Rory McIlroy hopes some 'normalcy' is recipe for Masters success

World No 2 goes back to basics in his bid to complete career grand slam at tenth attempt

Rory McIlroy has run out of ideas about how to bring his A game to Augusta National and produce a winning performance in the Masters as he chases that elusive career grand slam, a feat achieved so far by only Ben Hogan, Gene Sarazen, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. So he’s gone back to basics by trying to treat this week’s 88th edition as he did, for example, when winning last year’s Genesis Scottish Open in East Lothian.

In nine attempts so far to add the missing link by emerging victorious at the Georgia venue, the 34-year-old had tried all sorts of different approaches but, after a bitter disappointment 12 months ago as he missed the cut in the season’s opening major, he’s decided it’s time to keep it low key for his latest visit.

“This is my 16th start in the Masters, so I feel like I've done it quite a few different ways,” admitted McIlroy on his visit to the Press Building ahead of Thursday’s opening round. “And I guess I’m just trying to bring a little bit of normalcy into what I sort of try to do week in, week out. I play 25 weeks a year, and there's no point in doing anything different this week compared to other weeks, I guess.”

Career grand slam-chasing Rory McIlroy speaks to the media during a press conference ahead of the 88th Masters at at Augusta National Golf Club. Picture: The Masters.

The four-time major winner delayed his arrival on this occasion until Tuesday and won’t be playing in Wednesday’s Par-3 Contest. His chat with the media was limited to just ten minutes, which had been stipulated by his management team beforehand. He’s here to focus on what he’s been good at throughout his career - winning a golf tournament.

“I wanted to play quite a bit leading up to this just to feel like my game was sharp or, if it wasn't sharp, to try to get it in the best shape possible,” he said. “I feel like I made a couple of good strides in that direction last week in Texas (where he closed with a 66 to finish third). It's nice to get home after a week and reset.

"And then I usually try to get into tournaments either Monday nights or Tuesday mornings, and that's sort of what I've done this week. I came up here last week to play two practice rounds at the start of the week. So I feel like I've already got most of my prep work done. So it's just about going out there and being relaxed and being in the right frame of mind. And the more I can do that, the more I'll be able to execute on the golf course.”

McIlroy, who is out with world No 1 Scottie Scheffler and 2022 Genesis Scottish Open champion Xander Schauffele in the opening two rounds, has been galvanised by a recent visit to legendary swing guru Butch Harmon and is determined to not let his desire to claim a Green Jacket get in the way of his objective this week.

“Yeah, I would say not trying to win it from the first tee shot,” he said. “I think that's something that I've tried to learn. It's a 72-hole golf tournament. I've won from ten 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.”