Rory McIlroy aims for a masterful display
Northern Ireland star shuts out the distractions to focus on chasing a golfing career grand slam and that elusive green jacket at Augusta National
He's the No 1 player in the world, winner of the last two majors and star of a poignant new Nike commercial he admits to having watched - but only once.
If this was any other Masters, Rory McIlroy would be the talk of golf and the biggest story of the week. That he's not - at least right now - is only because a guy named Tiger Woods decided to embark on his latest comeback on the undulating greens of Augusta National.
And that's not necessarily a bad thing as McIlroy prepares for the seventh Masters of his young career. For all his success, the biggest hole in his résumé is that he has yet to win a green jacket.
I'm not necessarily listening to anything that anyone is saying, so it doesn't really make a difference to me
"Does it give people something else to talk about? Yes," McIlroy said. "But I'm not necessarily listening to anything that anyone is saying, so it doesn't really make a difference to me.'
That McIlroy is coming into the Masters with blinkers on is little surprise. He's got a chance to become only the sixth player to win a career grand slam with a win there, and he's prepared meticulously for his attempt to conquer a course that seems made for his game but has consistently given him fits.
He did it mostly out of the tournament spotlight, working on his game the last few weeks near his Florida home.
"I just really felt like spending a couple of weeks away from this, I guess," McIlroy said. "Just preparing at home and in private and not really having everything critiqued and analysed and overanalysed. So I just wanted to get away from it all, and I feel like it's been a good thing."
