26 January 2024 , 13:49
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Rory McIlroy is a man of his word when it comes to preparing for this April's Masters, after the Northern Irishman added yet another event to his first quarter schedule.
McIlroy will head to Augusta National later this year with another chance to complete the career Grand Slam, having yet to get his hands on the famous green jacket. After winning four major titles in three years, the European Ryder Cup hero has gone a decade without getting a hand on another of golf's coveted big titles, and suffered an agonising number of near-misses.
Ahead of this year's major swing McIlroy vowed to up his preparation in a bid to finally get back over the line, and has added another event to his schedule in next month's Cognizant Classic.
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The event based in Florida formerly known as the Honda Classic has not featured a top-two player in the world in almost 10 years, but McIlroy is set to change that with his first start there since 2018. His commitment to the tournament comes after he vowed to add three or four more events to his plans running up to this spring's Masters.
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"The Masters is the Disneyland of golf," he told Golf Digest. "You go there, put the Mickey Mouse ears on and get into what it is. And when you leave you snap out of it. My big thing about Augusta is just to go in there playing well. The weeks before are important just to get me feeling like I'm in good form.
"This year, in fact, I'm going to play more before the Masters. It will be my ninth or 10th event of the year. Previously, it's been my sixth or seventh. I'll hopefully be a bit sharper and know exactly where my game really is."
Rory McIlroy already has a win under his belt in 2024 (2024 Getty Images)McIlroy has already got his 2024 season off to the perfect start, after winning a record fourth title at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club last Sunday. The win came exactly a week after he almost got over the line at the Dubai Invitational, where he agonisingly gave up his 71-hole lead at the final hole of the event to Tommy Fleetwood.
With a second and first already under his belt for the season, there is no doubt the Northern Irishman is feeling good about his game ahead of his return to the United States for next week's AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Speaking after his win in the Middle East, McIlroy discussed how beginning his season so well could help him as a return to Augusta grows closer.
"Augusta is still a long way away in golfing terms," he claimed. "A lot can change in two-and-a-half months. But it's always nice to get a win. It's always nice to feel like you're playing well going into it. I've always said that I'll take execution over preparation every single time because you just you have to execute the golf shots, especially there."