Masters Winner And Grand Slam Champion Rory McIlroy Is Clearly Fatigued With Golf’s Relentless Schedule… And So Am I

Maybe we're all feeling a little bit like Rory McIlroy at the moment: a bit deflated, maybe even a bit 'over it'. Another Major? Already?

The Northern Irishman isn't himself at the moment. The energy levels appear to be fairly low and his body language in yesterday's US Open press conference gave the impression of someone who'd rather be somewhere else.

It was only 59 days ago that McIlroy collapsed in a heap on the 18th green at Augusta in floods of tears, overcome with emotion after finally winning that elusive Green Jacket and joining golf's most exclusive club of players to have won all four Major Championships.

Asked what his five-year plan was now that he'd accomplished everything in the game, he said: "I don't have one. I have no idea. I'm sort of just taking it tournament by tournament at this point. Yeah, I have no idea."

McIlroy isn't the first sportsman and he won't be the last to experience this feeling - it's happened to a lot of the greats, those to have achieved immortality.

It happens to the average Joe, too. We're every bit as likely to suffer some sort of comedown after achieving a goal, and that doesn't mean doing something quite so spectacular as winning four historic golf tournaments or realizing a lifelong dream.

"I think it's trying to have a little bit of amnesia and forget about what happened six weeks ago," McIlroy added, referring to that unforgettable Sunday afternoon at Augusta in April, where he did his best to throw it away on more than one occasion before finally completing the job.

McIlroy used the word "motivation", and it's clear this is something he's struggling with right now. Understandably so. After winning The Masters, he skipped the following week's RBC Heritage, the fifth PGA Tour Signature event, which offered another $3.6 million for the winner.

The schedule is relentless. He played the Zurich Classic of New Orleans at the end of April with his longtime friend, Shane Lowry, and then teed it up at the Truist Championship in early May, the sixth Signature event.

Then came a disappointing PGA Championship, after which he missed Jack's event, the Memorial Tournament (another Signature event), which raised a few eyebrows, before turning in a woeful performance at the RBC Canadian Open last week, where he missed the cut by some margin.

There's no let up in the schedule and no time to sit back and reflect, which I'm sure is something McIlroy would like to do a bit more of at this moment in time - in fact, the scale of his achievements might have been easier to process had The Masters been the last event of the year, not the curtain-raiser.

"Just trying to find the motivation to go back out there and work as hard as I've been working," McIlroy added. "I worked incredibly hard on my game from October last year all the way up until April this year. It was nice to sort of see the fruits of my labor come to fruition and have everything happen.

"But at the same time, you have to enjoy that. You have to enjoy what you've just accomplished. I certainly feel like I'm still doing that and I will continue to do that.

"At some point, you have to realize that there's a little bit more golf left to play this season, here, Portrush, Ryder Cup, so those are obviously the three big things that I'm sort of looking at for the rest of the year.

"But I think weeks like Quail Hollow or even weeks like last week, it makes it easier to reset in some way, to be like, okay, I sort of need to get my stuff together here and get back to the process and sort of what I'd been doing for that seven months from October last year until April this year."

In five-and-a-half weeks' time, the men's Major season will be over; after that, it's the FedEx Cup playoffs, Tour Championship, more big tournaments on the DP World Tour and the Ryder Cup.

My perfect tournament schedule would have the Major Championships spaced out a little more. This is easy for me to say as a fan, of course - a lot harder for the competing tours to satisfy sponsors and appease their respective members.

Take tennis, for example: the Australian Open in January, French in May/June, Wimbledon in June, and the US Open in August/September. These Slams have more of their own identity - and benefit more from a gradual build-up.

I digress, slightly. The point is, I think it's perfectly understandable that McIlroy is seemingly finding it tough to find the same levels of motivation as he had at the start of the year, and not just because he's reached the top of Everest.

Another week, another tournament. That's kind of how it feels at the moment. Not much time for Rory to enjoy his achievements and not much time for fans to feel the anticipation levels gradually rising, as they tend to in the lead up to The Masters.

Anyway, on we go. It's time for a brutal US Open. Bring on the fun and games of Oakmont.