Rory McIlroy feels he can scamper to a sixth Major triumph at the Open – after finally getting a break from the “hamster wheel” of professional golf.

McIlroy believes the reason it took him so long to recapture his competitive vibe after his Masters triumph was because he had no chance to enjoy his career-defining achievement.

The USPGA and the US Open followed hard on the heels of Augusta, where McIlroy, 36, finally completed the career Grand Slam, after a Major drought lasting more than a decade.

And he says it was only when he took two weeks off following last month’s Travelers Championship that he was able to appreciate what he had achieved.

He explained: “Yeah, I think everyone could see over the last couple of months how I struggled with resetting my goals, after I’ve done something that I’ve told everyone that I wanted to do.

“I probably just didn’t give myself enough time to let it all sink in. But that’s the nature of professional golf.

“They do a very good job of keeping you on the hamster wheel, and you feel like it’s hard to get off at times.

“But it’s been an amazing year. The fact that I’m here at Portrush with the green jacket, having completed that lifelong dream.

“Now I want to do my best this week to enjoy everything that comes my way and enjoy the reaction of the fans and enjoy being in front of them and playing in front of them.

“But at the same time, I want to win this golf tournament, and I feel like I’m very capable of doing that.”

McIlroy proved he is not ready to simply bask in the glory of becoming only the sixth player ever to win all four Majors as he launched himself into his Open preparations yesterday.

He was still on the course at the Scottish Open until nearly 7pm on Sunday – and was back in action just 12 hours later to play his first practice round at Portrush.

He added: “We didn’t get into the hotel here until around 1am, and I only had four hours sleep before it was time to get ready for my practice round. So I’m looking forward to taking a nap after this.

“The last couple of Majors, at the PGA and the US Open, the practice rounds took so long. And I feel like there are fifty people inside the ropes all the time. I feel like I just can’t get good work done, good preparation.

“I didn’t come up here ahead of time to try to get a couple of practice rounds in, and I’ve only played the two competitive rounds here at the 2019 Open since they made the changes to the course.

“So I just wanted to get out early, sort of beat the rush, beat the crowd, and do my work with not a lot of people around.

“That was the reason that I was out so early today. It worked out well. I feel like I got a productive day of work in.”