There’s only one month to go until the Masters gets underway at Augusta National, so, naturally, Rory McIlroy has begun fielding questions about his latest quest for the Green Jacket and the Career Grand Slam.
McIlroy has been in good form in what is now his eleventh season since winning his last major championship title at the 2014 PGA Championship, winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am while he was fourth and seventeenth in his other two starts to the 2025 campaign.
The four-time major winner has purposely trimmed down his playing schedule in order to remain fresh for the major championships and Ryder Cup having played eight times before last year’s Masters where he trodded along to finish 22nd.
This week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill and next week’s PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass will give McIlroy a chance to make a statement heading to Augusta National although he does intend to play one more event between Sawgrass and the Masters, but he is unsure which.
“I’m still making a bit of a decision,” said the new world number two. “I’m going to play these next two week, I’ll see how these next two weeks go, then I’ll sort of reassess. I don’t like the idea of having three weeks off going into the Masters, so I may add one event, but I’m still between what event that may be.
“But it really just depends on how these two weeks go and how I’m feeling about my game. But I would imagine I would add an event leading into there, it just depends on whether it’s Houston or San Antonio.”
McIlroy has often taken a pre-Masters trip to Augusta National in order to practice privately ahead of the first major of the year.
The 35-year-old has tried just about everything in his bid to land the one major that has eluded him since losing a four shot final round lead in 2011 and seven top-10 finishes since then have left him still searching for the perfect formula.
“I think it does help [going to Augusta early]. Because you can spend as much time as you want around there, like on those days that you go up outside of the tournament. You’re not under any pressure from a time constraint, like having to get to media or having any other obligations.
“It’s funny, when you want to spend six hours on a practice round it doesn’t feel like it’s that bad, but the week of you don’t really want to be out there for six hours and it feels a little different. So I think being able to take yourtake your time away from the tournament and doing it is a nice thing.”
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