Rory McIlroy insisted he will “keep showing up and try to do the right thing” at the Masters after admitting defeat in his latest bid to complete his career Grand Slam.
The world No.2 shot his second 71 of the week yesterday but his bid to finally claim a Green Jacket was blown away by a 77 in the wind on Friday. McIlroy, 34, tried to change his fortune in Georgia this year by going for a coaching clinic with Butch Harmon, going early to Augusta for a reconnaissance mission, playing the week before and arriving late on Tuesday. He even cut short his pre-tournament press conference to just over ten minutes.
But it was the same old story for the Florida-based star who is now fast approaching the tenth anniversary of his fourth and last Major win in August 2014. He has also now failed in 10 attempts to complete his full set of Majors here out of a total of 16 appearances.
Asked if he had enough of all the constant questioning about getting a win here. McIlroy said: “No, I mean, all I can do is come here and try my best. That's what I do every time I show up. Some years it's better than others. I've just got to keep showing up and try to do the right thing.”
The world No.2 went straight to the driving range in the dark on Friday evening after claiming his swing “felt horrific” during his six-hour second round without a birdie. His former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley claimed. “His iron play was poor. He is not playing very well.”
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But McIlroy explained: “I just needed to get some rhythm. As the wind is coming down you start getting out of sync. I have a couple of pretty simple swing thoughts. I have made some progress. Definitely hit it a bit better today. I played ok. I have made a couple of decent scores. If I had shot around even par on Friday, I felt I would still have been in this tournament.”
Rory McIlroy has insisted he'll keep turning up at Augusta and won't give up on winning the MastersThe four-time Major winner used the strong breeze yesterday to club his drive on the 460-yard 9th hole through the spectators walking over the fairway before rolling back down the hill. “I certainly didn't expect the ball to be down there,” he smiled. “Just sort of shows the strength of the wind.”
He has added the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head to his schedule next week. “I think I'm like 50th in the FedExCup,” McIlroy explained. “I need to get all the events under my belt that I can.”
But first the world No.2 wants to get some momentum from the final day with three Majors now coming up in the next three months. “It would be nice to go out and shoot a good score tomorrow and finish the week on a positive note,” he said. “One round is not going to make a season but it would be nice to shoot a good round tomorrow and move on to Hilton Head next week in a good frame of mind.”
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