15 April 2024 , 16:22
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Rory McIlroy has ramped up his schedule between the Masters and next month's PGA Championship, as the Northern Irishman continues his quest to win a first major title in 10 years.
McIlroy's wait to complete the Grand Slam and win a first green jacket continued at the Masters last week, as he suffered further disappointment at Augusta National. The Northern Irishman was unable to battle his way into contention throughout the week, ending the event in a tie for 22nd, 15 shots behind champion Scottie Scheffler.
McIlroy has failed to get over the line on the major stage since his fourth flagship triumph at the PGA Championship at Valhalla just under 10 years ago.
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However, with the event returning to the stage in which he secured his victory a decade earlier, McIlroy will no doubt be full of optimism ahead of next month's championship. In order to ensure his game is where he wants it to be come May 16, the Northern Irishman has committed to play three times in the four weeks leading up to the trip to Kentucky.
The 33-year-old will tee it up to this week's RBC Heritage, followed by the Zurich Classic alongside his partner Shane Lowry in New Orleans just days later. He has then penned in a break into his schedule, before committing to play the Wells Fargo Championship a week before the PGA.
Speaking about his final round on Sunday, an upbeat McIlroy confirmed his imminent plans, with the Northern Irishman clearly enjoying his golf at the moment. "The next two weeks I'm playing Hilton Head (RBC Heritage), I'm playing New Orleans. (Zurich Classic)," he said.
Rory McIlroy ended his week in a tie for 22nd at Augusta (Getty Images)"I'll take a week off, playing Quail Hollow (Wells Fargo Championship), play the PGA, take another week off, then play another four in a row. Loving golf at the moment. Loving it." Despite the busy schedule, McIlroy did admit he would need to take some time to assess his performance at Augusta, as he looks to make improvements with his next major task on the horizon.
"Yeah, I need to take a little bit of time and reflect on this week and what I did well, what I didn't do so well, and sort of try to make a plan for the next few months," he claimed. "Especially from here going through obviously the end of July. As you say, major season, they're going to come thick and fast here, so hopefully get myself in a bit better form for those last three."
Quizzed on whether he felt 'close' to finally ending his decade-long wait for a major triumph, he confidently added: "Yeah, because all these disappointing weeks are 20ths, 25ths. They're not terrible weeks by any stretch, but there's a lot of room for improvement. I'm close in some ways, but then I feel quite far away in others. It's a bit of a -- once I get one thing, sort of put that to bed, then another thing pops up, and it's just one of those at the minute."