The Japan Times - More work for McIlroy even with two wins before Masters

The 35-year-old from Northern Ireland captured the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February and The Players Championship in March and arrives at Augusta with the chance to complete a career Grand Slam.

McIlroy, a four-time major champion who has not won a major since 2014, will try to join Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen as the only players to win all four major titles.

Second-ranked McIlroy shared fifth at the Houston Open last weekend and told the Golf Channel his right elbow has been "bothering" him "a little bit" and he would "get some treatment on that and make sure that that's OK going into Augusta."

McIlroy said he added some loft to his driver in a weekend tweak as he works his game into top form before making another attempt at the only major prize which has eluded him.

"Still feel like I've got some stuff to work on. Still don't think like my game is absolutely 100% under the control I would want," McIlroy said.

"We'll be working at home and making sure game feels good going into the Masters."

The last public rounds before Masters practice opens Monday didn't get McIlroy where he wanted to be before he tests the undulating and lightning-fast Augusta National greens.

"I wanted to see myself drive it a little bit better, which I haven't really seen," McIlroy said.

"I guess like short game-wise, I wanted that to be a little better. Chipping has been really good. I scrambled well, so that has been good to see. Still feel like I need to do a little bit of work off the tee and get the driver figured out."

McIlroy did make a trip to Augusta before the Houston Open to see what was in store, noting the loss of trees to storm damage at the 16th hole.

"The loss of a few trees is definitely noticeable," he said. "They've had to redo that green but it's exactly the same as what it was... apart from maybe a few less shadows on the green late in the day because of a couple of trees that were lost."

Top-ranked defending champion Scottie Scheffler, whose nine wins in 2024 included Olympic gold, takes some pride in McIlroy having said he wanted to try and copy some aspects of his game and catch him for world number one.

"When you're a competitive guy like Rory is, I think you're always looking for some source of motivation," Scheffler said.

"He has been out here for a long time and I think sometimes it can get a bit redundant playing the same events over and over and any source of motivation you can have when you're such a great player I think is a good thing."

McIlroy, however, is quite happy these days, noting, "I've had quite a bit of success, too, though, so I don't think there's a lot of missing pieces.

"You're always looking around, seeing if there's certain things you can maybe take out of someone's game. It's hard to not look at what Scottie's done the last couple years and not take notice."

McIlroy cited course strategy and management by Scheffler that has "forced me to maybe be a little more thoughtful and diligent with that side of it."

- Walking away early -

McIlroy has also started pondering when it might be time to end his career.

"I think when I've achieved everything I want to achieve in the game and I get to the point where I don't think I can maybe do that anymore," McIlroy said.

"I'd also like to walk away with a little bit left in the tank. I don't want to be out there embarrassing myself. I'd like to walk away maybe a little before I should."

He also has ruled out playing on the 50-and-over PGA Champions Tour.

"Something has went terribly wrong if I have to compete at golf at 50," McIlroy said.

M.Fujitav--JT