Could it be Rory McIlroy’s year at Augusta?
As McIlroy prepares for his 16th Masters Tournament start, that’s undoubtedly on everyone’s mind as we approach the first round. He arrived in Augusta on Tuesday morning before interacting with the press.
McIlroy arrives again, playing his best golf of the year. He finished third in the Valero Texas Open, with a Sunday 66. This week, he hopes to maintain his usual pre-tournament routine.
“I usually try to get into tournaments either Monday nights or Tuesday mornings, and that’s sort of what I’ve done this week,” he told reporters. “I came up here last week for two practice rounds at the beginning of the week. So I feel like I’ve completed the most of my preparation work. So it’s just a matter of going out there, being calm, and being in the correct mindset. And the more I can accomplish that, the better I’ll be able to play golf.”
The 2022 runner-up has made 12 cuts at Augusta National Golf Club in his career, with six top-10 finishes. The collapse in 2011, when he led through 54 holes but shot an 80 on Sunday, is frequently mentioned.
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Tiger Woods on Rory McIlroy’s chances of winning the Masters Tournament.
Many people believe McIlroy can complete the career Grand Slam, including Tiger Woods, a five-time Masters champion.
“There’s no doubt that he’ll do it eventually. Rory is just too talented and good. He plans to play this event for a long time. He’ll finish it. “It’s just a matter of when,” Woods explained. “But, sure, I believe Rory will be a great Masters champion one day, and it may happen this week. You never know. I really think it’s a matter of time, given his brilliance, the way he plays the game, and how well the golf course suits him.”
Of course, McIlroy already knows this. Having saying that, Woods’ comments on Augusta National are always welcome.
“It’s nice to hear, in my opinion, the best player ever to play the game say something like that,” he told reporters. “So, sure, does that imply that it is going to happen? Obviously not. But he’s been in the game long enough to recognize that I have the potential to do it. I know I’m capable of doing that as well. It’s not like I haven’t been a pretty excellent player over the last few decades.”
What did Rory McIlroy perceive differently at the Masters?
Winning the Masters requires a thorough understanding of the course and the ability to traverse its 72 holes. McIlroy, like Woods and others, has witnessed the changes over the years firsthand and is planning appropriately.
“It has certainly gotten longer. “I believe some of the areas surrounding the greens have become a little sharper,” he remarked. “As an example, the drop-off following the left side of the third green is sharper. The fall-off on the back right corner of the sixth green is now sharper. There’s a lot more sharpness to the edges of the green compounds that wasn’t there before, which makes it — the right of the 11th green, which makes it just a little difficult to chip to and penalizes misses a little bit more, which I think is a positive thing in the long run.”
While he is focused on competition, McIlroy does not take another opportunity to tee off at Augusta National for granted.
“I just drove in probably 30 minutes ago, and, yeah, I think you have to sort of treat this week with the — if I cast my mind back to 18-year-old Rory and I’m driving down Magnolia Lane for the first time, how would I feel and I think, it’s just always trying to go back to being grateful and feeling incredibly lucky that you can be a part of this tournament and you get to compete in it every year,” he told the crowd. “Fortunately, I’ve improved since my first week here, and I believe I have all of the tools I need to succeed this week.” But, once again, to bring those tools out, I believe one of the most essential things is to appreciate it and smell the azaleas along the road.”
The topic for Thursday, as with most of this week, is patience.
“With a 72-hole golf tournament, you can be patient, you can be disciplined, and you can stick to your game plan,” he went on to say. “And that’s something that I’ve really tried to learn at this tournament over the years.”
