Rory McIlroy brought the traffic in Oxford Street to a standstill for a few miuntes on Monday (May 18), when he strode across one of London’s busiest crossroads on his way to opening a new golf simulator at Nike’s flagship London store.
Barely 18 hours after his record-breaking victory at the Wells Fargo Championship in North Carolina, the World No.1 landed in London to fulfil his commitment as the face of Nike Golf’, ahead of his defence of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, which tees off on Thursday.
In front of an audience of invited guests, the 26 year old gave a display of his power hitting into a net, and was then joined on stage at Niketown by footballer-turned-broadcaster Chris Kamara, who asked him about inspiring a new generation of golfers, as well as the journey he’s taken to the top of the golf world.
Kamara also asked McIlroy to elaborate on the athletic side of golf and his fitness regime. “I’m always looking to get an edge on my competition, and I definitely feel being in peak physical condition gives me that. I love being in the gym because what I do in there directly contributes to what I can do on the course,” McIlroy said.
Asked about his hot run of form since his win at Wentworth last May, McIlroy said: “I’ve been playing really well since this time last year, won seven times. Hopefully I can keep that going. I have accomplished a lot of things the last few weeks. After the Masters I was outside the top 100 in the FedExCup rankings, but now I’m up to No.3. I wanted to make a push and get up there, even though there’s still a long way to go in that. It’s just a great momentum builder. Going into the thick of the season, I’ve still got three majors coming up, a lot of things to play for, and I don’t feel like my game has ever been in better shape, so I’m excited for the next few months.”
Speaking about the disappointment of failing to win the career grand slam at Augusta in April, he added: “There was a lot of expectation going into Augusta, a lot of hype, and a lot of expectation that I put on myself. It was a great opportunity to do something that very few players in this game have done. I’ll go back next year with the same opportunity. But since then it has been a little bit of a weight lifted off the shoulders, not to think about it and just go on and play the rest of the season the way I know that I can play.”