RORY MCILROY SAYS he feels his “celebrity status” has risen, following his third major title.
McIlroy, 25, claimed The Open Championship at Hoylake on 20 July, to move within a Masters green jacket of a career grand slam.
The Northern Irishman moved back to number two in the rankings, and despite having already sat on the top mantle, McIlroy said he felt he is still rising as a star of the professional tour.
McIlroy said his previous major win – an eight-stroke victory at the PGA Championship in August 2012 – was overshadowed by the concurrent Olympic Games in London, and he noticed the difference in reaction to his two title wins.
“I think just because it was The Open Championship and being from those islands where it’s so important and after the PGA [in 2012] I didn’t go back home, and the Olympics were on as well so there was a lot of sports stories going on at that time where it was,” McIlroy said.
“You go home on Monday it was the biggest story of the day and it just felt that little bit bigger, I felt like my fame or celebrity status went up another notch after that.
“It’s something I’m going to have to handle from now on, but it’s another major championship, it is The Open, it’s the one that I dreamed about winning as a kid. [I] holed all those putts to beat Tiger [Woods], beat Phil [Mickelson], beat Ernie [Els], and I feel like I’ve done it.”
McIlroy said while he lapped up the extra attention that comes with winning a major, he wanted to readjust his focus to the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, starting tomorrow.
“It’s great to be introduced as The Open champion but I just need to move on from that, I’ve got a lot of golf left this year and I want to achieve a lot more,” he said.
“I’m enjoying being The Open champion but that’s not all I want to be this year, I want to do more.”
