Top 25 Rory McIlroy Quotes

There’s a certain – there’s a different pressure with playing in a Ryder Cup. You know, you‘re not just playing for yourself. You’re playing for your teammates. You’re playing for your country.

Since turning professional at 18, I have travelled the world playing the game that I love and consider myself a global player. As the World No.1 right now, I wish to be a positive role model and a sportsperson that people respect, and enjoy watching.

I wanted to make a point of basing myself at home, being close to my family. I’ll never be able to repay Mum and Dad for what they did, but at least they know they’ll never have to work another day. I’ll do whatever it takes to look after them.

I want to try to become the best golfer in the world.

On that Sunday of the Masters I remember turning on ESPN to find people talking about me. I switched over to the Golf Channel and people were talking about me. It was hard to escape.

You know I need that cockiness, the self-belief, arrogance, swagger, whatever you want to call it, I need that on the golf course to bring the best out of myself. So you know once I leave the golf course, you know that all gets left there.

The next time I cry about golf it will only be with joy. It’s not worth crying over golf for any other reason. After all, it’s only a game.

I really enjoy playing ‘Tiger Woods‘ on the Wii, and you can set the levels to easy, medium, or hard, so I think it’s definitely a good way for kids to learn the motion of a golf swing if they want to get into the sport. It makes it more fun for them as well.

I am a proud product of Irish golf and the Golfing Union of Ireland and am hugely honoured to have come from very rich Irish sporting roots… I am also a proud Ulsterman who grew up in Northern Ireland. That is my background and always will be.

This is the great thing about Northern Ireland. I walk down the street and people stop me and say things like, ‘I know you. You’re that wee golfer, aren’t you?’ I say, ‘Yeah, that’s me.’ They say, ‘Keep it up, wee man.’ It’s very funny and that’s why I want to stay here as long as possible.

I mean I don’t want to feel inferior to any other golfer in the world. You know if you do that, then you know you’re giving them an advantage, you know, right off the – you know, right from the start.

Two years ago, of course, I was just a rookie and listened to everybody. In a way I am still a rookie. I’m only 23 and I’ll be surrounded by great players who have played in a lot more Ryder Cups than myself. But the rankings say I am the best player at the moment and so that brings a responsibility.

As an international sportsman, I am very lucky to be supported by people all over the world, many of who treat me as one of their own, no matter what their nationality, or indeed mine. This is the way sport should be.

How can I intimidate Tiger Woods? I mean, the guy‘s got 75 or whatever PGA Tour wins, 14 majors. He’s been the biggest thing ever in our sport. How could some little 23-year-old from Northern Ireland with a few wins come up and intimidate him.

My mom and dad worked very hard to give me the best chance in – not just in golf but in life. You know, I was an only child, you know, my dad worked three jobs at one stage. My mom worked night shifts in a factory.

I’ve always said the players don’t build up rivalries themselves, people from the outside build up the rivalries. I just want to play good golf. I want to try and keep winning golf tournaments.

It is never easy to win but it is a lot easier to win when you play well. The key is winning golf tournaments when you are not playing so well. Managing your game is something that I feel that I am still learning to do.

I have always said I will try to answer questions honestly. I don’t want to change that about myself. I think people appreciate that about me.

Of course, money matters to everyone even if some don’t want to admit it. If I won the Race to Dubai, I look at that prize money and think it could pay off my new house or the range I’m building. I am privileged to play golf for a living – look around St Andrews, that’s my office.

Going to the gym is great for your body, but it’s also great for your mind.

I receive huge support from Irish and British sports fans alike and it is greatly appreciated. Likewise I feel I have a great affinity with the American sports fans. I play most of my golf in the U.S. nowadays and I am incredibly proud to have won the U.S. Open and U.S. PGA Championship in the last two years.

As long as I keep enjoying my golf, then hopefully I’ll be able to play well.

I’ve had support from all sides, from people who call themselves Irish, from Northern Irish, to the whole of the UK, to people in America, and it would be terrible for me to segregate myself from one of those groups that support me so much.

If I’m playing in the morning, I’ll get some carbs early: porridge with chopped banana. If I’m playing in the afternoon, I’ll start with less carbs and have some eggs and fruit for breakfast, then a light lunch about 90 minutes before I play, so I don’t feel sluggish or full.

My dad’s a scratch golfer and I’ve got the knack of seeing something and then replicating it. I saw my dad swing a club and I worked out how to do the same thing. My backswing and follow-through have been basically the same since I was two.