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Rory McIlroy is on a roll and he has no intention of stopping as he admits he wants to win a fifth major "as soon as possible".
McIlroy tees up again in the The Barclays tournament at The Ridgewood Country Club on Thursday and the Irishman, high in confidence, admits he has learned so much from Tiger Woods over the years.
“Once you get on a roll and you start to get confidence, I think that’s all it really was,” said McIlroy.
“I’ve played well all year, I really have. It seemed like the start of the year it was just a bad nine-hole stretch that would prevent me from winning. I finished eighth at the Masters and it felt like it could’ve been so much better.
“It’s been a good year overall since the start of the year but it just seems like this summer I got on a roll and got confident. I just tried to keep it going. I’ve done that for the past few weeks and there’s still some big tournaments coming up and I want to keep it going. I won three tournaments in a row and I’ll try to make it four this week.”
Jack Nichlaus recently said that McIlroy is an “unbelievable talent” and could go on to win 15-20 majors. High praise indeed and McIlroy is taking it all in his stride.
“It’s inevitable that there’s going to be these comparisons. It’s hard to avoid and I’ve seen what Jack Nicklaus has said,” McIlroy said.
“It’s a compliment. It’s very flattering that Jack thinks so highly of my golf game but saying that, I’ve got four majors right now and I want to try to get my fifth as soon as possible.
“And then when I do that I’ll try to get my sixth. I don’t have any sort of number in my head because it places unfair expectations on you. I just don't want to do that to myself. Four is a great number where I’m at in my career at 25 years of age.
“If I can get to five soon then that’s great and if it takes me a little while then so be it. I’m really happy with where I’m at and it’s flattering all these compliments but at the same time I have to play some good golf just to get that fifth.”
Both ambassadors for Nike, McIlroy and Woods have become good friends and this year’s double major winner was full of praise for the man he is chasing down.
“I never go and seek out advice from him (Woods),” McIlroy said.
“But just observing him and seeing how he's handled (things), especially the success that he's had and being able to keep it going.
“The dominance that he's had and the work that he’s put in. I find that really impressive because I've only had a little taste of it over the past few weeks and he's done that so much throughout his career.
“That's what I find so impressive about him. If I was to seek out any advice it would be how to keep that going.
