Rory McIlroy: I've never felt more complete as a player | 'I could double career wins'
Rory McIlroy makes first PGA Tour start since winning the CJ Cup in October; Scottie Scheffler returns as defending champion and Jon Rahm chases third win of 2023. Watch early coverage of the WM Phoenix Open live on Thursday from 3pm on Sky Sports Golf
Thursday 9 February 2023 08:22, UK
Rory McIlroy thinks he has never been a more "complete" player and is confident he can double his tally of titles.
The 33-year-old has won two of his last three worldwide events and has not finished outside the top four in his last seven as he battles to maintain his position as world No 1 ahead of Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler at the WM Phoenix Open, live on Sky Sports Golf from Thursday.
McIlroy was victorious on the DP World Tour at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic last month, his 32nd career title, but the Northern Irishman has no intention of resting on his laurels after making a winning start to 2023.
"I'm playing well, I feel like consistency-wise I've been as good as I ever have been in my career," McIlroy said in a pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday.
"I said at the end of last year I feel as complete a player as I ever have. If you look at my statistical categories, there's no real glaring weaknesses there, and I worked really hard on that to try to become a more well-rounded player.
"I think the results speak for themselves as well over, not just the past six months, but really the past 18 months post-Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits. I feel like I've been on a really good run of form since then."
McIlroy: I can double win tally
The one area where McIlroy has not tasted recent success is in major championships, with his last victory coming in the 2014 PGA Championship, a third of three straight wins that season which also included the Open Championship.
Winning The Masters to complete a career grand slam remains McIlroy's biggest goal and he finished runner-up to Scheffler at Augusta National last year, following a stunning final round of 64.
"I don't think I should be up here if I thought my best days weren't ahead of me," McIlroy added. "Like I can't be sitting up here and talking to you guys and trying to win golf tournaments if I think that the glory days are gone.
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"You have to be an eternal optimist in this game, and I 100 per cent believe that I can still... I've won 30-whatever times around the world as a professional. There's no reason that I can't double that number going forward. Like I truly believe that."
McIlroy explains Full Swing appearance
Both Scheffler and McIlroy feature in the Netflix docuseries Full Swing, out from February 15 and accessible for Sky customers via Sky Q and Sky Glass, which provides a deep dive into the lives of the players on the PGA Tour.
Scheffler feels the eight-part series is going to be "good for the game" and hopes it will attract a new audience to golf, while McIlroy features despite originally not planning to be part of the inaugural season.
"I sort of took the attitude of see how the first season works out, see if I like it, like the idea, feel comfortable letting cameras get into my life a little bit more," McIlroy explained. "But I had a good chat with Chad [Mumm, executive producer] in the summer time.
"Obviously, with everything that's going on in the world of golf, he just said having my voice in there in some way could just add a layer of context that wasn't there already.
"I made sure that the parameters were very much like, look, you're not coming to my house, you're not coming in my car, you're not coming anywhere near my family, but you want to do some stuff with me at golf tournaments, totally fine."
Watch the WM Phoenix Open throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live early coverage begins on Thursday from 3pm on Sky Sports Golf ahead of full coverage from 7.30pm.
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