Rory McIlroy arrived at the 2025 Texas Children’s Houston Open looking to fill up his confidence cup in his final tuneup before the 2025 Masters.
The four-time major champion has already won twice this season on the PGA Tour. McIlroy believes he is now a more complete player, which is a claim the stats back up.
McIlroy scuffled in the first round at Memorial Park this week but finished his Masters prep by going 65-64 on the weekend to card a T5 finish. That final prep included a tweak to the driver, which McIlroy made during a range session following Saturday’s third round.
“I just took a little bit of loft off it,” McIlroy said Sunday after the final round that saw Min Woo Lee record his first PGA Tour win. “So I felt like it was getting a little bit spinny, especially if I wanted to hit cuts off the tee, so I took a little bit of loft off it. Yeah, definitely went through the wind better today and felt a little more comfortable.”
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McIlroy won’t play next week at the Valero Texas Open. Instead, he’ll work on dialing in his game at home before heading to Augusta National to make another run at the green jacket.
“Still feel like I’ve got some stuff to work on,” McIlroy said of where his game is at heading into the Masters. “Still don’t think my game is absolutely 100 percent under the control I would want, but it’s nice to have a week to work on some things. I’ve got my coach, Michael Bannon, coming in tomorrow, so we’ll be working at home and making sure my game feels good going into the Masters.”
The final week of Masters prep will also include some off-course work. McIlroy told NBC Sports’ Kira K. Dixon that his right elbow is “bothering him a little bit,” and he will get treatment during his week at home to make sure it’s OK before the Masters.
The Northern Irishman made a scouting trip to Augusta National early this week to assess any tweaks to the course. The trip to Augusta was routine, but the missing trees on the 16th green that Hurrican Helene knocked over stood out during the visit.
“The loss of a few trees is definitely noticeable,” McIlroy said Wednesday. “But in terms of like they’ve had to redo that green, but 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.”
McIlroy’s ability to “manage his game” and “his misses” has been the key to his sterling play this season. That sharpened course management is a product of a mentality shift that McIlroy put into place after watching how world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler attacks courses.
He knows what is required to win at Augusta National. The next week for McIlroy will be about fine-tuning his game as he looks to break a major drought that is now entering its 11th year.
“So this week, going forward, it’s just about feeling as comfortable as I can be with the things I’ve been working on, which is sort of iron play, wedges,” McIlroy said. “Obviously, short game’s really, really important around Augusta as well. You know, work on those things over the next few days, and hopefully, I’m feeling good going in there.”
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