Golf’s man of the moment is back at the coalface with a throaty voice. “As you can hear, I’ve picked up a cold,” reported Rory McIlroy as he talked about the last week and a half since winning The Masters to become just the sixth player to complete a career grand slam. Finding himself “a little bit under the weather” to the point where he woke up on Monday and “could barely get out of bed” has stemmed directly from McIlroy making a journey across the Atlantic that he earmarked straight away in the wake of his history-matching victory at Augusta National. He’s back in action this week alongside Shane Lowry as the defending champions in the Zurich Classic but, before getting down to business in New Orleans, the man who joined Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as one of the game’s greats was happy to share some details about what had been a private homecoming to Northern Ireland at the weekend. “Yeah, look, it's been an amazing few days after, and to be able to reflect on it and everything that happened and the magnitude of everything, I think the big thing for me is just how the whole journey sort of resonated with people and the people that have reached out to me. That's been absolutely amazing,” said McIlroy. “Look, it's not every day you get to fulfill one of your lifelong goals and dreams, and I've just really tried to enjoy everything that comes along with that. We first went to London with Erica and Poppy to see our new home that we're building there last week and then we made the trip over to Belfast to see my mum and dad and a few other people that are important to me over there. “Yeah, just to be with them, to be with Erica and Poppy and my mum and dad and to see Michael Bannon, my lifelong coach, and spend a bit more time with Harry [Diamond, his trust caddie] and his wife and just celebrate with the people that have been a part of this whole thing for my entire career, my entire life was absolutely amazing.” In his 11th attempt to complete the set of major titles, McIlroy finally claimed his Green Jacket but only after one of the wildest days in the game’s history as he threw away a lead on the back nine in the final round before digging deep to get into a play-off that he won against Justin Rose after the Englishman closed with a brilliant ten-birdie salvo. “Yeah, very much beyond golf,” added McIlroy in reply to being asked if he could expand on those people resonating with him. “I spoke to two Presidents the day after, which was pretty cool. Just people reaching out from all walks of life, whether it be sports, entertainment, culture. Just all of it. People that you would never even think that would watch golf or would know what's going on, that was very, very humbling, I guess. “I think people can see themselves in the struggle at times, and everything that you sort of try to put into getting the best out of yourself in that journey. I think people watching someone finally get it done, something they've been trying to do for a decade plus, I think it resonated with a lot of people.” Having ended his 11-year drought in the majors, it will be interesting to see if the floodgates open, starting in next month’s PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, where he has won four times on the PGA Tour. For now, though, McIlroy is happy to be making his first outing as a Masters champion in a “fun” tournament alongside one of his closest friends. “Yeah, I'm eager to get back out there. I think this is the perfect atmosphere to do it in,” he said with a smile. “I think that's a part of the reason that I wanted to honour the commitment to be here with Shane. I also know that it's not all on me; he has to do some of the work, too. Maybe a lot of it the next two days. But, yeah, it is, it's a perfect tournament to come back to, just good positive vibes from last year.” Asked if his most recent win will give him more confidence going forward, the world No 2 replied: “I've always been very confident in my abilities as a golfer. I do think that the whole day on Sunday at Augusta, I don't think I'll have to ever play a harder round of golf in my life. I certainly don't want to be placed back on that 15th tee box on that Sunday afternoon. “So I think to be able to get through that and produce the shots when I needed to, that obviously gives me confidence, and I can always draw back on that experience.” As for new goals, McIlroy has a different team triumph in mind. “I think one shared goal that we both have is winning at Bethpage,” he said of September’s Ryder Cup, which will see Jose Maria Olazabal, the last winning European captain on US soil at Medinah in 2012 as part of Luke Donald’s backroom team after the Spaniard joined Thomas Bjorn and Edoardo Molinari in being reappointed as vice captains from the 2023 win in Rome. “That would be an unbelievable way to cap off the year.” For the second year in a row, Bob MacIntyre is teaming up with Belgian Thomas Detry at TPC Louisiana, while Martin Laird and Russell Knox are joining forces with two Americans in Bill Haas and Peter Malnati. The winners on Sunday will each pick up around $1.3 million from a $9.2 million prize fund, though McIlroy and Lowry once again are more interested in picking up the 400 FedEx Cup points on offer to each player in the triumphant team.