Late arrival, early press exit for Rory McIlroy on Tuesday at Augusta
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Rory McIlroy made a hasty exit from the interview room Tuesday at Augusta National.
After an intentionally late start, there was work to do.
Searching for the formula that will lead him to finally complete the career Grand Slam, McIlroy didn’t arrive into the area until about midday Tuesday to begin his tournament-week preparations at the Masters.
“I guess just trying to bring a little bit of normalcy into what I try to do week-in, week-out,” he said.
McIlroy did most of his Augusta National homework last week when he played two practice rounds ahead of the Valero Texas Open. Though he didn’t seriously contend at TPC San Antonio, he saw signs of improvement with his approach play and finished third, his best finish this season on the PGA Tour (he won in Dubai earlier this year).
After the Valero, McIlroy flew home to South Florida for a “reset” before jetting up to Georgia on Tuesday – similar to what he’d do for a regular event.
“I play 25 weeks a year, and there’s no point in doing anything different this week compared to other weeks,” he said. “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.”
This will be McIlroy’s 10th attempt to complete the final leg of the career Grand Slam. Over the past several years, he has tweaked and tinkered with his preparation and strategy, but with relatively little success. He has failed to break par in the opening round of each of his last five Masters appearances, with an average score of 73.8 – often leaving himself too far back to seriously contend. He has missed the cut two of the past three years.
