Irish golf wonder Rory McIlroy says he's going to play an all-new mental game after a one-on-one session with American veteran Jack Nicklaus.

McIlroy, 20,  said he was thrilled to have a one-on-one talk with Nicklaus for 90 minutes.

“One of the biggest things I took from it was patience. Just learn to wait and learn to bide your time and know that if you believe in yourself it will happen," he said.

McIlroy, who has begun working with American sports psychologist Bob Rotella, added: “One of the reasons why I wanted to go to Bob was to try to finish the job off a bit more and be a more clinical.

“Jack’s been the best at winning and was probably the most clinical of them all.

“It was great to sit down and talk with him (at lunch during last week’s Honda Classic) and see his approach to winning, what went through his head whenever he was in contention and what things he might have done differently to other people.

“It was probably the best 90 minutes I’ve spent in a long time. He said the best ever tournament he played he didn’t win - The 1977 British Open at Turnberry when Tom Watson beat him - and there were other times where he didn’t play his best, but got the job done.

"I felt very privileged to have lunch with him and just pick his brain. He's won 18 major championships and just to get some of that knowledge and to just learn from it was just incredible".