieve? 

"But then at the same time, if you put a number out there, I'm not saying that I'm gonna put a number on it, but internally, if I have something I want to do and I don't quite get there, but I at least finish a little further ahead than where I do right now, then it was worth trying to get there. 

"So I think that's where I'm at. Are there a certain number of majors I'd like to win? Yes. 

"Am I going to put that number out into the world? Probably not, because I don't need my goal to become other people's goal, a little bit like what the Masters really became for me over these last 10 years."

McIlroy added: "I want to leave a legacy in the game and I've talked about wanting to be the best European that's ever played the game.

"People have different barometers about what that is, but it's really like [Nick] Faldo and Seve [Ballesteros]. 

"I feel like in the game I've been able to pass a lot of the things that they did, but then there's probably other things that I need to do to cement my place in that spot."

Elsewhere in the interview, McIlroy spoke of fatherhood, what type of Ryder Cup captain he plans to be, his admiration for Scottie Scheffler and why he doesn't believe he will change his mind about playing senior golf. 

McIlroy previously explained that something will have gone extremely wrong if he is playing on the PGA Tour Champions over the age of 50. 

Ernie Els was among those to claim McIlroy will soon change his mind. 

"I've said a lot of absolutes in my time that I've had to walk back, which I will totally admit, but I've long held that view," he said.  

"I have the incredible privilege of being in three of the four majors until I'm whatever age, however long I want to play, so if those become the highlight of my golfing year from a tournament perspective, that I will be so okay with. 

"I don't want to be a touring professional golfer for the rest of my life. 

"I want to do other things. I want to see the world, and I don't want to see the world just through the lens of golf courses and hotels. I want to actually see the world."