Rory McIlroy has remained tight-lipped on an incredible rumoured Masters practice stat.
McIlroy and his rivals are gearing up for the first golf major of the season and should he finally win the event, he will join an illustrious group of players to complete the career Grand Slam. Last week, the Northern Irishman took the opportunity to acclimatise to the conditions at the Augusta National Golf Course.
According to reports on the ground, the 33-year-old made the perfect start to his Masters preparations with a scintillating opening round. It was murmured that he only had 19 putts throughout, and when asked about this quite remarkable stat, McIlroy appeared to neither confirm or deny.
"Yeah, look, I had two good days,” he replied when quizzed on the report by the Telegraph's James Corrigan. “We played 54 holes in two days, it was good. I was really happy where my game was, and it was good to see that after struggling at The Players."
Perhaps a change in clubs has done the trick for McIlroy, who following a disappointing missed cut at The Players Championship, changed the shaft in his TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus Driver.
He also dropped his TaylorMade Spider and returned to his trusty Scotty Cameron Newport putter that he used to win his first two major championships. Discussing his changes made, he explained: “I think just has to do with my play. It's hard because you look at strokes gained off the tee, and you would think that I'm driving the ball well or I have been driving the ball well.
"Then you look at my driving accuracy, and it's down around 50 percent, which is quite low for me. Strokes gained, I'm hitting the ball a long way, so strokes gained over - maybe overvalues length sometimes depending on the course. So, yeah, I knew I just needed to change it up a bit going back to a driver length that I'm a little more comfortable with.
“But the thing is, going to a 44-inch driver with the previous shaft I was using was too stiff, and I couldn't spin it. I needed to go to a slightly softer shaft and I can hit more shots with it and feel a bit more comfortable sort of playability-wise.
“Drove it well, especially on the back nine. Obviously, this part of the season, you've got one eye on what you're doing now and one eye on Augusta. It's trying to do both." The world No. 3 is currently competing in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play Championship as he bids to peak at the Masters.
Former champion McIlroy led from start to finish in his 3&1 victory over American Scott Stallings on Wednesday. McIlroy, who won this event in 2015, will play Denny McCarthy today and Keegan Bradley on Friday as he looks to top his four-man group and progress to the knockout stages this weekend.
"Obviously this part of the season you've got one eye on what you're doing now and one eye on Augusta [for The Masters],” he said. "I had to respond a couple times to what Scott did on the back nine, so it was nice to sort of feel that little bit of pressure and have to hit a shot or have to make a putt."
