Rory McIlroy had one of the best seasons of his career last year. Courtesy of winning the Masters at Augusta, McIlroy completed his Career Grand Slam after waiting for more than a decade. Surprisingly, he does not seem to be satisfied with all the accolades he has gotten till now. Hungry for more, the Northern Irish star is coming back to defend his title at Augusta. And he is leaving no stone unturned. 

“Rory Mcllroy’s preparation for his title defence at The Masters has begun with the reigning Champion revealing post round at TGL that he took a scouting trip to Augusta National this past Saturday,” read an X post from NUCLR GOLF. 

Surely, this only makes it more evident how focused the former World No. 1 is ahead of this year’s masters. Trying to assess the conditions and anticipate what might be waiting for him, McIlroy’s latest visit speaks volumes about how badly he wants to do a double. After all, there will be some stiff competition waiting for him from the likes of Scottie Scheffler and, probably, a returning Tiger Woods! Interestingly, McIlroy’s intense drive to make it count for a second time does have a hidden reason.

There is surely the champion’s instinct that is driving him to go for gold one more time. Notably, all of his celebratory antics happened in the absence of his parents. 

Throughout his career, his father, Gerry, has been a strong driving force. He has always supported him from beside the fairways. Thus, it is one of the McIlroy’s dreams that his father gets to witness him winning the Masters. 

News served to you like never before!

Prefer us on Google, To get latest news on feed

Prefer Us on Google

Detailing his expectations further, the golfer, in an interview, said, “My dad wasn’t there when I won, so I think that’ll be a cool moment to be with him. It’ll be emotional. Like, I still get a little emotional thinking about it. But it’ll be really cool. To go there, I have a lot of members there that have become good friends over the years.”

McIlroy also said, “To be able to enjoy that with them and play the golf course again and sort of reminisce over the good and the bad that happened over the course of the week, yeah, that’ll be really cool.”

As he is fine-tuning his game ahead of the coveted tournament, the 46-year-old has had an impressive start to 2026. Playing at the Dubai Invitational, the Northern Irish star secured a 3rd place finish. 

Meanwhile, as McIlroy is showing no signs of slowing down, a PGA Tour pro shared his two cents on his retirement timeline. 

PGA Tour star Joel Dahmen predicts early retirement for Rory McIlroy

Following his Career Grand Slam last year, most people thought that McIlroy would now be thinking about his retirement plans. But it did not happen. The former World No. 1 has already kicked off his 2026 season. Yet, PGA Tour pro Dahmen believes that fans are in to witness a premature retirement decision from McIlroy. 

Speaking with Trey Wingo, Dahmen said, “I mean, Rory, this is what, let’s call him, 35, 36 maybe. So, I mean, he’s worth, I mean, I think he’s going to be the next billionaire or something out there. It’s like, is he going to want to play after 40? So, it’ll be curious to see a lot of these guys won’t even continue on that path. I don’t think they will because they already have; they’ve done everything they can in the game, and they have enough money that it doesn’t matter anymore.”

According to his point of view, there is no need for McIlroy to grind for much longer. That’s because he has already won everything and has also earned enough money. Thus, speaking about the motivation to carry on, Dahmen believes McIlroy will have none. 

However, as of now, fans will be eagerly waiting to see whether McIlroy can clinch a double at Augusta.