Rory McIlroy is covering every angle in search of the elusive Masters title that will complete the career Grand Slam – including working with renowned sports psychologist Dr Bob Rotella this week at Augusta.
It’s a ninth attempt at finishing the Grand Slam for McIlroy this year, as he looks to join that elusive club of just five players in golfing history who have managed to win all four Majors.
To do that, though, McIlroy will have to overcome the pressure, expectation, and the ghosts that lurk around Augusta National after his huge collapse in 2011 – and that’s something he hopes Rotella can help with.
The 33-year-old has admitted to having some negative thoughts when playing in the Masters, and the mental side of the game is something he’s now relying on Rotella to help with.
“I’ve worked with Bob Rotella now pretty consistently over the last few years,” said McIlroy. “So just chats with him – I always feel a bit better about everything, a bit better about myself, after I have a chat with him.
“He’s actually getting in today, we’re going to spend a little bit of time tonight and tomorrow. I just feel, after I’ve talked to him, a lot more relaxed, a lot more loose a lot more confident in myself.
“So I’d say if you’re talking about the mental side of things I just focus on those chats with Bob.”
The four-time Major winner certainly has the game to win at Augusta, and this year he could have an extra slice of confidence garnered from the brilliant final round 64 he shot 12 months ago.
“I felt last year that I maybe shed some of that scar tissue and felt like I sort of made breakthroughs,” added McIlroy. “Yeah, I'm feeling as sort of relaxed as I ever have coming in here just in terms of I feel like my game is in a pretty good place. I know the place just as about as well as anyone.
“But yeah, good experiences, bad experiences, it all adds up at the end of the day, and you probably learn a bit more from those bad experiences, and I feel like I've done pretty well at sort of putting those lessons into my play and being better because of them.
“I feel like I am as good, if not better a player, as I was the last time I won a major championship. So I'm feeling pretty good about it.”
Rotella has worked with the likes of Open champion Darren Clarke and three-time Major winner Padraig Harrington along with a host of others in the past, and now he could possibly provide the missing ingredient for McIlroy to finally claim the Green Jacket.
