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Rory McIlroy is confident ahead of the 80th Masters

By: Golfshake Editor | Mon 04 Apr 2016


Post by Sports Writer Derek Clements


IT HAS been a funny old year for Rory McIlroy. He has yet to win an event but could easily have tucked away at least two and possibly as many as four titles by now.

Instead he has had to look on as the likes of Jason Day, Bubba Watson, Adam Scott, Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth have carried on winning. McIlroy's putting was so bad at the Honda Classic that he resorted to putting left-hand-below-right. In truth, his putting had been causing him problems all year, and he knows that if he is not holing putts then he has no chance of winning tournaments, especially the majors.

He arrived at Augusta last year at the centre of attention, having won the previous two majors and standing on the cusp of becoming the latest to join the elite group of players to have won all four of golf's majors. Only Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods have achieved the feat.

Should McIlroy be in contention going into the final round, the pressure on him will be unlike anything he has ever experienced before. Remember that 26-year-old McIlroy knows all about throwing away a 54-hole lead at Augusta. In 2011 he went into the final round leading by four strokes, only to suffer a meltdown that many feared might stay with him for the rest of his life. He responded by winning the very next major in which he played, the US Open.

Last year a guy called Jordan Spieth stole the limelight.

“It’s always going to be there until I get to put a green jacket on my back. Last year was my first of having to deal with that pressure and I feel I’m better equipped now,” McIlroy said.  “I’ve got a little bit of experience in how to deal with it and approach it.

“In 2015 it was a good thing that Tiger was coming back because I felt like it took a little bit of pressure off me. But there are other storylines in golf, so maybe not all the attention will be focused on me going into Augusta. Jordan is obviously defending and there are so many other guys that have a chance going in there. I think it will be a little different this year for sure.

“The thing I have to remember is you’ve beaten all these guys before and if you simplify it, that’s what you’re trying to do. You’re trying to play the best out of the 100 players or whatever it is that week, instead of thinking about what this could mean. That’s not the way you should approach the tournament at all.

“I felt especially for the first couple of majors last year I maybe put a bit too much pressure on myself, expectations were very high. I just need to not think about the consequences so much.”

That may be easier said than done. However, it is largely forgotten that McIlroy finished 12 under par last year as he finished fourth, and that is a total that has been bettered just four times since 2000. Spieth’s winning total of 18 under equalled the tournament record set by Woods in 1997.

“It really does bode well,” McIlroy said. “If I could have tied together the way I played the par threes and fours from 2014 with the way I played the par fives in 2015, it would have been a different story. I took advantage of the holes I needed to, didn’t quite do enough over the other holes, but it was my best ever finish at Augusta, the best I’d played there so it’s getting closer.

“Hopefully Jordan or someone else doesn’t have quite the year that they had last year. Twelve under is often good enough to win at Augusta so I’m getting closer, I’m figuring out how to play it and if I can just do the same this year and do a few other things slightly better, you never know.”


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Tags: the masters



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