Northern Ireland golf star Rory McIlroy says he feels “refreshed” after taking time off from the sport to focus on his “mental and emotional well-being”.
After taking a three-week break from the PGA Tour after his disappointing Augusta campaign, McIlroy is ready to get back into the swing of things this week at the Wells Fargo Championship in North Carolina.
The 33-year-old four-time major winner pulled out of last month’s RBC Heritage tournament right after the Masters.
McIlroy said he needed to take time off for his health and that the turmoil that has plagued golf since the emergence of the independent LIV circuit a year ago had worn him down on Tuesday.
“I needed a break for me,” McIlroy told NBC’s Golf Channel.
“Obviously, after the disappointment of Augusta, it’s been a pretty taxing 12 months mentally, so it was nice to just try to disconnect a little bit and get away from it.”
With the lure of large purses and no-cut fields, the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf has attracted several of McIlroy’s Ryder Cup teammates away from the PGA Tour.
But McIlroy said on Tuesday that he is looking ahead, beginning with the tournament this week.
“It’s nice to come back and feel refreshed and I think we’re on a pretty busy run here from now until after the play-offs so I’m excited to get going,” McIlroy said.
“I think it was a bit of a combination of a few things, and just after the disappointment of Augusta and how I played there, it was just more for my mental and emotional wellbeing I just needed to be at home for those few weeks but, as I said, looking forward to getting back this week.”
McIlroy said his absence from the tour had left him in a “better headspace than I was.”
“I think for me it was a nice reset because I still had to realize that there are three more majors this year, there is a ton left to play for,” McIlroy said.
“I needed to leave the last 12 months in the rearview mirror and focus on what’s ahead of me. I think the last three weeks has helped me gain that perspective and put me back on the right track.”
Despite having won three times at Quail Hollow, McIlroy has been left off the official interview schedule for this week’s event following his early exit from the Masters.
He had already skipped the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii back in January, so his decision to skip the RBC Heritage was his second of the season to skip a designated PGA Tour event.
Photo by EPA/ERIK S. LESSER
