Dubai, skiing and Borussia Dortmund: Rory McIlroy’s pledge to enjoy himself

After an ten-year major tournament drought, Rory McIlroy has rediscovered his winning touch in 2025. Most importantly, his triumph at the Masters Tournament last month was his first at the prestigious event, completing a career Grand Slam.

McIlroy, still only 36 years old, has been a professional for 18 years and he is undoubtedly one of the finest players of his generation. But a decade without a major looked to have taken a toll on him mentally and he revealed recently that he took steps to get the joy back.

“I feel like this world of golf can become all encompassing if you let it,” McIlroy told BBC Sport.

“One of my New Year’s resolutions was to have more fun and I’ve really tried to do that,” he continued. “Me and a bunch of friends went to Dortmund in January and watched Borussia Dortmund v Bayer Leverkusen; we then stopped off in Istanbul for a night off on our way to Dubai.”

He explained that his daughter, Poppy, has also been a good grounding for him during tough times. Gone are the days when he focused entirely on golf; McIlroy is trying to give himself a break away from the course.

“Poppy’s starting to learn how to ski, so we went to Montana in February and took a skiing holiday,” he said.

“There’s opportunities throughout the year that you can do these sorts of things. I think now at this stage of life that I’m at, I’m actually trying to build my schedule around those weeks instead of the other way around.”

The year’s Majors are now completed but there is still one big target for McIlroy in 2025. He will be a part of the European team looking to claim inter-continental bragging rights at the Ryder Cup later this year, which will be held at Bethpage Balck, New York from September 26-28.

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