“That would be a lot of fun”. McIlroy is the ultimate frontrunner and loves desperately to be in the driver’s seat early on in major championships.
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Among those is Nicklaus, the 18-time major champion whose record total has been a target for Woods, a 14-time major victor, since boyhood.
“The highlight reel, I watch it on YouTube at times…I was really fortunate to get some front-row seats at times, getting to play with him throughout those years and watching it close up”.
Jordan Spieth tees off from the ninth hole during a practice round for the Masters golf tournament, Tuesday, April 5, 2016, in Augusta, Ga.
“I think we all appreciate what he’s done for the game of golf over the years”, he said. It’s something intangible. Something that especially if there’s multiple names up towards the top, you just feel like there’s something that’s going to happen and it just does.
This is truer than McIlroy maybe realizes.
Bubba Watson won at Riviera, reviving memories of his two Masters victories in the last even-numbered years.
McIlroy has no doubt he’ll win the Masters before his career is done. McIlroy tied for fourth a year ago, his best finish here, but with Jordan Spieth shooting the lights out, no one else was ever really in contention. But I think every year that passes that I don’t, it will become increasingly more hard. “I feel I’ve got the game to win other majors, and I’m looking to win my second major championship this week, and I’m driven towards doing that because I want to win a handful of majors in my career”. “So I knew as soon as this tournament finished previous year I was going to prepare a little bit different”.
McIlroy had singled out the 16th as a key hole but didn’t expect to begin his eighth Masters campaign with an ace. He stayed home in Florida and practiced instead. “So that kind of put me in that direction; that I need to play a bit more aggressive”. “And all of a sudden you start thinking about all the places that you’re not supposed to hit it instead of the place that you are”. Phil Mickelson is paired with Marc Leishman and Henrik Stenson.
“I played the next 45 holes very well, and I think part of that was having so much expectation and thinking of the Grand Slam and the Masters and all of this, when I needed to just take a step back and relax and try to play my own game”.
“I still feel like my time is coming”, Johnson said Monday. The result of almost a decade’s worth of rounds here.
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland talks to caddie of Chris Wood of England, Mark Crane (left) during a practice round prior to the start of the 2015 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on Tuesday in Augusta, Georgia. “This place energises you quite nicely and I’d say I’m at 80 per cent right now”.
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“Hopefully, I can get that little monkey off my back and then I’d just free-wheel it after that”.
