Rory McIlroy’s pre-Masters preparation is in full swing as he bids to win his final competitive warm up before heading to Augusta National.
McIlroy tees it up in the Texas Children’s Open this week alongside world number one Scottie Scheffler, Pádraig Harrington and Seamus Power at Memorial Park and he admits a third PGA Tour win of the season would have him brimming with confidence ahead of his career grand slam bid.
“I just want to get a card in my hand and shoot scores and hopefully get myself in contention and try to win another golf tournament,” said McIlroy who arrives in Texas fresh off a visit to Augusta National earlier this week.
McIlroy deliberated over whether to play another event in the lead up to the Masters next month but insists he is in Texas to win and isn’t thinking about tinkering for two weeks time.
“It’s not as if I’m playing here this week and thinking about two weeks time.
“I’m here. I’m in the present. I’m trying to do my best this week, and I’m trying to win this golf tournament.”
McIlroy’s visit to Augusta National during the week has long been part of his preparation for the first major of the season and things have changed up in Georgia with four new greens in place while there are fewer trees on the golf course following extensive damage caused by Hurricane Helene last year, particularly on the 16th hole.
“I use those trips just to re familiarise myself with the place — clubs off tees, you, looking to see if they changed any greens,” he said.
“There’s four greens that are new this year that they’ve redone, so you have a look at those and see if there’s any new hole positions they could use, stuff like that.
“Yeah, the loss of a few trees is definitely noticeable, but in terms of like they’ve had to redo that green but it’s exactly the same as what it was. The hole will play — apart from maybe a few less shadows on the green late in the day because of a couple of trees that were lost, but apart from that, it’s pretty much the same.
“Honestly, for me, it’s nice to play a practice round without people around, and it sort of takes the pressure off the start of the week for me.
“There’s a lot of obligations. There’s big commitments, whether it be from media or the par three tournament on Wednesday.
“So I just like to get up there and feel like I’m not rushed, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, the week of the tournament. And that’s, that’s usually the reason I go there.”
As for matters at hand, Harrington is aiming to become the oldest winner on the PGA Tour at 53-years of age while Power still harbours slim hope of a last minute ticket to Magnolia Lane, but knows a victory will serve more than just the purpose of a place in the Masters field with world ranking and Ryder Cup aspirations weighing on his mind.
For McIlroy, it’s about continuing on the stellar golf he has played this season. What has pleased him and fans alike is the 35-year-old’s ability to compete with his ‘B’ game as exercised at Sawgrass two weeks ago in his victory at the Players Championship.
His win at Pebble Beach was also all about discipline and being clinical when the chances came, but ahead of the Texas test he is still striving for improvement.
“I’ve watched this tournament the last couple of years, especially since it moved to this date instead of the fall, and felt like it was a golf course that would, that would be right up my alley, and would suit my game and suit my style of play,” he said.
“I’m excited to just keep going. It’s been a great start to the season for me, and I want to continue that.
“I’m obviously in playing well,” he said. “I want to keep playing well. So I think every, every round you play where you see good things, you’re sort of filling up that confidence bucket a little bit.
“Look, it was great to get a win a couple weeks ago, but I still feel like I could have played a lot better.
“I tried to poke holes in a lot of my game last week and think about things I could do better. And there was definitely a few things that I that I could work on or do better.
“So it’s a good opportunity to go out and see if some of the work I did at home, and I’m continuing to do here, hopefully it’s all going in the right direction.”
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