Masters 2023: Rory McIlroy leaves no stone unturned in latest quest for green jacket

You’d have to work extremely hard to find anyone who has played more frequently around Augusta National this past few weeks than Rory McIlroy.

“I’ve played 81 holes in the last 2½ weeks, so I’m very familiar with the place again,” said the world number two ahead of his 15th Masters appearance where he will again go in search of that elusive green jacket.

At least the Northern Irishman has been able to park playing the role of chief advocator for the PGA Tour against the arrival of LIV Golf and to focus on his own game, and reports that the DP World Tour (aka the European Tour) has won its arbitration hearing with those LIV players should ease McIlroy even further as the main focus returns to worrying about his own golf game.

“It looks like it’s not going to be announced until Thursday, so I don’t know if I can comment on it too much. But you know, if that is the outcome then that certainly changes the dynamic of everything...I’m not a lawyer. But if the arbitration panel think that’s the right decision then I have to go by what they say,” said McIlroy.

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McIlroy was very relaxed and often witty in appraising the challenge that lies ahead of him in this week’s Masters, buoyed indeed by the presence of a large photograph of him adorning the screen from last year’s hole-out from a bunker on the 72nd hole which secured him a runner-up finish behind Scottie Scheffler.

“It’s always great to be back at the Masters. I feel like, you know, obviously the whole field has sort of been building up to this point, the entire calendar year,” said McIlroy, then providing an analogy of what it will take for him to finally get over the line: “I’ve got all the ingredients to make the pie. It’s just putting all those ingredients in and setting the oven to the right temperature and letting it all sort of come to fruition. But I know that I’ve got everything there. It’s just a matter of putting it all together.”

McIlroy’s early season woes with his driver would seem to have been sorted ahead of the recent WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play (where he finished third, beating Scheffler in the third-fourth place playoff match) and the amount of time spent practising at the course has brought with it a comfort level.

“If I can drive the ball well, it’s the foundation of my game, and I can really play from there and take advantage of that. I sort of struggled with the driver for most of this year, but I feel like really I found one that I’m comfortable with, that I can shape both ways, that I can manoeuvre and hit the shots that I need, not just for here, but for the whole year going forward.

“No one wants me to win this tournament more than me, right?” said McIlroy of his own expectations to complete the career Grand Slam, the only Major title that is missing from his trophy cabinet.