McIlroy shrugs off toe injury in bid for back-to-back majors at PGA Championship

Rory McIlroy brushed aside a sore toenail that needed self-surgery as he prepares for back-to-back major wins at this week's US PGA Championship in Pennsylvania.

"I softened it up in the shower and just ripped it off," the Masters champion said with a laugh. He pulled off his sock to display the plaster-covered little toe on his right foot. He will wear golf shoes half a size larger for his bid at Aronimink course near Philadelphia, site of the season's second men's major that starts Thursday.

McIlroy arrives in a far different mood than last year's PGA. Back then, the tetchy figure dodged the media amid a hangover from his career Grand Slam victory at Augusta National. He had just beaten Justin Rose in a tumultuous playoff at the 2025 Masters.

Now the fourth player to retain the Green Jacket with his win last month, McIlroy took time to celebrate before gearing up for this event. "Major championship wins don't come along that often," he told BBC Sport. "A little more often for me in the past couple years than the previous decade, so yeah, I wanted to enjoy it."

"The further I get on in my career, the more I start to realise how special these moments are," he added. "It was really nice to spend time at home with Erica and Poppy and my parents."

His break included a State banquet for King Charles's recent Washington DC visit. That prompted him to skip the PGA Tour's Doral event earlier this month. The six-time major winner brought lifelong coach Michael Bannon to Florida to prep for the remaining majors: this PGA, next month's US Open and July's Open at Royal Birkdale.

"It's been a really good two and a half weeks of practice and getting back into playing competitively," McIlroy said.

He tied for 19th last week in Charlotte, his only start since the Masters. "Quail Hollow wasn't the week that I wanted, but it was still useful," he said. "There's still a lot that I learned about my game and that's what I needed to do coming into this week."

"I didn't give myself a chance to win, unfortunately, but I still feel like it was a good week to see where my game was at and what I need to do to get myself into contention this week."

McIlroy faded in the third round at Quail Hollow, where he has won four times. But he worked out kinks on the range Saturday evening and shot a 67 to close, just as at Augusta. "It was a nice way to finish the week," he said. "I went away from Quail Hollow with quite a few positives. I did some practice at home on Monday and I feel good about where my game is heading into this week."

The world number two focuses on majors. As Masters winner, he alone can complete a calendar year Grand Slam. Tiger Woods alone held all four modern majors at once, from the 2000 US Open through the 2001 Masters.

"I think it's possible," McIlroy said. "But it's incredibly difficult to achieve. There's a reason that no one's been able to do it before in the history of the game. The best thing that you can do is give yourself a chance in each one and then just see where the chips fall on the Sunday."

"There's quite a lot of randomness at times to winning golf tournaments," he added. "You have to have a lot of things go your way along with playing well yourself. So, in 100 years time if one person has done it, I would say, yeah, I could see that happening, but it's so difficult."

McIlroy ended an almost 11-year major wait with last year's Masters, his fifth. "If you look at my game and my results and my consistency from 2022 through to now, I've been on a nice run," he said. "And that run has culminated with the last couple of Masters, which has been really nice."

"Major championships aren't won with statistics or previous results," he continued. "They are won with grit and determination and hitting the shots under pressure when you need to. And there are no real statistics to show you how good you are at that. That's just something that you have to learn and be."

He endured near misses at majors before Augusta. "Once you start to get over that hump and you get a win, you get another win, it sort of breeds confidence from there," McIlroy said. "Form gives you confidence leading into events, but I would say that the way I won at Augusta a few weeks ago gives me more confidence about where I'm at and what I can do in these big weeks, than say winning two or three events leading up to a major."

World number one and defending champion Scottie Scheffler skipped Quail Hollow to prepare for Aronimink. Players champion Cameron Young and England's Matt Fitzpatrick show form. McIlroy's Ryder Cup partner Tommy Fleetwood placed fifth in Charlotte.