Wondering whether Rory McIlroy can win the Masters and complete the career grand slam has become an annual tradition.
What’s the temperature on that question this year?
With less than two weeks until the year’s first major championship, McIlroy squeaked inside the cut line Friday at the Texas Children’s Houston Open and shot a final-round 65 to finish T5, five strokes back of champion Min Woo Lee. Plus, he’s only two weeks removed from winning the Players Championship in addition to claiming the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am earlier this year.
The 35-year-old still sees room for improvement, though.
“Still feel like I’ve got some stuff to work on,” McIlroy said after his final round in Houston. “Still don’t think like my game is absolutely 100% under the control I would want, but it’s nice to have a week to work on some things. I’ve got my coach, Michael Bannon, coming in tomorrow, so we’ll be working at home and making sure game feels good going into the Masters.”
However, the four-time major winner revealed he’s facing a small roadblock, telling Golf Channel in his post-round television interview Sunday that his right elbow is bothering him “a little bit.”
“Get some treatment on that,” the world No. 2 said, “and make sure that that’s O.K. going into Augusta.”
Also, in hopes of slipping on the green jacket, McIlroy made a change to his TaylorMade Qi10 driver.
“I just took a little bit of loft off it,” the Northern Irishman said. “So I felt like it was getting a little bit spinny, especially if I wanted to hit cuts off the tee, so I took a little bit of loft off it. Yeah, definitely went through the wind better today and felt a little more comfortable.”
In Round 3 of the Houston Open, McIlroy hit 38% of his fairways, but after making the tweak, that number jumped to 61% in the final round.
Maybe that’s what propels him to a win in Augusta, as many—including McIlroy himself—have been waiting to see for over a decade.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Rory McIlroy, Battling Elbow Issue, Says Game Isn't '100%' Going Into Masters.
