Golf:After enjoying 24 hours of rest and relaxation in New York, golf's new world number one Rory McIlroy was back on the golf course yesterday as he prepares for this week's WGC-Cadillac Championship in Miami. McIlroy ascended to the top of golf's world rankings with victory in the Honda Classic on Sunday, holding off at charging Tiger Woods to take the title.
His triumph left his phone buzzing with messages of congratulations from Manchester United's manager Alex Ferguson and striker Wayne Rooney and also plenty of talk about the sport having a new rivalry at the top.
Woods's best ever final round score indicated he could yet get back to something like the form that took him to 14 majors and be a regular Sunday challenger alongside 22-year-old McIlroy.
"To be honest in golf, you can have a rival if you want, but at the end of the day, your biggest rival is a golf course. You have to be able to beat the golf course more often than not and that's all you are trying to do," was McIlroy’s appraisal at Doral.
"Ultimately you're going to have to beat people coming down the stretch on Sundays and whether it is Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson or Lee Westwood, Luke Donald or Martin Kaymer, or whoever, I would never really want to say that I am in a rivalry with someone.
"I just want to go out there and play good golf and solid golf and if I can do that then people can make up the rivalries themselves. But I don't see myself as anyone's rival out here - I just see myself as Rory McIlroy trying to play good golf and winning tournaments."
McIlroy said he wasn't feeling any particular pressure now that he was on top. "It depends what type of mind you have and if you thrive in the spotlight or if you welcome it. I feel like I do thrive in the spotlight, and I like the attention,” he added .
"I'd love to keep myself here for a while. But I know that it's inevitable that I'll lose it at some point. That's for sure. I just hope that it's a little further away. But that's not what I play golf for. It's not to keep the number one ranking. It's about winning tournaments, and if I win tournaments, the ranking will take care of itself."
