Rory McIlroy’s major title drought has been well-publicized over the past few years: He hasn’t won a major since beating Phil Mickelson in the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla, and next spring’s Augusta National will mark the 11th year of that drought.
But McIlroy has accomplished a lot since his Kentucky triumph, winning 17 PGA Tour titles, three FedEx Cups, topping the Race to Dubai rankings four times and helping Europe win the Ryder Cup in 2014, 2018 and 2023, with records of eight wins, five losses and two draws in those three tournaments.
But ahead of the Olympic men’s golf tournament in Paris this week, McIlroy was asked what winning a gold medal would mean.
“It’s going to be the accomplishment of the year,” McIlroy said.
“For me, I think it’s pretty well known that we didn’t win one of the big four for 10 years, and that’s probably going to be the biggest, no, the biggest one. [win] Over the last 10 years of my career.”
McIlroy’s surprising admission is a stark contrast to how he viewed the Olympics eight years ago, when golf returned to the quadrennial tournament for the first time since 1904.
McIlroy did not compete in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics as he felt the Olympics did not suit his style of golf and chose to pursue other goals at the time – the Zika virus also influenced his decision – but the Ulster native has since changed his mind and said a gold medal was worth more to him than all his personal victories since Valhalla.
“As golf stays in the Olympics for a longer period of time, I don’t know if there will be any tournaments that can rival the majors, but I think golf will look more like a major,” McIlroy said. “There are four tournaments a year that are the pinnacle, but I think this will be one of those.”
[But] “I get asked this question a lot: Where will an Olympic medal rank among my career achievements? That’s one I won’t be able to answer until it’s all over.”
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation Playing Through. Follow For more golf articles, follow us on Twitter Jack Mirko In the same way.
