Out of the 3,000 words spoken by Rory McIlroy on Wednesday, spanning major contentment and a minor kneecapping of Bryson DeChambeau, four were sufficient to assess his state of mind at the PGA Championship.
It came via a fairly off-beat question and one that had been asked of every other golfer who stepped into the media tent here at Quail Hollow.
The exercise was theoretical, or rather an exploration of envy, with the intention of establishing which part of their game they would swap with a rival ahead of Thursday’s first round.
There were some interesting answers – Scottie Scheffler wants to putt like Sam Burns, Justin Thomas wishes he could drive like McIlroy, Jordan Spieth fancies Scheffler’s approach game. DeChambeau intended to compile a dossier into the best wedger between 110 and 60 yards.
Everyone had someone or something. Except McIlroy: ‘I would not trade.’
And that was that. There were times on Wednesday when he was in one of those moods, but then again, has he ever had more licence to feel so self-assured?
Rory McIlroy is in a good place ahead of the US PGA Championship over the coming days
McIlroy finally got the monkey off his back by winning the Masters in dramatic fashion in April
It will be fascinating to see how much McIlroy kicks on after completing a career Grand Slam
All of which raises the next question of where his career heads from here, now that his masterpiece is complete.
Conventional wisdom can point us in opposite directions – he might thrive without a gorilla on his back, but will a sixth major follow so quickly after the fifth when he admits to feeling tearful any time he catches a clip of his Augusta play-off? Will there be an unburdened charge or an initial hangover?
His words in the past month suggest no loss of intensity. And it is lost on no-one that this tournament could scarcely be more ideal for him in its location.
Indeed, if McIlroy, 36, was to hand-pick a venue to start this next act, it would be this one, where he has won four times, including his very first title on the PGA Tour 15 years ago. Augusta was loaded with gremlins; his memories of this track are warm and fuzzy.
As his media duties proved, he can still tell you precisely about a four iron he hit in the second round, where he ate on the Saturday night, the time he got to bed on the Sunday morning. The detail of his recollections was astonishing and, to him, relevant for this week.
‘I think part of the reason I’ve played so well here since is every time I return the good feelings get rekindled,’ he said. ‘It’s been a good place for me.’
It has. And he is in a good place in a more general sense, of course, even if the expectations around him now have extended to a semi-nonsensical discussion of whether he can win all four majors in a season.
If golf is a game of mistakes and rebounds, as his own career has repeatedly shown us, then McIlroy is resolved to change the habit of a lifetime by not setting distinct targets.
McIlroy has had plenty of success at Quail Hollow (pictured after winning the Wells Fargo Championship there in 2024, one of his four triumphs at the course during his career)
His battle with Scottie Scheffler should be fascinating to watch in North Carolina this week
Bryson DeChambeau will also have motivation to fight back after how the Masters unfolded
As he told us here: ‘Look, I have achieved everything I’ve wanted. 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 is a bonus.
‘I think everyone saw how hard having a north star is and being able to get over the line. I feel like I burdened myself with the career grand slam stuff, 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 play the best I can.’
This week presents a golden opportunity, both for him and observers of the debate around the era’s best two golfers. Conveniently, McIlroy and Scheffler will go out together in rounds one and two, alongside the defending champion Xander Schauffele.
It remains a quirk that McIlroy and Scheffler have not yet managed to provide a compelling duel at a major, or at least one that showcased them when their games were running hot at the same time.
When the Northern Irishman took second behind Scheffler at the 2022 Masters, it should not be forgotten that McIlroy was never in contention. Nor that they were grouped together in the first two rounds and Scheffler out-shot McIlroy by 10.
That Scheffler won by eight shots on his last PGA Tour start suggests a perfect storm could therefore be brewing, but the fascination runs to other runners and riders.
One of those is Justin Thomas, who won his first of two PGA Championship titles here in 2017. His return to form in recent weeks is ominous. So too is the presence of DeChambeau, who won on his last start and, like McIlroy and Scheffler, has the sheer length to thrive on this 7,626-yard course.
Where Donald Trump’s close pal and McIlroy might have an edge on Scheffler is they both favour the right-to-left shape that suits this landscape.
For DeChambeau, there is also muted desire to avenge the beating he suffered on Masters Sunday, having inflicted one of his own at last year’s US Open, and their rivalry is compelling in its own right.
To DeChambeau’s little gripe that McIlroy blanked him entirely throughout that final round at Augusta, came a colder shoulder on Wednesday. ‘I don’t know what he was expecting,’ said McIlroy. ‘We’re trying to win the Masters. I’m not trying to be his best mate out there.’
Little room for nuance there. And little chance that he would do anything differently next time, because for now, McIlroy isn’t in much of a mood for trading. Not when taking is so much more fun.
