The most recent of Rory McIlroy’s four Major titles came a decade ago, and he has yet to win The Masters, but this week, the 34-year-old will come into the Augusta National event on the back of a busy schedule that included a finish of third at last week’s Valero Texas Open.
With McIlroy’s game apparently trending in the right direction, there is once again optimism he can finally close out a career Grand Slam in his 16th Masters appearance.
One player who has backed McIlroy to eventually claim the Green Jacket is Tiger Woods. The five-time Masters champion told the media after a practice round on Tuesday morning: “No question, he'll do it at some point. He's just - Rory's too talented, too good.
"He's going to be playing this event for a very long time. He'll get it done. It's just a matter of when. But, yes, I think that Rory will be a great Masters champion one day, and it could be this week."
That’s something that is music to the ears of McIlroy, who addressed Woods’ comments during his own press conference ahead of the tournament. He said: “Yeah, it's flattering. It's nice to hear, in my opinion, the best player ever to play the game say something like that.
"So, yeah, I mean, does that mean that it's going to happen? Obviously not. But he's been around the game long enough to know that I at least have the potential to do it. I know I've got the potential to do it too. It's not as if I haven't been a pretty good player for the last couple of decades. So, but, yeah, it's nice to hear it when it comes out of his mouth.”
McIlroy then turned his attention to how he would go about the task of claiming victory this week, and he said enjoying the experience would be crucial. He explained: “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.
“Thankfully, I've improved a bit since my first start here, and I feel like I've got all the tools to do well this week. But, again, to bring those tools out, I think one of the most important things is to enjoy it and smell the - I guess not the roses, the azaleas along the way.”
McIlroy also said he needs to keep in mind that it's a marathon, not a sprint. “Yeah, I would say not trying to win it from the first tee shot,” he explained. “I think that's something that I've tried to learn. It's a 72-hole golf tournament. I've won from 10 strokes back going into the weekend. There's loads of different ways to do it.
“This golf course gets you to chase things a little more than other golf courses, if you make a bogey or if you get yourself out of position, because it always tempts you to do something you think you can do. And I'm pretty confident in my golf game.
“I think I can do most things, but sometimes you just have to take the conservative route and be a little more disciplined and patient. With a 72-hole golf tournament, you can be patient, you can be disciplined, and you can stick to your game plan. And that's something that I've really tried to learn at this tournament over the years.”
'You Go Away With Two Swing Tips And 30 Stories'
As part of McIlroy’s preparations for the Major, he sought advice from legendary golf coach Butch Harmon, and he admitted that had been worthwhile, saying: “He's part sort of psychologist, part swing coach. I always joke about you spend four hours with Butch and you go away with two swing tips and 30 stories. But you always go away hitting the ball better than when you came.
"So, yeah, it was really beneficial trip for the technical side of things, which I think I made progress in that department last week, especially with my strokes gained approach numbers, which is what I really wanted to do.
"But, yeah, it's also just spending time around someone like that that's coached a lot of the best players in the world and sort of him giving you his blessing on things, I think that's nice validation as well.”
McIlroy is in a group with Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele for the first two days, with a tee time of 10.42am local time in the first round.
