RORY McILROY wants to be mentioned in the same breath as sporting icons Cristiano Ronaldo and Novak Djokovic.
And that means building on a Masters victory in April that made him only the sixth golfer to complete the career Grand Slam.
Winning The Open on home soil at Portrush next week would add to the legacy of McIlroy, 36, and he completes preparations at the Scottish Open.
Ahead of teeing off today at The Renaissance Club, he said: “That ability to stay on top of your game for a long period of time takes so much out of you.
“It’s one of the underappreciated things about any sport. Look at what Djokovic is doing at Wimbledon over the last few weeks.
“Or look what someone like Cristiano Ronaldo is doing at 40 or Tom Brady in American football.
“That longevity is something that isn’t talked about enough. Once you get to a certain level, it is so difficult to maintain it.
“I feel like the journey on the way up is almost — I’m not going to say it’s easy but you have momentum and you’re riding a wave to the top.
“Once you get there it takes as much work, if not more, to stay there.”
And he name-checked Scottie Scheffler as a talent who has emerged as one of his new rivals.
That is despite Scheffler not being on his radar when he won his last Major before April.
Holywood hotshot McIlroy said: “Before I won The Masters this year, the last Major I won was in 2014. I never heard of Scottie Scheffler then.
“These talents and these players just keep coming and keep getting better each and every generation.
“You have to adapt your game to make sure that you’re able to hang with those guys.
“I feel like I’m one generation ahead of Scottie, who is still in his 20s.
“So I have to constantly ask myself, ‘Is there something that I need to add to my repertoire to stay ahead?’
“I’ve been winning pro events for 16 years and retaining my drive to keep getting a little bit better. That’s a big piece of staying competitive.”
