The Northern Irish golfer will tee off at the PGA Championship on Thursday (15.05.25) in his first major tournament since completing the career Grand Slam and says anything he achieves in the sport from now on is a "bonus" having won the full set of majors.

McIlroy said: "I have achieved everything that I’ve wanted. I have done everything I’ve wanted to do in the game. I dreamed as a child of becoming the best player in the world and winning all the majors. I’ve done that. Everything beyond this, for however long I decide to play the game competitively, is a bonus."

The world number two sank to his knees after sealing glory at Augusta last month and revealed that he has resisted the temptation to keep watching the moment back.

He said: "I’ve tried not to watch it a lot because I want to remember the feelings. I’ve talked about this before, but I think when I rewatch a lot of things back, I then just remember the visuals of the TV rather than what I was feeling and what I was seeing through my own eyes. So I haven’t tried to watch it back too much. But anytime I have, I well up. I still feel like I want to cry.

"It was an involuntary. I’ve never felt a release like that before and I might never feel a release like that again. That could be a once-in-a-lifetime thing and it was a very cool moment."

McIlroy has been tipped by many observers to add to his five major wins after ending his Masters drought but is refusing to set a target for himself.

He said: "I’ve always said I’m never going to put a number on it. I’ve talked about trying to become the best European ever or the best international player ever or whatever that is. The numbers tell one story, but it mightn’t be the full story.

"I feel like I sort of burdened myself with the career Grand Slam stuff and I want to enjoy this. I want to enjoy what I’ve achieved and I want to enjoy the last decade or whatever of my career. I don’t want to burden myself by numbers or statistics. I just want to go and try to play the best golf I can."