There's one golf tournament that Rory McIlroy wants to win above any other: the Masters.
It's the lone major he hasn't won, and it's the one that has toyed with him most. From the final-round 80 in 2011 onward, the tournament has been one associated with the Ulsterman's destiny. He's been close several times, only to come up short.
Now, a decade removed from winning his last majors back-to-back in 2014, McIlroy has suggested he would consider retiring from golf entirely were he able to win a fifth major at Augusta National.
Speaking ahead of this week's Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches, the four-time major winner was about his career goals as he turns toward the second half of his golf career. Now 17 years into playing professional golf, McIlroy realizes he has inched closer to the middle and the downward trend toward the end of his career.
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"I don't know. I said that Phil and Tiger were on the back nine of their career and got a lot of s*** for it," McIlroy said with a laugh. "I turned pro in '07. What is this, my 17th year? Another 17 I'll be 51. Yeah, I would say I'm pretty close to the turn at this point, if not a little bit after. Maybe on the 10th green or 11th tee."
The natural follow-up was to ask for how much longer McIlroy thinks he can sustain the level of passion and drive he has to compete at the peak of his talents, chasing majors and other big trophies.
"For the next 17, no. I would say for the next 10, absolutely. 17 teams like a stretch," he said.
A decade from now, then, McIlroy will be 44. That's a long time and a lot of majors -- 40, to be exact. However, McIlroy then threw in the monkey wrench that could make him consider retiring on the spot.
"Or a green jacket and just walk away," he said with a smirk.
Were McIlroy to win the Masters at some point in his career, he would become the sixth person to complete the career Grand Slam, which is to say having won all four majors at some point in a career, in no particular order. Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Gene Sarazen are the others to accomplish the feat.