RECORD :Rory McIlroy is once again aiming to add The Masters to his trophy collection and complete the career Grand Slam… Read more..👇
Rory McIlroy heads to Augusta National on the back of a third-place finish at the Valero Texas Open and aiming to complete the career Grand Slam of men’s golf majors; watch The Masters exclusively live on Sky Sports Golf from April 11-14 and stream with NOW
The 34-year-old’s year got off to a fine start with two strong showings on the DP World Tour, tying for second in the Dubai Invitational and then successfully defending his Dubai Desert Classic title for his fourth overall victory in the event.
Prior to last weekend’s tournament in San Antonio, McIlroy had not finished higher than tied for 19th on the North American circuit. However, his results had been steadily improving after tying for 66th at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February.
Following that, he tied for 24th at the Genesis Invitational, tied for 21st at the Cognizant Classic and Arnold Palmer Invitational, followed by cracking the top 20 at The Players Championship. Two weeks off then yielded third place at the Texas Open in his final outing before The Masters.
“I definitely feel like I’m in a better place than I was a few weeks ago,” McIlroy said following his final round at the Texas Open. “Through the Florida swing there was just a lot of volatility in my game, some good, some bad, quite a few big numbers, so just trying to tidy that up.
“For me, I’m always going to be able to hit good shots, it’s just how bad the bad ones are, and this week the bad ones were still in play and not too bad, and I was able to scramble well enough when I did hit a few poor ones.
The Northern Irishman will be making his 16th appearance at The Masters this year and is aiming to join a select group of Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods to complete the Grand Slam of men’s golf’s four majors.
The closest he has come to pulling on the iconic green jacket was two years ago when he finished second to Scottie Scheffler by three shots. Since 2014, he has finished in the top 10 at the invitation event on seven occasions as well.
However, that runner-up spot was sandwiched by McIlroy failing to make the cut in both 2021 and 2023, something he had only previously suffered at Augusta National on his second appearance there in 2010.
A 77 in the second round last year wrecked his chances of making it to the weekend after carding a level-par 72 in the first, but that is significantly above his career scoring average at Augusta National of 71.50 from 54 rounds in total.
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