Rory McIlroy played at Augusta National recently as part of his preparation for the upcoming Masters Tournament.
Anyone who follows golf will know that McIlroy has already won the other three major championships and this is the event he’s desperate to add to his resume.
The Northern Irishman has been in superb form this season, winning the Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Players Championship, yet he’s determined to go the extra mile to get ready for the Masters.
He spoke about his practice round at Augusta, including something he noticed about the course, in his pre-tournament press conference at the Houston Open.
Rory McIlroy shares thoughts on ‘noticeable’ change at Augusta National
There has been plenty of talk in recent weeks about whether Augusta will be in the spotless condition it’s usually in at this year’s Masters.
That’s because Hurricane Helene swept through Georgia in September and caused lots of damage to the iconic golf course.
The good news is that McIlroy had nothing negative to say about the course, though he did explain that some trees were no longer there.
“Yeah, the loss of a few trees is definitely noticeable, but in terms of like, they’ve had to redo that green, it’s exactly the same as what it was.
“The hole will play… apart from maybe a few less shadows on the green late in the day because of a couple of trees that were lost, but apart from that, it’s pretty much the same.”
What Rory McIlroy learned from practice round at Augusta National
McIlroy has made 16 Masters appearances, so it’s not like he needs to get to grips with the unique challenges that the course presents.
The four-time major champion said that the purpose of his trip was more to “refamiliarize” himself than anything else.
When asked whether he had learned something important in his practice round, McIlroy explained: “Not really. I use those trips just to refamiliarize myself with the place, clubs off tees, looking to see if they changed any greens.
“There are four greens that are new this year that they’ve redone. You just sort of, you have a look at those and see if there’s any two new hole positions they give you, stuff like that.
“Apart from that, honestly for me, it’s nice to play a practice round without people around and it sort of takes the pressure off the start of the week for me. There are a lot of obligations and big commitments, whether it be from the media or the par-3 tournament on Wednesday.
“I just like to get up there and feel like I’m not rushed Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday the week of the tournament and that’s usually the reason I go there.”
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