Rory McIlroy says if he wants to play golf for 10 more years he’ll have to scale back his schedule. The Northern Irishman enjoyed a historic year with wins at the Masters and Ryder Cup.

The 36-year-old began this year in fine form and arrived at Augusta National hoping to break a career-long duck. McIlroy did just that in April, winning his fifth major title and completing a career Grand Slam. At the Ryder Cup in America two months ago, McIlroy won three-and-a-half points on the way to a dominant Team Europe victory, cementing himself as a leader for the side. English veteran Justin Rose joined him in New York. When discussing 45-year-old Rose’s longevity, McIlroy made a stark confession about his own career. He also touched upon when he might start to scale back the number of competitions he participates in.

“I was really inspired by what Justin Rose did at Memphis this year,” said McIlroy at the DP World Tour Championship. “Then what he did at the Ryder Cup. 

“I look at what he does, you know, to play at this level at 45 years of age. I’d love to be able to say that I will hopefully be able to do the same thing in 10 years’ time. I look at him, I look at some of the things that he does. He’s got his own recovery trailer on tour, and he puts a lot of time into it just making sure that his body’s in the right place.

“I think if I want to play another 10 years at the highest level then I’m gonna have to scale back my schedule,” McIlroy added. “It’s a weird one. I want to play less every year to play more into the future, you know?”

“I think, as the years go on, I’m going to try to pare it back to 20 [events] or try to get as close to 20 as possible,” the Northern Irishman continued. “But the only reason is to look to the future and look to, okay, when I am Justin Rose’s age, I want to have the game and the stamina to play the way he’s playing at that age.”

While the 36-year-old admits he could play 10 more years at the top before scaling back his participation, he did not elaborate on when he sees himself retiring.

Back in September however, McIlroy’s stance was crystal clear when he claimed he would not want to be playing consistently past 50, hinting that it could be around then he would wave goodbye to the PGA Tour.

“I was asked about this at The Players even before I won The Players and I said the same thing,” he said in early September. “I don’t want to be grinding out here at 50 years of age. 

“I’ll turn up and play the majors and have a nice time but you know, whenever I’m done, I’m done, whenever that is. “That’s certainly not right now, but I’m certainly closer to that point now than I was in 2007 when I turned pro.”