McIlroy visualizing green jacket ceremony to make Masters dream come true
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays a stroke from the No. 18 tee during practice round 2 at Augusta National Golf Club, Tuesday, April 4, 2023.
Rory McIlroy admits he’s embracing his dreams and visualized himself pulling on the green jacket in an attempt to make his Masters “dream” come true this week.
The Holywood star (33) wants to become just the sixth player to complete the career grand slam at Augusta National and take advantage of the fact he’s playing the golf of his life.
He’s riding the crest of a wave heading into the first Major of the season after finally achieving a kind of breakthrough last year when he closed with a career low 64 to finish second to Scottie Scheffler by holing a bunker shot at the last.
Rather than play the week down in his head he’s decided to take a lead out of the book of other athletes - Padraig Harrington included - and decided to envision the moment of triumph so he’s ready to make it a reality.
“I think envisioning those things are important,”
“You’ve got to have dreams and you’ve got to be able to let yourself dream and I’m certainly letting myself dream this week.”
McIlroy told RTÉ Radio’s Greg Allen at Augusta. “And yeah, I've let myself dream and let myself think about it before I go to sleep at night.
“And yeah, of course, because I think the more and more you play it over in your mind, the more ready you'll be for it.
“It's a big part of psychology and envisioning these things a lot of great athletes over time have done that same thing.
“You’ve got to have dreams and you’ve got to be able to let yourself dream and I'm certainly letting myself dream this week.”
McIlroy points to last year’s runner up finish and he’s stellar form as key.
“Yeah, I won a little battle within myself last year, that final day,” he said of the moment that’s made winning the Masters seem achievable on his 15th attempt this week.
“I went out and didn't think I had a chance to win. And then when I eagled 13, I thought I had a chance. And you know, holing that bunker shot at the last, it was just, I don't know, you know, from years and years of driving by Magnolia lane and not seeing the place for another year and being disappointed or what could have been or another years past, it didn't feel like that last year.
“And I think that's where, you know, I have this sort of optimism, and you know, when you're coming back for your 15th time, you've sort of been through it all, and you've tried to do all sorts of different things to get the best out of yourself.
“So, you know, I've tried to use all this mental trickery before of downplaying it and this and that, and none of it has worked
“I mean, I've had great weeks here, and I've played well, but you know, I haven't walked away with the win. So, you know, I might as well just try to enjoy myself while I'm here.”
As for his game, it’s never been stronger through the bag and he feels less pressure as a result.
“Yeah, I feel the same way,” he said of numbers from golf analysts DataGolf who say he’s never been stronger in every department of his game.
“You know, my statistical profile has probably never been as as good as it as it is right now. So to me, that gives me confidence, because I know I don't have to rely on any different aspects of my game to succeed.
“If you say my driving is a little off, then you know, I can, you know, rely on my iron play or my short game, or if my short game’s a little off, I can rely on my putter or whatever it is.
“I don't have to have all guns firing all at the same time to get the best out of myself. You know, everything's in a really solid spot. And if I don't quite have something firing on all cylinders, I have more than enough in the rest of the game to to make up for it.”
