Rory McIlroy is relaxed about his chances of challenging at this week’s Masters Tournament as he outlined his intention to curb his natural attacking instincts in a bid to complete a career Grand Slam.
The Northern Irishman has six top-tens in 13 appearances at the Masters, which remains the only Major the 32-year-old has not won in his career.
McIlroy, who missed the cut at Augusta National Golf Club last year, would become only the sixth player in the modern era to complete golf’s career Grand Slam with victory on Sunday.
“Patience, discipline, don’t make big numbers,” McIlroy replied when asked to assess the strategy required going into the first men’s Major of the year.
"To me, playing very negatively, playing away from trouble, not firing at flags, not being aggressive - it feels like a negative game-plan, but it’s not, it’s just a smart game-plan. It’s playing the percentages.
"Sunday, if you need to take risks, you take risks, obviously, but for the first 54 holes you just have to stay as disciplined as possible.
"And to me that goes against my nature a little bit, so it is something that I have to really work hard on."
McIlroy, who will be joined by Matt Fitzpatrick and Brooks Koepka for the first two rounds, said his recent results do not truly reflect how he has played recently and that missing the cut in his final event before the 86th Masters could work in his favour.
He has traditionally not played the week before the Masters, however, the former World Number One skipped the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and opted to compete at the Valero Texas Open instead, only to miss the cut after rounds of 72 and 73.
"You always learn more disappointments or times when you don't play so well,” he said in his pre-tournament press conference on Tuesday. “So, if there's a cut to miss, it wasn't a bad one to miss.
“I got home, did two really good days of practice on Saturday and Sunday, and actually felt a lot better about where things were heading up here Sunday evening.”
As recently as last month, McIlroy was the oldest player in the top ten of the world rankings but he retains faith that time is on his side in his quest for further Major glory.
“I’m 32 years old with a ton of experience,” he said. “I’ve got a few more grey hairs than I used to, but I’m still young at heart.”
McIlroy also said he is excited by the prospect of 19-month-old daughter Poppy joining him for the traditional pre-tournament Par Three Contest on Wednesday.
“It’s funny,” he added. “When you don’t have children, the par three seems like a bit of an afterthought, and then once kids arrive it sort of becomes the highlight of the week in a way.”
