CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Rory McIlroy shot 5 under on the second nine at Augusta National on the eve of the Masters and said he never felt more ready to win the Masters and complete the career Grand Slam.
“I honestly thought I was going to have the best Masters I ever had,” McIlroy said on Tuesday evening at a private event at Puttery, the indoor modern spin on mini-golf of which he’s an investor.
And yet as golf fans know all too well, the quest for the elusive Green Jacket goes on as McIlroy missed the 36-hole cut.
“It sucked,” McIlroy said. “I shouldn’t be thinking about if I’m going to be having a good week or a bad week. I should only be thinking about that first tee shot on Thursday. That’s getting ahead of myself and feeling really good about my game but having those thoughts of, jeez, I’m going to have the best week I’ve ever had at Augusta isn’t the right mindset going into it. You need to be thinking about staying in the present. I feel like at Augusta I didn’t do a good job of that because of how well I was playing. I was almost too – not overconfident – but maybe got ahead of myself.”
McIlroy remained coy about why he skipped the RBC Heritage, his second missed designated event. Players are allowed one absence, which he took at the season-opening Sentry Tournament of Champions. The second miss receives a steep fine – potentially as much as $3 million – but Commissioner Jay Monahan already has said he has discretion in these matters.
“I knew the consequences that could come with missing one of those. It was an easy decision. It was worth that for me to get some other things in place,” McIlroy said. “I had my reasons to not play Hilton Head and I’ve expressed those to Jay. Whether he thinks that’s enough to warrant – again I understood the consequences of that decision before I did it. So whatever happens, happens.”
When McIlroy passed on the first designated event of the season in Hawaii, he didn’t envision a scenario where he’d miss another. “My mind wouldn’t have been there. It was more important for me to be home,” he said of electing to bypass Harbour Town. “I would’ve been doing myself a disservice and I would’ve been doing the people around me a disservice if I had gone to play.”
McIlroy used his extended three-week break to reset, reassess and put his disappointment at Augusta in the rear-view mirror. He said he didn’t touch a club for two weeks. He spent one of those…
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