Rory McIlroy believes national Open Championships "definitely mean something else" and are vital in terms of the sport's traditions and legacy moving forward.
The World No.3 is the proud owner of an Open Championship trophy, having won at Royal Liverpool in 2014, and a US Open Championship title - clinching the 2011 prize at Congressional Country Club for his maiden Major.
He has also won the Canadian Open twice, along with a dramatic success at the Scottish Open in July 2023 - beating fellow Ryder Cup teammate Robert MacIntyre by a shot.
While McIlroy's love affair with national Open Championships is clear, the Northern Irishman insists he would still hold them in such high regard anyway as the 35-year-old stated his belief that this historic group of tournaments are elevated above a regular tour event.
Speaking on Sunday before MacIntyre's own Canadian Open triumph and a first PGA Tour success, McIlroy said: "I think history and tradition and legacy are a really big part of the game of golf. This is one of the oldest championships in the world, as is, you know, the Scottish Open... yeah, the Opens definitely mean something else."
Going on to use the Canadian Open - which is the third-oldest continuously-running tournament on the PGA Tour, after The Open Championship and the US Open - to highlight his point, McIlroy continued: "It's great that so many people, Golf Canada, RBC have gotten behind this RBC Canadian Open and made it really special.
"As I said, it's a pleasure to come up here and play every year and I'm going to keep doing that until they tell me I can't come over the border."
While Northern Ireland is famously McIlroy's place of birth, the support he continually receives over in North America might confuse the uninitiated, such is its magnitutde.
On his way to a T4 finish, three shots shy of MacIntyre's 16-under winning score, thousands of Canadians were cheering for the serial winner all week - a fact that was not lost on McIlroy.
Commenting on the fans at Hamilton Country Club, he said: "Yeah, it's incredible. I do, I feel like, I feel like an honorary Canadian at this point and the support I get here is amazing.
"I keep saying it, but just a pleasure to play in an atmosphere like that. The crowds are so good, they're so supportive, so enthusiastic."
Another birdie for @McIlroyRory 🐦The two-time @RBCCanadianOpen is T4 and 4 back! pic.twitter.com/NsybDYtMrIJune 2, 2024
McIlroy has begun an intense run of events in June, with the Memorial Tournament - the penultimate Signature Event - preceding the US Open and the Travelers Championship.
The Travelers is the final elevated tournament this season and will likely be the four-time Major winner's last appearance before a two-week break prior to his defence of the Scottish Open in July.
Asked how pleased he was to have begun this stacked period in fine style, McIlroy said: "Going into a big stretch of golf here and obviously it's not... you want to come to tournaments and try to win every single one that you play in.
"But I think to build off, especially the weekend here, going into Memorial next week, and then obviously going into the U.S. Open the week after, we've got a lot of golf coming up, but really nice to see some good signs in my game this weekend."
