After his brilliant victory at the THE PLAYERS, Rory McIlroy returns to action this week at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, the penultimate PGA Tour event before the Masters Tournament. And like Scottie Scheffler, the Northern Irishman is trying to focus on playing his best game this week at the Memorial Park Golf Course… but without losing sight of what might help him for the Augusta National event, a venue he visited a few days ago to play a practice round.
“I take advantage of those trips to familiarise myself with the place, the clubs I need to use from the tees, see if any green has changed… There are four new greens this year, which have been redone. You take a look, see if there are any new hole positions… things like that. Apart from that, for me, it’s nice to play a practice round without people around and it takes a bit of the pressure off the start of the week, where we have many commitments. I like to get there and feel like I’m not in a rush on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of the tournament, that’s why I go,” he said about his visit to Magnolia Lane.
Rory detailed in his press conference this afternoon in Houston what the Masters participants will find in a couple of weeks at the 16th hole, where there are some changes: “The loss of some trees is noticeable, no doubt. They had to redo that green, but the result is the same as it was. The play on the hole, beyond having a few less shadows at the end due to lost trees, is more or less the same.”
This time, everything points to the Northern Irishman arriving at the Masters in his best form. But McIlroy is not complacent and wants to keep improving some details: “Obviously I’m playing well, I want to keep playing well, so I think every round you play where you see good things, it fills you with confidence. It was great to win a couple of weeks ago, but I think I could have played much better. Last week I tried to find gaps in my game and think about the things I could do better, and there were certainly aspects I could work on or improve. This week is a good opportunity to go out and see if some of the work I did at home and continue to do here is going in the right direction. I hope so.”
One of his rivals both in the fight for the Green Jacket and this week in Houston will be the World Number One, Scottie Scheffler: “I think what Scottie has done the last two years in golf is incredible. It’s great to have him… it’s great for the game. What he did last year I don’t think is talked about enough. His season last year ranks among one of the best seasons in golf history. He’s an incredible player, a great person, and a great family. He’s good for the game and it’s nice to see good people succeed. I have nothing but respect and admiration for Scottie.”
Finally, Rory explained which aspects of Scheffler’s game he looks at to improve: “I’ve had quite a bit of success too, so I don’t think I’m missing many pieces. I think you’re always looking around, seeing if there are certain things you might be able to take from someone’s game. I think it’s hard not to look at what Scottie has done in the last two years and not notice and try to delve into why he’s been able to separate himself a bit from the rest of his peers at this moment. One thing he was definitely doing a bit better than me in the last two years was that kind of strategy and course management, and that’s something that has forced me to look and maybe be a bit more thoughtful and diligent with that side.”
