McIlroy Masters mantra in Augusta

Rory McIlroy is planning to stay mentally tight yet physically loose as he takes another tilt at landing the Masters title in Augusta.

The four-time major winner is again looking to complete the career Grand Slam as he aims to secure the coveted green jacket to add to his Open Championship, US Open and two PGA Championships.

Eleven years have passed since McIlroy landed a major title, however, the County Down native is arriving down Magnolia Lane with some fine form to back up his chances of being in contention once he hits the back nine on Sunday.

And McIlroy is summoning the spirit of an American icon, the pioneering tennis legend, Arthur Ashe as he gets set to tee it up on Thursday afternoon.

"Arthur Ashe had a really good saying, where he wanted to be mentally tight and physically loose," said McIlroy, speaking to RTÉ Sport's Greg Allen ahead of the tournament.

"That's the sort of thing that you’re trying to do, be as buttoned up mentally as you can be but still be as physically loose as possible and not let that get in your way.

"So I think that’s been a good mantra for me, not just this year but over the years and the thing is that if I can chase that feeling that I want out there, that is really getting into your process and not really worrying about the outcome, and if you can get into that feeling, then hopefully the outcome takes care of itself."

McIlroy has already won twice this season at Pebble Beach and TPC Sawgrass, landing the "fifth major" The Players Championship, and now, on the eve of the 2025 edition of The Masters, he is certainly one of the form players and among the favourites to win the tournament.

"From a performance standpoint, probably not," said McIlroy, when asked had he ever had better form arriving at The Masters.

"The form I have shown, not just this year but at the back end of last year, after the disappointment of Pinehurst (US Open), I really knuckled down, and I needed to make a couple of little tweaks in my golf swing, and with my preparation and strategy at certain points.

"I’ve worked hard and gotten close at times to getting over this major hurdle and this is another opportunity this week to finally walk through that door again."

That favourite tag is something that McIlroy has become very familiar with throughout his career, and as a result he is more than capable of putting it to one side in order to concentrate on his golf game.

"The noise, the narrative, the attention, I can’t control that. All I can do is play good golf and if that makes people think that I’m the favourite, the second favourite, whatever, then so be it.

"But all I can do is my job. And my job is to turn up every day at the golf course, be prepared, do the work, and go out there and try to shoot the best score that I probably can.

"If I can do that for four days here – I’ve done it for three days before, I’ve done if for two and a half days – but if I can do it for four days this year then I feel I have a great chance of getting one of those green jackets over my shoulders."

Meanwhile, McIlroy said that he can see the stark difference when walking the course this week, with numerous trees lost among the damage it suffered during Hurricane Helene last September.

McIlroy, however, doesn't think the course "plays any differently" but does sense that a couple of tee shots "are maybe a little less visually intimidating."

The Holywood man also referenced the trees now missing down the left side of the 10th hole. Visually, it has changed his aiming point and perspective of how much he needs to move the ball.

"You've got the four new greens on 1, 8, 15 and 16," he said. " I think everyone saw the ladies playing here on Saturday that those greens always area little bit firmer, especially 15, for example, watching the balls shoot through that green."

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